Light Grazing Significantly Reduces Soil Water Storage in Alpine Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Xiaowei Guo, Licong Dai, Qian Li, Dawen Qian, Guangmin Cao, Huakun Zhou and Yangong Du
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Xiaowei Guo: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Licong Dai: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Qian Li: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Dawen Qian: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Guangmin Cao: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Huakun Zhou: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Yangong Du: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: The degradation of alpine grasslands directly affects their ability to conserve water, but changes in soil water storage in grassland under different degrees of degradation are poorly understood. Here, we selected four grassland plots along a degradation gradient: no-degradation grassland (NG), lightly degraded grassland (LG), moderately degraded grassland (MG) and severely degraded grassland (SG). We then applied an automatic soil moisture monitoring system to study changes in soil water storage processes. Results revealed significant ( p < 0.05) differences in soil water storage among NG, LG, MG and SG. Specifically, LG lost 35.9 mm of soil water storage compared with NG, while soil water storage in LG, MG and SG decreased by 24.5%, 32.1% and 36.7%, respectively. The shallow groundwater table, air temperature and grass litter were the key controlling factors of soil water storage in the grassland. Grazing and future global warming will significantly reduce soil water storage in alpine grasslands.

Keywords: alpine grasslands; degraded grassland; grass litter; soil water storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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