Light Grazing Significantly Reduces Soil Water Storage in Alpine Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

• DOI: 10.3390/su12062523
• Publication Date: 2020-03-24T11:16:08Z
• Authors: Xiaowei Guo; Licong Dai; Qian Li; Dawen Qian; Guangmin Cao; Huakun Zhou; Yangong Du
• Keywords: Grassland Degradation; Litter; Water storage

The degradation of alpine grasslands directly affects their ability to conserve water, but changes in soil water storage grassland under different degrees are poorly understood. Here, we selected four plots along a gradient: no-degradation (NG), lightly degraded (LG), moderately (MG) and severely (SG). We then applied an automatic moisture monitoring system study processes. Results revealed significant (p < 0.05) differences among NG, LG, MG SG. Specifically, LG lost 35.9 mm compared with while SG decreased by 24.5%, 32.1% 36.7%, respectively. shallow groundwater table, air temperature grass litter were the key controlling factors grassland. Grazing future global warming will significantly reduce grasslands.