Seeding alpine grasses in low altitude region increases global warming potential during early seedling growth

Abstract

Introduction of alpine grasses to low altitude regions has long been a crucial strategy for enriching germplasm diversity, cultivating and acclimating high-quality species, enhancing ecosystem resilience and adaptability, as well as facilitating ecosystem restoration. However, there is an urgent need to investigate the impacts of planting Gramineae seeds on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly during the critical stage of early plant growth. In this study, four species of grass seeds (Stipa breviflora, Poa pratensis, Achnatherum splendens, Elymus nutans) were collected from 19 high-altitude regions surrounding the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and sown at low-altitude. Measurements of GHG emissions at early seedling growth in the mesocosm experiment using static chamber method showed a strong increase in the cumulative emissions of CO2 (5.71%–9.19%) and N2O (11.36%–13.64%) (p < 0.05), as well as an elevated CH4 uptake (2.75%–5.50%) in sites where the four grass species were introduced, compared to bare soil. Consequently, there was a substantial rise in global warming potential (13.87%–16.33%) (p < 0.05) at grass-introduced sites. Redundancy analysis showed that seed traits, plant biomass, and seedling emergence percentage were the main driving biotic factors of three GHGs fluxes. Our study unveils the potential risk of escalating GHG emissions induced by introducing high altitude grasses to low altitude bare soil, elucidating the mechanism through linking seed traits with seedling establishment and environmental feedback. Furthermore, this offers a new perspective for assessing the impact of grass introduction on ecological environment of introduced site.