1.College of Animal Science and Veterinary Science, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
2.State Key Laboratory of Sanjiangyuan Ecology and Plateau Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Jointly Established, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, China
3.Key Laboratory of Adaptive Management of Alpine Grassland in Qinghai Province, Xining 810016, China
The alpine grassland in the Sanjiangyuan region is seriously degradedand appearing a large area of "black soil beach", which seriously threatens the local ecological security and animal husbandry production. Planting artificial grassland is the key measure to repair the black soil beach. In 2002, four species of grasses, Festuca sinensis, Puccinellia distans, Stipa penicillata and Leymus secalinus, were introduced to the black soil beach to establish artificial grassland. The community characteristics of artificial grassland, such as species composition, height, coverage, density, aboveground biomass and species diversity of plant community were analyzed in year 2024. Four artificial grassland vegetation communities were dominated by species of Gramineae after 23 years of introduction and planting. Festuca kryloviana served as the dominant species in areas of Puccinellia distans and Stipa penicillata planted communities, whereas Festuca kryloviana and Leymus secalinus functioned as co-dominant species in Leymus secalinus planted area. In contrast, Festuca sinensis consistently maintained the dominant position in the community. The aboveground biomass of Festuca sinensis planted area reached to 1047.1 g/m2, which was 75.2%, 119.1% and 132.3% significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of the areas planted with Puccinellia distans, Leymus secalinus and Stipa penicillata, respectively. The diversity index of plant community between four species of grasses planted areas was significantly different, and the species richness was the highest in the area of Puccinellia distans planted with 3.11. Simpson diversity index, Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou evenness index were the highest in Leymus secalinus planted area In summary, Festuca sinensis, Leymus secalinus and Festuca kryloviana have strong adaptability in degraded grassland with better community structure and long-term stability in the grassland ecosystem.
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