The effect of grazing management on plant species richness on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

In Maqu County, Gansu Province, China, there are two types of grazing management. Under multi-household (MH) management, grassland is jointly managed by two or more households without fences between pastures. Under single-household (SH) management, fenced-off parcels of grassland are used. SH management was imposed in the belief that it would alleviate grassland degradation. Comparable land parcels with similar stocking rates subject to MH and SH management were identified and surveyed to determine the species present and species density (m )2 ). MH land had greater number values than SH but the differences were not significant. A further analysis indicated that the number of households using MH land influenced species richness. There was also evidence to suggest that the quality of the forage available deteriorated under SH management. It was concluded that MH grazing resulted in greater species richness than SH and is perhaps an important contributor to biodiversity conservation and grassland management for the region.

The Roles of Overgrazing, Climate Change and Policy as Drivers of Degradation of China's Grasslands

“…2 Cao et al (2011aCao et al ( , 2011bCao et al ( , 2013 found ecological benefi ts including greater biomass, species diversity and coverage under multi-household management compared to singlehousehold management in Maqu, with plant species richness increasing with the more extensive areas associated with larger multi-household units.…”

Responses of root exudation and nutrient cycling to grazing intensities and recovery practices in an alpine meadow: An implication for pasture management

“…In fact, pasture management through common agricultural approaches such as the Household Production Responsibility System has proven to be a failure, because of the degradation caused by overgrazing to improve herder incomes simply through increasing the number of animals (Li et al 2007;Cao et al 2011). Nowadays, co-management or multi-household arrangements including village and kin-group levels have been applied (Kemp et al 2013).…”

“…In June 2014, the peak growth season, a 1 ha plot of typical fallow meadow (no grazing from the beginning of the year) was selected and three experimental treatments (control or no grazing, moderate, and heavy grazing) were set up as a completely randomized block design with three replicates. Grazing levels were determined based on the stocking rates according to the method of Cao et al (2011) and Sun et al (2014). The stocking rates of the meadow under moderate and heavy grazing were 1.2 and 2.9 yaks ha −1 , which resulted in approximately 30% and 80% utilization of annual forage production, respectively.…”

Species-area relationship within and across functional groups at alpine grasslands on the northern Tibetan Plateau, China

“…Alpine pastures on the Plateau are traditionally grazed by yaks and/or sheep and are managed by single or multiple families (Cao et al 2011;Cao et al 2013). Livestock grazing can affect plant species composition, which influences the form and parameters of SAR in many habitats (Hiernaux 1998;de Bello et al 2007;Chen et al 2008).…”