Welcome to Acta Prataculturae Sinica ! Today is Share:

Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2015, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (5): 224-230.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb20150526

Previous Articles    

Effect of burrow entrance densities of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) on interspecific association in Kobresia pygmaea meadow

PANG Xiao-Pan, WANG Qian, JIA Ting-Ting, LI Qian-Qian, GUO Zheng-Gang*   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China
  • Received:2014-08-21 Online:2015-05-20 Published:2015-05-20

Abstract: Changes in the active burrow entrance densities of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) can result in changes in the botanical composition in Kobresia pygmaea meadow which can influence interspecific relationships in the meadow. A field survey was carried out to determine the effect of active plateau pika active burrow entrance densities on the interspecific association between the major plant species in K. pygmaea meadow. This study showed that the dominance index for K. pygmaea (dominant species), decreased, while the dominance index of associated species including Gentiana dahurica and Anemone rivularis var. flore-minors increased as burrow density increased. The overall interspecific association among the main plant species of the K. pygmaea alpine meadow transformed from significantly positive association at 128 and 224 burrow entrances per ha to a negative association at 368 and 544 burrow entrances per ha. The relationship between K. pygmaea and Carex moorcroftii transformed from positive association at 128 and 224 active burrow entrances per ha to negative association at 368 and 544 active burrow entrances per ha, while associations between Euphorbia esula and Elsholtzia densa, and between Oxytropis ochrocephala and E. esula were negative at 128 and 224 active burrow entrances per ha but positive at 368 and 544 burrow entrances per ha. These results suggested that the active burrow entrance densities regulated the overall interspecific association among the main plant species in K. pygmaea alpine meadow, and the interspecific association among the main plant species was strongest and the stability of the alpine meadow community was greatest at 224 active burrow entrances per ha.