Effects of Eimeria spp. control of plateau pika on the plant community characteristics of alpine grassland

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2024.0168

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a dominant small herbivorous mammal on the Qingzang Plateau, which affects the grassland ecosystem function through feeding, digging and excreting. Eimeriaspp., as the main intestinal parasite of plateau pika, has relatively high species specificity and is a potential new model for population control of plateau pika. However, it is still unclear about the change of plant communities in alpine grassland after control of plateau pika by Eimeriaspp.

Methods In this study, the grassland after control of plateau pika by Eimeria spp. and the control grassland were selected, and the plant diversity and network stability of alpine grassland after different treatments were analyzed to explore the effects of control of plateau pika by Eimeriaspp. on the plant community structure of grassland.

Important findings After field placement of Eimeriaspp., the active burrow entrance of plateau pika decreased significantly. After Eimeriaspp. treatment, grassland total coverage, Shannon-Wiener index, Simpson index and β diversity index increased significantly. The results of the mixed-effects model showed that Eimeriaspp. treatment had a greater impact on the Simpson index and Pielou evenness index. Increased inter-community correlations and average connectivity and stability in co-occurrence network analyses of plant communities after control of plateau pika by Eimeriaspp., and grassland keystone species changed from forbs to gramineae and cyperaceae. The results of this study provide new insights for biodiversity conservation, glires control, and ecosystem adaptive management of alpine grassland on the Qingzang Plateau.

Key words: Eimeria spp., plateau pika, plant community, co-occurrence network analysis, control effect

YAO Bao-Hui, WANG Rong, TAN Zhao-Xian, ZHANG Yan, WANG Yi-Hong, WANG Su-Qin, ZHOU Hua-Kun, QU Jia-Peng. Effects of Eimeria spp. control of plateau pika on the plant community characteristics of alpine grassland[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2025, 49(1): 199-210.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2024.0168

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2025/V49/I1/199

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Changes in the number of effective burrow openings in alpine grasslands on the Qingzang Plateau under different treatments (mean ± SE). CK, control grassland; ES, grassland treated with Eimeria spp. **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001; ns, p > 0.05.

Table 1 Changes in different years and treatments of the active burrow entrance and plant characteristic index (mean ± SE)

指标 Index	2022			2023
指标 Index	CK	ES	p	CK	ES	p
总盖度 Total coverage (%)	71.03 ± 2.09	73.07 ± 2.03	0.488	74.97 ± 1.89	85.90 ± 2.26	<0.001
立枯盖度 Vertical withering coverage (%)	0.71 ± 0.06	0.65 ± 0.08	0.558	0.63 ± 0.10	0.60 ± 0.13	0.842
碎屑盖度 Fragment coverage (%)	2.27 ± 0.21	2.50 ± 0.40	0.608	1.97 ± 0.23	1.90 ± 0.24	0.840
平均高度 Average height (cm)	2.40 ± 0.13	2.72 ± 0.18	0.162	3.28 ± 0.21	2.96 ± 0.21	0.286
丰富度指数 Species richness index	16.57 ± 0.50	15.43 ± 0.62	0.080	11.93 ± 0.31	11.60 ± 0.57	0.613
Shannon-Wiener指数 Shannon-Wiener index	2.26 ± 0.04	2.10 ± 0.07	0.051	1.89 ± 0.04	2.08 ± 0.07	0.015
Simpson指数 Simpson index	0.85 ± 0.01	0.82 ± 0.01	0.135	0.78 ± 0.01	0.83 ± 0.01	0.007
Pielou均匀度指数 Pielou evenness index	0.81 ± 0.01	0.79 ± 0.02	0.360	0.77 ± 0.01	0.86 ± 0.02	<0.001
β多样性指数 β diversity index	0.65 ± 0.01	0.67 ± 0.03	0.674	0.68 ± 0.02	0.74 ± 0.02	0.049

Fig. 2 Contribution of years (Year), Eimeria spp. treatment (ES), and their interaction (Inter) to the changes in plant diversity. A, Species richness index. B, Shannon-Wiener index. C, Simpson index. D, Pielou evenness index. E, β diversity index.

Fig. 3 Plant community co-occurrence network under different treatments. CK2022, Control grassland in 2022; CK2023, control grassland in 2023; ES2022, grassland treated with Eimeria in 2022; ES2023, Grassland treated with Eimeria in 2023. Aco. szechenyianum, Aconitum szechenyianum; Aja. tenuifolia, Ajania tenuifolia; Aju. lupulina, Ajuga lupulina; Ana. lactea, Anaphalis lactea; And. umbellata, Androsace umbellata; Ane. obtusiloba, Anemone obtusiloba; Ant. nitens, Anthoxanthum nitens; Arg. anserina, Argentina anserina; Art. dubia, Artemisia dubia; Art. sieversiana, Artemisia sieversiana; Astr. membranaceus, Astragalus membranaceus; Aste. yunnanensis, Aster yunnanensis; Bup. longiradiatum, Bupleurum longiradiatum; Car. alatauensis, Carex alatauensis; Car. atrofusca, Carex atrofusca subsp. minor; Car. kokanica, Carex kokanica; Cir. souliei, Cirsium souliei; Con. ajacis, Consolida ajacis; Cor. bungeana, Corydalis bungeana; Del. densiflorum, Delphinium densiflorum; Dra. nemorosa, Draba nemorosa; Els. densa, Elsholtzia densa; Ely. nutans, Elymus nutans; Eph. sinica, Ephedra sinica; Eup. fischeriana, Euphorbia fischeriana; Fes. ovina, Festuca ovina; Gal. verum, Galium verum; Gen. algida, Gentiana algida; Gen. farreri, Gentiana farreri; Gen. squarrosa, Gentiana squarrosa; Gen. straminea, Gentiana straminea; Gue. diversifolia, Gueldenstaedtia diversifolia; Gym. gymnandrum, Gymnaconitum gymnandrum; Her. hemsleyanum, Heracleum hemsleyanum; Inc. sinensis, Incarvillea sinensis; Iri. tectorum, Iris tectorum; Kno. sibirica, Knorringia sibirica; Koe. macrantha, Koeleria macrantha; Lag. gaertn, Lagotis gaertn; Lan. tibetica, Lancea tibetica; Leo. leontopodioides, Leontopodium leontopodioides; Leo. nanum, Leontopodium nanum; Lig. virgaurea, Ligularia virgaurea; Lon. semenovii, Lonicera semenovii; Lys. maritima, Lysimachia maritima; Mic. sikkimensis, Microula sikkimensis; Mor. chinensis, Morina chinensis; Mor. kokonorica, Morina kokonorica; Oxy. ochrocephala, Oxytropis ochrocephala; Oxy. qinghaiensi, Oxytropis qinghaiensi; Par. trinervis, Parnassia trinervis; Ped. kansuensis, Pedicularis kansuensis; Per. desmocephala, Pertya desmocephala; Phl. rotata, Phlomoides rotata; Ple. camtschaticu, Pleurospermum camtschaticu; Ple. hookeri, Pleurospermum hookeri; Pot. multifida, Potentilla multifida; Pot. nivea, Potentilla nivea; Prz. tangutica, Przewalskia tangutica; Ran. japonicus, Ranunculus japonicus; Sau. pulchra, Saussurea pulchra; Sau. stella, Saussurea stella; Sci. distigmaticus, Scirpus distigmaticus; Ste. chamaejasme, Stellera chamaejasme; Sti. aliena, Stipa aliena; Sti. capillata, Stipa capillata; Swe. bimaculata, Swertia bimaculata; Tar. mongolicum, Taraxacum mongolicum; Tha. alpinum, Thalictrum alpinum; Tha. aquilegiifolium, Thalictrum aquilegiifolium; Ver. polita, Veronica polita.

Table 2 Parameters related to the plant community co-occurrence network under different treatments

	节点 Node	边 Edge	平均连通度 Average connectivity	平均聚类系数 Average clustering coefficient
CK2022	38	243	12.789	0.790
CK2023	31	257	16.581	0.835
ES2022	34	237	13.941	0.642
ES2023	39	438	25.528	0.828

Fig. 4 SPEC-OCCU plots show the key plant species in different treatments. The x-axis represents occupancy, i.e., how well the plant species are distributed across all 30 quadrats of different treatments; and the y-axis represents specificity, i.e., whether they are also found in other treatments. CK2022, control grassland in 2022; CK2023, control grassland in 2023; ES2022, grassland treated with Eimeria in 2022; ES2023, grassland treated with Eimeria in 2023.

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