Grazing and selenium influence community stability by increasing asynchrony and sedge, forbs stability in alpine meadow of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

Grazing is a major driving force of biodiversity, functions and stability of alpine meadows. In selenium-deficient alpine meadows, moderate selenium supplementation can promote plant growth and increase selenium content within the food web. However, the combined effect of grazing and selenium (Se) addition on the stability of alpine meadow communities within selenium-deficient soil is still unclear. Therefore, we conducted a three-year experiment in an alpine meadow of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), with two stocking rates (0 and 6 sheep months ha−1) and six levels of Se addition (0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 g ha−1) to explore how grazing and Se addition affect community stability and its relationship with species richness, species asynchrony and functional group stability. Results showed that the community stability, species richness and biomass response ratio of the community increased gradually with the increase in the selenium application under grazing and enclosure treatments, reaching the maximum values at 20 g ha−1. However, when the selenium addition exceeded 20 g ha−1, the above mentioned indexes were decreased gradually, especially under grazing. Structural equation model showed that grazing and selenium addition indirectly affected the temporal stability of sedges and forbs, thus influencing the temporal stability of the community. Results of this study indicated that the alpine meadow can maintain high species diversity and community temporal stability under moderate grazing combined with selenium addition, providing a scientific basis for selenium-enriched grazing management in alpine meadows.