Abstract
Small semi-fossorial herbivores can affect plant aboveground biomass (AGB) in grasslands and possibly alter the allocation of AGB and belowground biomass (BGB). In this study, plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) was used to investigate such effects at three alpine meadow sites on the Eastern Tibetan Plateau, where pairs of disturbed vs. undisturbed plots were randomly selected and sampled. We also explored the relationships between soil properties and BGB/AGB across the plots in the presence and absence of plateau pikas, respectively. We found that BGB and BGB/AGB were 11.40 and 8.20% lower in the presence of plateau pikas than in their absence, respectively. We also found that the BGB/AGB was positively related to soil moisture and soil total nitrogen (STN) in the absence of plateau pikas. In contrast, BGB/AGB was positively related to STN, soil organic carbon (SOC), soil carbon/nitrogen (C/N), and soil total phosphorus in the presence of plateau pikas. These factors indicated plateau pika disturbance increased AGB allocation. The relationship between AGB and BGB of alpine meadow plants to soil variables was also different between sites with and without plateau pika disturbance. In conclusion, small semi-fossorial herbivore disturbance is likely to alter grassland carbon stock and should be well controlled for sustainable conservation and management of alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau.
Highlights
The allocation of aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) is widely used to characterize the carbon pool dynamics of grassland ecosystems (Pausch and Kuzyakov, 2018; Yang et al, 2018), which is closely related to temperature, precipitation, soil properties, and biotic factors (Patty et al, 2010; Gong et al, 2015)
(R2 = 0.44, p < 0.05), soil C:N (R2 = 0.55, p < 0.05), and soil total phosphorus (STP) (R2 = 0.40, p < 0.05) in the presence of plateau pikas and with soil moisture (SM) (R2 = 0.59, p < 0.05) and soil total nitrogen (STN) (R2 = 0.40, p < 0.05) in the absence of plateau pikas (Figure 4), indicating that the disturbance caused by plateau pikas altered the relationships of BGB/AGB with SM and STN
The effects of plateau pikas on the allocation of AGB and BGB were examined across three sites ranging in elevation from 3,265 to 3,750 m and ranging in average annual precipitation from 250 to 633 mm
Summary
The allocation of aboveground biomass (AGB) and belowground biomass (BGB) is widely used to characterize the carbon pool dynamics of grassland ecosystems (Pausch and Kuzyakov, 2018; Yang et al, 2018), which is closely related to temperature, precipitation, soil properties, and biotic factors (Patty et al, 2010; Gong et al, 2015). It is still unclear how herbivores affect plant biomass allocation, especially for alpine meadows of high elevations. Small semi-fossorial herbivores might modify the allocation of AGB and BGB through their effect on aboveground and belowground interactions (Gao et al, 2008; Deyn, 2017)
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