Plateau pika burrowing and yak grazing jointly determine ecosystem greenhouse gas emissions of alpine meadow

Abstract

Domestic yak (Bos grunniens) have coexisted with plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) for thousands of and they play irreplaceable roles in shaping the structure and function of alpine meadow ecosystem. However, the mechanisms whereby the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions change in response to the interactive effects between yak grazing and plateau pika burrowing remain unclear. In this study, we examined the response of ecosystem GHG emissions (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O flux) to yak grazing and pika burrowing in alpine meadow in Zoige County, China. The GHG emissions was measured with a static opaque chamber method. Our results revealed that CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O flux and CO 2 -eq were significantly influenced by yak grazing and pika burrowing independently, and in conjunction. Crucially, the relative importance of pika burrowing was higher than yak grazing on a pastoral scale. Specifically, high pika burrowing led to an increase of 440.29%, and 110.72% for CO 2 -eq relative to low pika burrowing under moderate and heavy yak grazing situations, respectively. The value of CO 2 -eq with low pika burrowing was negative, especially under light yak grazing conditions. Furthermore, we found that GHG emissions were sensitive to plant species richness, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil organic carbon, and soil microbial factors. Structural equation modeling indicated that pika burrowing can affect CO 2 -eq though altering soil temperature and belowground biomass under heavy yak grazing conditions and changing soil moisture and soil microbe under light yak grazing. The results of this study enrich our understanding of the role of small burrowing mammals in the carbon sequestration of alpine meadow. In the context of the carbon neutrality of alpine grassland ecosystem, small mammals' activities and their interactions with domestic livestock-induced changes in microtopography on GHG emissions should not be neglected.

Global sustainable land use and management: Illustrating the linkage between carbon sink and ecological engineering

“…Meanwhile, analysis methods included multiple innovation model combinations as well as meta‐analysis. SD: system dynamics, GIS: geographic information systems, RF Model: random forest model, DNDC Model: denitrification‐decomposition (DNDC) model (Bhardwaj et al, 2022; Chen et al, 2022; Feng et al, 2023, Hashimi et al, 2022; He et al, 2022; Jia et al, 2023; Liu et al, 2022; Ravisankar et al, 2022; Wang et al, 2022, 2023; Xu et al, 2022; Yang et al, 2022, Zhang et al, 2022, 2023). [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…Through transect survey, it was found that precipitation use efficiency mediated plant biomass allocation in arid and semi‐arid ecosystems; such a finding provides insights into the complex mechanisms of ecological processes (Feng et al, 2023). Specifically, the effects of soil nematode community, plateau pika burrowing, and yak grazing on greenhouse gas emissions cannot be discounted in alpine grassland ecosystems (Wang et al, 2022, 2023). These findings support our goal of building a sustainable and resilient grassland ecosystem worldwide (Sun et al, 2022).…”

“…Currently, grasslands are severely degrading due to climate fluctuations and F I G U R E 1 Research regions of the Special Issue (SI). The research regions of this SI ranged from basin scale to continental scale, and included forest, grassland, saline-alkali land, desert land, and other fragile ecosystem types(Bhardwaj et al, 2022;Chen et al, 2022;Feng et al, 2023;Hashimi et al, 2022;He et al, 2022;Jia et al, 2023;Liu et al, 2022;Ravisankar et al, 2022;Wang et al, 2022. Xu et al, 2022Yang et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022Zhang et al, , 2023.…”

Trait‐based mechanistic approach highlights global patterns and losses of herbivore biomass functional diversity

“…Less attention has been devoted to lighter (‘small’) terrestrial herbivorous mammals (body mass <~5–10 kg), in spite of their important influence on ecosystem function and structure (Bomske & Ahlers, 2021; Dickman, 1999). Small herbivores can change soil properties including moisture, carbon and nitrogen content through bioturbation (e.g., burrowing and soil redistribution), consumption and excretion, which can alter above and below‐ground plant biomass and in greenhouse gas emissions (Wang, Pang, & Guo, 2022; Wang, Sun, et al., 2022). Overall, the sphere of influence of small mammals appears comparable to larger animals as it includes nutrients, carbon cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes (Poe et al., 2019; Wang, Pang, & Guo, 2022; Wang, Sun, et al., 2022).…”