Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Vegetation patch patterns, which are used as indicators of state, functionality, and catastrophic changes in the arid ecosystem, have received much attention. However, little is known about the controlling factors and indicators that underlie vegetation patch patterns in the alpine grassland ecosyst...

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Autores principales:	Wei Zhang, Shuhua Yi, Jianjun Chen, Yu Qin, Li Chang, Yi Sun, Donghui Shangguan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Unmanned aerial vehicle Landscape indices Vegetation patch patterns Plateau pika’s disturbance Soil water content Soil temperature Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/fc8581fc3c3b4b51a04a4ad160f8fb8f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:fc8581fc3c3b4b51a04a4ad160f8fb8f2021-12-01T04:48:16ZCharacteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau1470-160X10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107570https://doaj.org/article/fc8581fc3c3b4b51a04a4ad160f8fb8f2021-06-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X21002351https://doaj.org/toc/1470-160XVegetation patch patterns, which are used as indicators of state, functionality, and catastrophic changes in the arid ecosystem, have received much attention. However, little is known about the controlling factors and indicators that underlie vegetation patch patterns in the alpine grassland ecosystem. Here, we firstly studied characteristics of vegetation patch patterns with aerial photography by using an unmanned aerial vehicle and evaluated the vegetation patch-size distribution with power law (PL) and truncated power law (TPL) models on the central part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). We then investigated the effects of environmental factors and biotic disturbances on vegetation patch patterns. The results showed that (1) there were four typical vegetation patch patterns, i.e. spot, stripe, sheet, and uniform patterns; (2) soil water content and air temperature were major environmental factors affecting vegetation patch patterns; (3) biotic disturbance of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) affected vegetation patch patterns by changing the number, area, and connectivity of vegetation patches; and (4) vegetation patch-size distribution parameters were significantly related to soil hydrothermal variables (P < 0.01). We concluded that the development of alpine vegetation patch patterns was controlled by soil hydrothermal conditions and plateau pika’s disturbance. We also proposed that γ (TPL-PL) (difference between absolute values of slopes of TPL and PL curve fits) could serve as an effective indicator for monitoring alpine grassland conditions, and preventing patchiness was a critical task for the alpine ecosystem management and restoration.Wei ZhangShuhua YiJianjun ChenYu QinLi ChangYi SunDonghui ShangguanElsevierarticleUnmanned aerial vehicleLandscape indicesVegetation patch patternsPlateau pika’s disturbanceSoil water contentSoil temperatureEcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Indicators, Vol 125, Iss , Pp 107570- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Unmanned aerial vehicle Landscape indices Vegetation patch patterns Plateau pika’s disturbance Soil water content Soil temperature Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Unmanned aerial vehicle Landscape indices Vegetation patch patterns Plateau pika’s disturbance Soil water content Soil temperature Ecology QH540-549.5 Wei Zhang Shuhua Yi Jianjun Chen Yu Qin Li Chang Yi Sun Donghui Shangguan Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
description	Vegetation patch patterns, which are used as indicators of state, functionality, and catastrophic changes in the arid ecosystem, have received much attention. However, little is known about the controlling factors and indicators that underlie vegetation patch patterns in the alpine grassland ecosystem. Here, we firstly studied characteristics of vegetation patch patterns with aerial photography by using an unmanned aerial vehicle and evaluated the vegetation patch-size distribution with power law (PL) and truncated power law (TPL) models on the central part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). We then investigated the effects of environmental factors and biotic disturbances on vegetation patch patterns. The results showed that (1) there were four typical vegetation patch patterns, i.e. spot, stripe, sheet, and uniform patterns; (2) soil water content and air temperature were major environmental factors affecting vegetation patch patterns; (3) biotic disturbance of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) affected vegetation patch patterns by changing the number, area, and connectivity of vegetation patches; and (4) vegetation patch-size distribution parameters were significantly related to soil hydrothermal variables (P < 0.01). We concluded that the development of alpine vegetation patch patterns was controlled by soil hydrothermal conditions and plateau pika’s disturbance. We also proposed that γ (TPL-PL) (difference between absolute values of slopes of TPL and PL curve fits) could serve as an effective indicator for monitoring alpine grassland conditions, and preventing patchiness was a critical task for the alpine ecosystem management and restoration.
format	article
author	Wei Zhang Shuhua Yi Jianjun Chen Yu Qin Li Chang Yi Sun Donghui Shangguan
author_facet	Wei Zhang Shuhua Yi Jianjun Chen Yu Qin Li Chang Yi Sun Donghui Shangguan
author_sort	Wei Zhang
title	Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
title_short	Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
title_full	Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
title_fullStr	Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
title_full_unstemmed	Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau
title_sort	characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central qinghai-tibetan plateau
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/fc8581fc3c3b4b51a04a4ad160f8fb8f
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Characteristics and controlling factors of alpine grassland vegetation patch patterns on the central Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

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