Synergistic effect of above- and belowground short-term recovery in alpine meadows driven by grass debris mulching

Meng, Lingchao ; Deng, Shangyin ; Dang, Zhiqiang ; Zhao, Jingxue ; López-Vicente, Manuel (Universidad de Zaragoza) ; Wu, Gao-Lin

Resumen: Alpine grassland ecosystems are facing severe degradation due to climate change and anthropogenic activities, necessitating effective recovery strategies. Conventional approaches often improved productivity, but fail to achieve soil functions and ecosystem multifunctionality. This study examined the efficacy of grass debris mulching (cultivated grassland recovery with mulching, CGRM) compared to traditional cultivated grassland recovery (cultivated grassland recovery, CGR) in rehabilitating the severely degraded alpine meadows located in the Tibetan Plateau, China. A three-year field experiment was conducted with 21 closed plots, including the extremely degraded alpine meadow as control (EDAM), the normal alpine meadow (NAM), and the two recovery treatments CGRM and CGR. Grassland ecosystem short-term recovery effectiveness was assessed through microhabitat, above- and belowground ecosystem components. Results demonstrated that CGRM significantly enhanced microhabitat by increasing soil moisture (+16.17 %) and stabilizing temperature (+34.04 %) at 0–10 cm soil layer. It enhanced aboveground recovery with greater plant coverage (+34.82 %), density (+71.12 %), aboveground biomass (+54.87 %), and belowground biomass (+31.94 %) of 0–30 cm soil layer surpassing CGR. Despite a short-term decrease in soil organic carbon (–16.2 %),CGRM improved soil pore structure (+8.45 %), water-holding capacity (+20.66 %), water transport capacity (+258.47 %) and erosion resistance capacity (+109.15 %). Overall, CGRM achieved 26.30 % higher overall ecosystem recovery than CGR by balancing trade-offs among microhabitat, above- and belowground ecosystem components. Our study challenges the conventional paradigm that prioritizes rapid greening over functional recovery. These results demonstrate that grass debris mulching enhances both structural and functional recovery, providing a scalable approach for restoring degraded alpine ecosystems under climate warming.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2025.110031

Año: 2026

Publicado en: AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT 397 (2026), 110031 [29 pp.]
ISSN: 0167-8809

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Edafología y Quím.Agríco. (Dpto. CC.Agrar.y Medio Natural)