Change in grass hill size can signal species diversity changes and ecosystem state transitions during alpine wetland degradation

He, Mingrui; Xin, Chunming; Ma, Miaojun

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108302

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…As expected, we found that the response of the role of persistent and transient seed banks in above‐ground plant community regeneration is non‐linear with increased grazing disturbance. Our finding is different from that of previous research (Chang et al, 2001; He, Xin, Basin, 2021; He, Xin & Ma, 2021; Ma et al, 2010), which found that the similarity between seed bank and above‐ground vegetation is linear. These previous studies identified regulatory mechanisms underlying variation in the soil seed bank and the role of the seed bank in plant community regeneration under limited levels of disturbance.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Removal of seeds via wind erosion (Li et al, 2007) and natural loss of seed viability (Bhattachan et al, 2014) also contribute to reduction in the size of the seed bank after the vegetation is degraded. Persistent seed banks can be a potential seed source for the restoration of degraded wetland plant communities (He, Xin, Basin, et al, 2021; He, Xin, & Ma, 2021; Ma et al, 2018). The above‐ground plant community would permanently lose the ability to regenerate from the persistent seed bank once it reaches a depleted state.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The soil is characterized by a high organic matter content, and peat is abundant (Li & Hui, 2004). The wetlands are mainly used as pastures with grazing from May to October each year, and grazing animals are mainly yak and Tibetan sheep (He, Xin, & Ma, 2021; Ma et al, 2018; Zhao et al, 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alpine wetlands on the eastern Tibetan Plateau have been gradually shrinking and drying up since the 1950's due to overgrazing (He, Xin, Basin, et al, 2021; Ma et al, 2018; Zhao et al, 2021), resulting in a significantly lowered water table and severely degraded wetlands (Liu et al, 2019). He, Xin, & Ma (2021) found that the state transition from an alpine wetland to an alpine meadow ecosystem on the eastern Tibetan Plateau took place during drying of the wetlands. For our study, we selected seven alpine marshes representing the gradient of grazing disturbance from no disturbance (L 1 ) to a highly degraded wetland (L 7 ) (Appendix 1: Table S1, Appendix 1: Figure S1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, data on the effects of disturbance on the similarity of the above‐ground vegetation and the soil seed bank are essential for understanding plant community dynamics and developing appropriate strategies for restoring degraded vegetation (Cronberg, 2002; Fenner & Thompson, 2005; Kassahun et al, 2009). The intensity of grazing disturbance is an important driver for the difference in similarity (Ma et al, 2018; He, Xin, Basin, et al, 2021; He, Xin, & Ma, 2021), and grazing can increased (Ma et al, 2010) or decreased (Parlak et al, 2011) similarity. For example, an increase in similarity between the soil seed bank and the plant community could result from grazing disturbance due to an increase in pioneer species that rely on persistent seed banks in the plant community (Moore, 1980), which could result in an increased seed density in the seed bank (Ma et al, 2010; Matus et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nonlinear response of the soil seed bank and its role in plant community regeneration with increased grazing disturbance

Baskin

2022

Journal of Applied Ecology

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The soil seed bank represents valuable rebuilding capital that may rescue an ecosystem from state transition once vegetation has crossed an apparent threshold from the desired to degraded state. However, almost no research has explored the response of transient and persistent seed banks and their role in plant community regeneration along a gradient of wetlands from intact to a seriously degraded state due to increased grazing disturbance. Seven grazing disturbance levels from nondisturbed to highly degraded alpine marsh ecosystems were selected on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to select the best‐fit model to predict the response of the plant community, soil seed bank and Bray–Curtis dissimilarity index to increased grazing disturbance. Both the plant community and seed bank showed a nonlinear change with increasing grazing disturbance. Species richness and seed density of the transient seed bank first decreased and then increased with increased disturbance, but the persistent seed bank showed a reverse trend, with an obvious threshold. Species composition of the persistent and transient seed banks exhibited little change compared to the plant community as disturbance increased. Similarities between both the persistent and transient seed banks and plant community also showed a nonlinear change with increased disturbance, while the persistent seed bank had a higher similarity with the plant community than the transient seed bank. Synthesis: At high grazing disturbance, persistent seed banks are more important than transient seed banks in plant community regeneration. Alpine wetland ecosystems have intrinsic resilience because the persistent seed bank has a pool of species above the threshold. However, ecosystem resilience declines if the species pool of the persistent seed bank is depleted below the threshold. The restoration potential of the seed bank has limits, and it will gradually be exhausted when species losses due to increased grazing intensity exceed the threshold of state transition.

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