Gu, Song

Li, Yingnian

Liu, Wei

Zhao, Xinquan

Zhou, Huakun

Zhou, Li

Zhou, Xinmin

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress Stability of Alpine Meadow Ecosystem on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau Huakun Zhou Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Xinquan Zhao Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Li Zhou Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Wei Liu Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Yingnian Li Chinese Academy of Sciences, China See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/1-6/21 The 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. Presenter Information Huakun Zhou, Xinquan Zhao, Li Zhou, Wei Liu, Yingnian Li, Song Gu, and Xinmin Zhou This event is available at UKnowledge: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/1-6/21 瞯 ]270　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅰ 　Grasslands/Rangelands Resources and Ecology ——— Ecology of Grasslands/RangelandsStability of alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai‐Tibetan PlateauZHOU Huakun , ZHAO Xinquan ,ZHOU L i , L IU Wei , L I Y ingnian , Gu Song and Zhou X inminNorthwest Plateau Institute o f Biology , Chinese A cademy o f Sciences , X ining 810001 China .E‐mail : qhz hhk＠ yahoo .com .cnKey words : alpine meadow , stability , coefficient of variance , ecosystem diversity , net primary production , precipitation ,temperatureIntroduction The stability of grassland ecosystem is one of the most important topics in modern ecology(Bai et al .２００４ ; T ilman& Downing １９９４) . However , little relevant information is available for the alpine meadow on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau( Zhao & Zhou , １９９９) . In this paper , we examined the ecosystem stability and its sensitivity to environmental variations in analpine meadow using the quantitative methods .Material and methods In this study , air temperature and precipitation were measured by regular meteorological methods . Theabove‐ground net primary production was measured by the harvest method . The annual variations of precipitation and mean airtemperature from １９５７ to ２０００ , and the above‐ground net primary production of the K . humilis meadow from １９８０ to ２０００were collected .In this paper ,E ＝ ( ΔyΔx ) / (珔y珔x ) ＝ b/ (珔y珔x )which can measure the stability of grassland ecosystem . When E does not change with x or time ( t) in a given period , the E isconstant . The constant E means the measurement of system stability of abiotic factor . Furthermore , it is easy to compare eachother because the parameters are dimensionless .Results and discussion Comparison of alpine meadow ecosystem stability with other five natural grassland ecosystems in Israeland southern Africa indicates that the alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau is the most stable ecosystem .The alpine meadow ecosystem with relatively simple structure has higher stability , which indicates that community stability isnot only correlated with biodiversity and community complicity but also with environmental stability . The high stability of thealpine meadow ecosystem may be resulted also from the adaptation of the ecosystem to the alpine environment .Conclusions In this study , we use the coefficients of variation ( CV) and stability ( E) obtained from the Haibei Alpine MeadowEcosystem Research Station to characterize the ecosystem stability . The results suggest that the net primary production of thealpine meadow ecosystem was more stable ( CV ＝ １３ .１８％ ) than annual precipitation ( CV ＝ １６ .５５％ ) and annual mean air‐temperature ( CV ＝ ２８ .８２％ ) . The net primary production was insensitive either to the precipitation ( E ＝ ０ .０７８２ ) or to airtemperature ( E ＝ ０ .１１１３) . In summary , the alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau is much stable .ReferencesTilman D , Downing J A . (１９９４) . Biodiversity and stability in grasslands . Nature , ３６７ :３６３‐３６５ .Bai Y F , Han X G , Wu J G , et al . ( ２００４ ) . Ecosystem stability and compensatory effects in Inner Mongolia grassland .Nature , ４３１ :１８１‐１８４ .Zhao X Q , Zhou X M . ( １９９９ ) . Ecological basis of alpine meadow ecosystem management in Tibet : Haibei Alpine MeadowEcosystem Research Station . Ambio ,２８ :６４２‐６４７ .- - I -

Stability of Alpine Meadow Ecosystem on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2449&amp;context=igc

Stability of Alpine Meadow Ecosystem on the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

University of Kentucky