How to translate text using browser tools
22 May 2020 Clipping by Plateau Pikas and Impacts to Plant Community
Wen Na Zhang, Qian Wang, Jing Zhang, Xiao Pan Pang, Hai Peng Xu, Juan Wang, Zheng Gang Guo
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) often clip tall plants near active burrow entrances to detect and avoid predators. This clipping behavior influencing plant communities near active burrow entrances has not been well documented. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of this clipping behavior on plant communities across three sites in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau by comparing plant communities near active burrow entrances with communities near abandoned burrow entrances. This study showed that the clipping behavior decreased plant community height and increased plant cover and species richness of the community and had no effect on plant community biomass across three sites or at each site. This study further showed that clipping behavior decreased the plant biomass of the graminoid group and had no effect on the plant species richness of the graminoid group, whereas it increased the plant biomass and plant species richness of the forb group across the three sites or at each site. These findings suggest that a general pattern concerning the effect of the clipping behavior can increase plant species richness and decrease the grazing quality of alpine meadows near active burrow entrances.

© 2020 The Society for Range Management. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Wen Na Zhang, Qian Wang, Jing Zhang, Xiao Pan Pang, Hai Peng Xu, Juan Wang, and Zheng Gang Guo "Clipping by Plateau Pikas and Impacts to Plant Community," Rangeland Ecology and Management 73(3), 368-374, (22 May 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2020.01.010
Received: 22 July 2019; Accepted: 30 January 2020; Published: 22 May 2020
KEYWORDS
active burrow entrance
alpine meadow
clipping behavior
plant community
plateau pika
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top