The Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem of the Tibetan highlands – Origin, functioning and degradation of the world's largest pastoral alpine ecosystem

Kobresia pastures of Tibet

verfasst von

Georg Miehe, Per Marten Schleuss, Elke Seeber, Wolfgang Babel, Tobias Biermann, Martin Braendle, Fahu Chen, Heinz Coners, Thomas Foken, Tobias Gerken, Hans-F. Graf, Georg Guggenberger, Silke Hafner, Maika Holzapfel, Johannes Ingrisch, Yakov Kuzyakov, Zhongping Lai, Lukas Lehnert, Christoph Leuschner, Xiaogang Li, Jianquan Liu, Shibin Liu, Yaoming Ma, Sabine Miehe, Volker Mosbrugger, Henry J. Noltie, Joachim Schmidt, Sandra Spielvogel, Sebastian Unteregelsbacher, Yun Wang, Sandra Willinghöfer, Xingliang Xu, Yongping Yang, Shuren Zhang, Lars Opgenoorth, Karsten Wesche

Abstract

With 450,000 km² Kobresia (syn. Carex) pygmaea dominated pastures in the eastern Tibetan highlands are the world's largest pastoral alpine ecosystem forming a durable turf cover at 3000–6000 m a.s.l. Kobresia's resilience and competitiveness is based on dwarf habit, predominantly below-ground allocation of photo assimilates, mixture of seed production and clonal growth, and high genetic diversity. Kobresia growth is co-limited by livestock-mediated nutrient withdrawal and, in the drier parts of the plateau, low rainfall during the short and cold growing season. Overstocking has caused pasture degradation and soil deterioration over most parts of the Tibetan highlands and is the basis for this man-made ecosystem. Natural autocyclic processes of turf destruction and soil erosion are initiated through polygonal turf cover cracking, and accelerated by soil-dwelling endemic small mammals in the absence of predators. The major consequences of vegetation cover deterioration include the release of large amounts of C, earlier diurnal formation of clouds, and decreased surface temperatures. These effects decrease the recovery potential of Kobresia pastures and make them more vulnerable to anthropogenic pressure and climate change. Traditional migratory rangeland management was sustainable over millennia, and possibly still offers the best strategy to conserve and possibly increase C stocks in the Kobresia turf.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Bodenkunde
AG Bodenchemie

Externe Organisation(en)

Philipps-Universität Marburg
Universität Bayreuth
Universität Greifswald
Lund University
Lanzhou University
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Montana State University
University of Cambridge
Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz
Universität Innsbruck
Kazan Volga Region Federal University
China University of Geosciences (CUG)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Universität Rostock
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU)
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Technische Universität Dresden
Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Science of the Total Environment

Band

648

Seiten

754-771

Anzahl der Seiten

18

ISSN

0048-9697

Publikationsdatum

15.01.2019

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Environmental engineering, Umweltchemie, Abfallwirtschaft und -entsorgung, Umweltverschmutzung

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 13 – Klimaschutzmaßnahmen

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.164 (Zugang: Offen)