Plant diversity is closely related to the density of zokor mounds in three alpine rangelands on the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Background Plateau zokor (Myospalax baileyi) is a subterranean rodent endemic to the Tibetan Plateau. This species has been generally viewed as a pest in China due to the competition for food with livestock and also causing soil erosion. As a result, plateau zokor has been the target of widespread poisoning or trapping campaigns designed to control or eliminate it since 1970s. But there is little research on the effect of plateau zokor on plant diversity in alpine rangelands. Therefore, objectively evaluating the positive effects of the plateau zokors disturbance on their living environment and plant communities is of great significance to understand the function of plateau zokor in alpine ecosystem. Methods Here, we selected three rangelands (alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine shrub meadow) in which plateau zokors are typically distributed on the Tibetan Plateau, and five zokor mound density gradients were selected in each rangeland type to study the effects of the mounds on soil moisture and temperature related to plant species diversity. Results The results showed that, with the mound density increasing, the soil temperature decreased significantly in all three rangeland types, and the soil moisture significantly increased in all three rangeland types. In the alpine meadow, both the plant diversity and cumulative species richness increased significantly with increasing mound density. The increase in broad-leaved forbs is the main reason for the increase of plant diversity in the alpine meadow disturbed by zokor mounds. In the alpine steppe, the plant diversity decreased significantly with increasing mound density, while the cumulative species richness initially decreased and then increased. In the alpine shrub meadow, the plant diversity first increased and then decreased with increasing mound density as did the cumulative species richness. In conclusion, plateau zokor mounds dominated the distribution of soil moisture and temperature and significantly affected plant diversity in these three rangelands on Tibetan Plateau; the results further deepen our understanding toward a co-evolved process.

Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover

“…The fostering effects of settlement abandonment on vegetation cover have also been reported in many studies elsewhere (e.g. Mayer et al, 2019;Pavlů et al, 2019) and can be attributed to colonization of grazing-induced degraded areas by disturbance-tolerant plant species that exploit abundantly available resources and to relaxation from damages due to temporary grazing abandonment (Bokdam, 2001;Niu et al, 2019). Our above findings highlight the presence of a synanthropic association of giant root-rats, which has not been revealed…”

“…For example, habitat loss and degradation caused by human settlement-via space use for house building-and livestock husbandry-via grazing and trampling-lead to deterioration of habitat quality for rodents (Bakker et al, 2009). Moreover, livestock grazing can lead to competition for food with rodents (Niu et al, 2019;Zhang & Liu, 2003), and livestock trampling can destroy burrow systems (Šklíba et al, 2017).…”

Effects of foraging tunnels created by plateau zokors on plant above‐ground biomass and species richness of graminoids and forbs in alpine grasslands

“…These three sites are located at the Cainima Township in Maqu County, Labrang Township in Xiahe County, and Zhuaxixiulong Township in Tianzhu County of Gansu Province, China. The three sites experienced the same typical continental plateau climate (Niu et al, 2019). The elevation ranged from 2920 to 3560 m, and the annual precipitation ranged from 416 to 516 mm at the three sites.…”

Impacts of the Degraded Alpine Swamp Meadow on Tensile Strength of Riverbank: A Case Study of the Upper Yellow River

“…For the plants of AM, however, the lengths of most of their roots are less than 0.30 m (Figure 2b). Thus, transforming from AS to AM means that deep-rooted plants with dense root systems are gradually replaced by plants with short and sparse root systems [35,[55][56][57][58]. This change indicates that the shallow-rooted plants of AM are more vulnerable to high evaporation, livestock trampling, and human activities in the study area, resulting in further degradation [35].…”