The diversity-Godron stability relationship of alpine grassland and its environmental drivers

doi:10.11686/cyxb2022125

Abstract

Abstract:

The diversity and stability of plant communities is of great significance to the function of ecosystems and their ability to provide services. Drawing on field investigation and analysis of data from 480 sample plots， the present study explored the relationship between plant diversity and stability of alpine wetland meadow， alpine meadow， alpine steppe and alpine desert steppe， and also elucidated their environmental drivers using significance analysis， regression analysis and structural equation modeling. It was found that the alpine steppe had higher plant diversity than the other three grassland types， and alpine meadow had the highest community stability. The relationship between species diversity and community stability was different in the four alpine grassland types. The community evenness was negatively correlated with community stability. Plant Shannon-Wiener diversity was negatively correlated with community stability in alpine meadow and alpine desert steppe， but in contrast plant richness was positively correlated with community stability in alpine wetland meadow and alpine steppe. Precipitation is the main factor affecting plant diversity and community stability in alpine grassland. Soil organic carbon， pH and ammonium nitrogen content also affected community stability through altering plant diversity. Taken together， climate and soil factors should be considered in the management of alpine grassland ecosystems， and different management measures should be formulated for different types of grassland.

Key words: alpine grassland, plant diversity, community stability, environmental driver

Shi-long LEI, Li-rong LIAO, Jie WANG, Lu ZHANG, Zhen-cheng YE, Guo-bin LIU, Chao ZHANG. The diversity-Godron stability relationship of alpine grassland and its environmental drivers[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2023, 32(3): 1-12.

Figures/Tables 7

Fig.1 Study area and sample point distribution

Fig.2 Vegetation community，diversity and stability characteristics of different grassland types

Fig.3 Aboveground biomass and species number of functional communities of different grassland vegetation communities

Fig.4 Relative proportions of aboveground biomass and species number in functional communities of different grassland vegetation communities

Fig.5 Differences of environmental factors among different grassland types

Fig.6 Linear regression analysis of plant diversity and community stability of different grassland types

Fig.7 Driving mechanism of plant diversity and community stability in alpine grassland

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