Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2025, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (1): 93-102.DOI: 10.17521/cjpe.2024.0102  cstr: 32100.14.cjpe.2024.0102

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of multi-species grouping on restoration of alpine degraded meadows in Gannan, China

MA Dong-Feng1, JIA Cun-Zhi2, WANG Xue-Peng3, ZHAO Peng-Peng3, HU Xiao-Wen2,*()   

  1. 1College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
    2State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystem, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
    3China State Construction Railway Investment & Engineering Group Co., LTD, Beijing 102600, China
  • Received:2024-04-09 Accepted:2024-08-23 Online:2025-01-20 Published:2025-03-08
  • Contact: HU Xiao-Wen
  • Supported by:
    Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA26020202);National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFC3201602)

Abstract:

Aims Reseeding is one of the key measures for grassland restoration, and selecting reseeding species and their combination is crucial for the restoration effect. The key to grassland restoration is how to rationally combine multiple species to maximize functional complementarity and ensure community stability and multifunctionality.

Methods This study conducted a multi-species combination experiment of native grasses in a typical degraded alpine meadow in Maqu County, Gansu Province.

Important findings The results showed that multi-species reseeding significantly increased the biomass, coverage and species richness of the grassland. We comprehensively evaluated the indexes of aboveground biomass, species richness and proportion of high-quality forage in grassland after mixed reseeding different species combinations. Eventually, the combinations with better performance were screened out as: combinations based on grass mixtures: Elymus nutans + Festuca sinensis + Poa pratensis + Festuca rubra+ Poa crymophila + Puccinellia tenuiflora; combinations based on grass-legume mixes: Elymus nutans + Festuca sinensis + Poa pratensis+ Festuca rubra+ Tibetia himalaica + Medicago ruthenica and Elymus nutans + Festuca sinensis + Poa pratensis + Festuca rubra+ Tibetia himalaica + Medicago ruthenica + Vicia unijuga + Astragalus laxmannii; combinations based on grass-legume-sedge mixes: Elymus nutans + Festuca sinensis + Poa pratensis + Festuca rubra+ Tibetia himalaica + Medicago ruthenica + Vicia unijuga + Astragalus laxmannii +Cyperaceae. These multi-species mixing combinations maintained better community stability and grass production performance during the restoration of alpine degraded meadows in Gannan. This study can provide a reference for alpine grassland restoration in similar degraded areas.

Key words: species configuration, reseeding, alpine meadow, grassland restoration, species diversity