Effect of fencing and grazing on soil macro- and meso-arthropod diversity in alpine grassland ecosystems in the Qilian Mountains in the fall

doi:10.11686/cyxb2022383

Abstract

Abstract:

Overgrazing and climate change are resulting in the degradation of alpine grasslands in the Qilian Mountains. Preventing grazing by fencing can restore the degraded alpine grassland ecosystem. However， long-term prevention of grazing will affect the structure and function of above- and below-ground ecosystems in alpine grasslands. In this research， we studied typical alpine grassland in the Hulu watershed of the Qilian Mountains， in which fenced （FH） and grazed alpine grassland habitats （GH） formed a gradient of grazing management. In autumn 2021， soil macro- and meso-arthropods were collected in the long-term FH and GH areas of alpine grassland by pitfall trapping and an improved Tullgren funnel method， and were identified and counted. The soil macro- and meso-arthropod community composition differed significantly between the FH and GH areas of alpine grassland in the fall， and soil meso-arthropod diversity was more sensitive than macro-arthropod diversity to grazing management. Compared with GH areas， the FH areas showed higher values of group richness and Shannon-Wiener index of soil macro-arthropods， and the activity density of soil macro-arthropods was significantly higher in FH areas than in GH areas. Compared with soil macro-arthropods， soil meso-arthropods responded differently to grazing management of alpine grassland. Their values of contrast density， group richness， Shannon-Wiener index， and Acarina/Collembola （A/C） were lower in FH areas than in GH areas. These results show that different soil arthropod taxa respond differently to grazing management of alpine grassland， and this affects the assemblages of soil macro- and meso-arthropods. Furthermore， prevention of grazing in alpine grassland significantly decreased the activity density of centipedes， spiders， and beetles， and reduced the activity density of ants and the density of springtails. In short， soil arthropod communities and major taxa in alpine grassland are sensitive to fencing and grazing management， and their changes in abundance and diversity can be used to indicate grazing management intensity in alpine grassland.

Key words: Qilian Mountains, alpine grassland, fencing and grazing, soil arthropods, diversity

Ji-liang LIU, Wen-zhi ZHAO, Yong-zhen WANG, Yi-lin FENG, Jin-xian QI, Yong-yuan LI. Effect of fencing and grazing on soil macro- and meso-arthropod diversity in alpine grassland ecosystems in the Qilian Mountains in the fall[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2023, 32(8): 214-221.

Figures/Tables 3

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