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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Impacts of burrows and mounds formed by plateau rodents on plant species diversity on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Ruixin Wu A B , Qi Chai C , Jianquan Zhang C , Mengying Zhong A , Yuehua Liu A , Xiaoting Wei A , Duo Pan A and Xinqing Shao A D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Grassland Science Department, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.

B Pratacultural College, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730070, China.

C College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China.

D Corresponding author. Email: shaoxinqing@163.com

The Rangeland Journal 37(1) 117-123 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ14056
Submitted: 29 April 2014  Accepted: 15 December 2014   Published: 5 February 2015

Abstract

The relationships among environmental factors, rodent activity disturbance and plant-community diversity were studied across four sites in a prefecture of the ‘Three-River-Source’ region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It was found that burrow number and mound area had little impact on plant diversity indices, which were mainly affected by altitude, soil total P and pH. Altitude and mound area, especially mound area, can strongly affect the aboveground biomass and the vegetation cover of plants was mainly influenced by mound area. There was some evidence that moderate levels of disturbance by rodents could lead to the highest levels of plant diversity. These findings indicated that moderate levels of disturbance by rodents may be beneficial to grassland productivity and plant diversity. Understanding these impacts is vital for better rangeland management practices so that rodents should be controlled within a suitable range rather than being exterminated.

Additional keywords: alpine meadow, environmental factor, plant-community diversity. rodent activity disturbance, ‘Three-River-Source’ region.


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