Effect of highway construction on plant diversity of grassland communities in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibet plateau
Zheng Gang Guo A B , Rui Jun Long A D , Fu Jun Niu B , Qing Bo Wu B and Yu Kun Hu CA International Centre for Tibetan Plateau Ecosystem Management, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou City 730020, P.R. of China.
B State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Cold and Arid Region Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou City 730000, P.R. of China.
C Xingjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumchi, P.R. of China.
D Corresponding author. Email: longrj@lzu.edu.cn
The Rangeland Journal 29(2) 161-167 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ07016
Submitted: 28 February 2005 Accepted: 30 May 2006 Published: 24 October 2007
Abstract
During 2002–2004, a broad-scale survey on the plant diversity of grassland communities along a natural elevation gradient in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibet plateau, China, was conducted to investigate the effect of highway construction nearly 30 years ago.
Richness index was not significantly different among undisturbed communities (Kobresia pygmaea meadow, K. humilis meadow, Stipa purpurea steppe, Carex moorcroftii steppe), but significant differences (P < 0.05) were observed for evenness and diversity indices among four undisturbed communities. Three indices significantly decreased from communities 100 m (lightly disturbed communities), 200 m (undisturbed communities), and 50 m (severely disturbed communities) from the Qinghai–Xicang Highway, and three indices of severely disturbed communities were similar to that of 30 m communities (extremely-severely disturbed communities). Diversity and richness indices peaked at intermediate elevations of 4720 m in undisturbed communities and lightly disturbed communities, but were uniform in the severely disturbed communities and extremely-severely disturbed communities along with the increase of elevation.
β-Diversity decreased in communities at 30, 50, and 100–200 m distance from the highway. This indicated that β-diversity of communities was enhanced with the increase of disturbance for each grassland type in the study region. Both undisturbed and disturbed communities showed the same changeable bell-shaped trend with elevation increase, increasing from 4320–4620 m, decreasing from 4720 to 4920 m, and peaking at 4620 to ~4720 m, indicating that elevation from 4620–4720 m was a transition zone in permafrost region.
Additional keywords: disturbed community, undisturbed community, species diversity, beta-diversity.
Acknowledgements
The research was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30730069, 40471032, J0130084), Integrating and strengthening the European Research Area Specific Targeted project RETPEC (032350), and Opening Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil of Engineering (DTGC-2005–06).
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