Li Lin 1, 2, Xingliang Xu 3*, Guangmin Cao 1, Fawei Zhang 1,
Yikang Li 1, Junjie Huang 4
1 Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology and Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Xining, China, 810008
2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 100049.
3 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 100101
4 School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Henan Polytechnic
University, Jiaozuo, China, 454000
* Correspondence:
xuxl@igsnrr.ac.cn.
Founder: Natural Science Foundation of Qinghai (2020-ZJ-720)
Abstract:
Mini-patches are considered indicators of an ecosystem’s response to
interference, particularly those in alpine meadow ecosystems. Thus,
monitoring the characteristics of mini-patches can elucidate the
organization of an ecosystem’s components, the strategies it employs to
survive interference, and the mechanisms whereby it maintains stability.
In this research, we used multivariate statistical analysis methods to
investigate the characteristics of the plant community and the
micro-topography of mini-patches in alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau from August 2012 to August 2013. Our findings show that (1)
mini-patches were distributed in alpine meadows with different levels of
degradation and the effects of meteorological characteristics
(accumulated temperature above 0°C and accumulation of precipitation)
and geographical characteristics (altitude, longitude, and latitude)
contributed less than 20% to
their
distribution and characteristics; (2) alpine meadows maintained
aboveground biomass within a certain range under a relative larger range
of grazing intensity, illustrating their ability to regulate community
structure and components under various intensities of disturbance and
showing that alpine degradation could itself counteract grazing
disturbance; and (3) overgrazing is the main driver of multi-steady
stage coexistence in alpine meadows, as the mini-patches that remain
involved in plant community succession function, and as a source of
germplasm
in
the plant community regime shift under different grazing intensities
damaged alpine meadows.