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Does the number or size of plant patches contribute to vegetation restoration of restoring degraded alpine steppes via grazing exclusion?
  • +6
  • Haishan Niu,
  • Min Liu,
  • Jing Zhang,
  • Qian Kong,
  • Runfu Li,
  • Chuanlu Zhu,
  • Xiaoyong Cui,
  • Shiping Wang,
  • Yanfen Wang
Haishan Niu
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Min Liu
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research CAS
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Jing Zhang
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Qian Kong
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Runfu Li
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Chuanlu Zhu
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Xiaoyong Cui
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Shiping Wang
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Yanfen Wang
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Abstract

Arid and semi-arid vegetation is characterized by plant patches of different sizes, and plant cover is determined by patch size (PS) and number of patches (NP). However, it is still unclear how PS and NP contribute to the restoration of degraded grasslands through grazing exclusion (GE). Transect lines were sampled in six alpine steppe communities in Tibet in 2017 and 2018. Both PS and NP were assessed and compared between inside and outside grazing exclosures. Our results showed that grazing exclosures increased the mean size but decreased the total number of plant patches. This pattern of change was common to other species and could not be attributed to a shift in community composition. The results suggest that the recovery of the degraded alpine steppe is being driven by PS at the expense of NP. By promoting the expansion of the larger patches while excluding the smaller ones, GE led to an aggregating pattern with a higher proportion of bare ground, potentially reducing primary productivity.
15 Jun 2023Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
16 Jun 2023Submission Checks Completed
16 Jun 2023Assigned to Editor
27 Jun 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
05 Aug 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
07 Aug 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor