The modified Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model based on the comprehensive and sequential classification system of grasslands (CSCS, a unique vegetation classification system) was used to determine grassland net primary production (NPP) in Gansu province from 1982 to 2011 and its spatio-temporal variability. The relationship between NPP and climate drivers was analyzed. The results showed that annual NPP of grasslands in Gansu province averaged 139.30 gC m^-2 yr ^-1 during the study period. NPP decreased from southeast to northwest across the province. Grassland NPP showed an increasing trend during the period 1982–2011, and the increase rate over the whole period was 92.91%. The highest NPP appeared in summer with more precipitation and higher cumulative temperature conditions; while the lowest values existed in winter. The largest correlation coefficient was found between the average annual NPP and the average annual precipitation (r = 0.77), followed by annual NPP and solar radiation (r = 0.70) or NDVI (r = 0.69), Annual NPP had no significant correlation with annual cumulative temperature (>0°C) or moisture index (K-value). Thus, precipitation is the major controlling factor on the average annual NPP in Gansu grassland. Solar radiation and NDVI also have important effects on grassland NPP in Gansu. These results may provide basic information for sustainable development and utilization of grassland and for the improvement and protection of the ecological environment as well.

The study assessed the overall soil characteristics of grasslands on Qilian Mountains and rated the soil nutrient status with classification standard of the second national soil survey of China. Nemerow index method was used to evaluate the soil fertility of different grassland types. GIS was used to analyze the spatial distribution of the soil nutrients and provided a database for the grassland’s ecological protection and restoration. The study graded the soil organic matter (SOM), total N, and available K at level 2 (high) or above for most regions, available soil-P at level 4, while the soil bulk density, total porosity and pH were 0.77–1.32 g cm⁻³, 35.36–58.83% and 7.63–8.54, respectively. The rank of comprehensive soil fertility index was temperate steppe (TS) > alpine meadow (AM) > alpine steppe (AS) >upland meadow (UM) >alpine desert (AD)> lowland meadow (LM)> temperate desert steppe (TDS)> temperate desert (TD). The areas with high, medium and low soil fertility accounted for 63.19%, 34.24% and 2.57% of the total grassland area. Soil fertility of different grassland types had different main limiting factors, for instance, the pH, total N and SOM were the main factors limiting soil fertility in LM, while pH and available P were the main factors limiting soil fertility in UM, AM, TS and AS. In summary, the grassland soil fertility was generally at the mid-upper level, and the main limiting factors were found in the different types of the grasslands and their spatial distributions were figured out. Our findings also indicated that the typical grasslands and meadows may require phosphorus application, while for desert grasslands, both nitrogen and phosphorus were required to improve their comprehensive soil fertility and grassland productivity.

This research was designed to explore the variation characteristics of soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activity in the Qilian Mountains different grassland types. Thus, 7 grassland types (Upland meadow: UM, Alpine meadow: AM, Temperate steppe: ST, Alpine steppe: AS, Temperate Desert Steppe: TDS, Temperate Desert: TD, Alpine desert: AD) of Qilian Natural Reserve were selected to analyze the variation characteristics of soil enzyme activities and stoichiometry of different grassland types and its relationship with environmental factors. The study indicated that the C/N, C/P, and N/P of different grasslands ranged from 5.08 to 17.35, 2.50 to 72.29, and 0.53 to 4.02.The ranking of different types grassland for the C/N was TS ≥ AM ≥ UM ≥ AS ≥ TDS > AD > TD, and the changing pattern of C/P and N/P is similar to that of C/N. The ranking of different types grassland for the urease enzyme activity was UM ≈AS > AD ≈TDS ≈TS ≈AM > TD, and TS ≈AM ≈UM ≈AS ≈AD > TDS > TD for alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity, and AS ≈AM ≈TS ≈TDS≥UM ≥TD ≈AD for catalase enzyme activity. Based on N/P ratio and RDA analysis, nitrogen was the main factor limiting the grassland productivity, and pH, TN, SOC, Richness index and Simpson diversity index were the main environmental factors affecting the soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activities. Cluster analysis showed that 7 grassland types were clustered into three categories. In conclusion, the stoichiometric characteristics and soil enzyme activities of different grasslands vary with grassland types. Nitrogen was the main factor limiting the grasslands productivity, and pH, TN, SOC, Richness index and Simpson diversity index were the main environmental factors affecting the soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activities, and the grassland Qilian Mountain can be managed in the ecological district according to the clustering results. The results of this study can provide data support and theoretical guidance for the scientific management and ecological protection of grassland in Qilian Mountains Reserve.

Introduction: Near-natural restoration measures enhance the stability of plant life forms in degraded grasslands, facilitating the natural succession of plant communities.Methods: In this study, we investigated the effects of three natural restoration measures on the alpine meadows of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau: banned grazing (BG), rest grazing (RG), traditional grazing (TG), and continuous grazing (CG). We utilized redundancy analysis (RDA), variation partitioning(VP), hierarchical partitioning (HP), and partial least squares pathway modeling (PLS-PM) to dissect the quantitative relationships between the distribution of plant life forms and soil physical properties under these restoration measures.Results and discussion: The results indicated the following: 1) Under each restoration measure, the distribution of life form plants were predominantly characterized by the highest number of hemicryptophytes, followed by geophytes, with the least number of therophytes. We found that the BG treatment had the highest hemicryptophyte height, coverage, aboveground biomass, and importance value, while the CG treatment had the lowest. 2) After near-natural restoration, the soil bulk density (BD) was decreased. The soil moisture characteristics (MC) were increased including soil saturated water content(SSWC), capillary water holding capacity (CWHC), field water capacity (FWC). And capillary porosity (CP) and non-capillary porosity (NP) were increased. 3) VP analysis revealed that MC, BD, and CP together explained 57.4% of the variation in plant life forms communities. 4) The hemicryptophytes benefited from restoration measures and increased CP. In contrast, the decrease in BD negatively affected geophytes. In summary, restoration measures reduce BD by enhancing MC and increasing CP, which affects the distribution of plant life forms. This finding reveals the important role of soil physical properties in plant survival strategies during alpine meadow restoration.

The interrelation between grassland vegetation greenness and hydrothermal conditions on the Tibetan Plateau demonstrates a significant correlation. However, understanding the spatial patterns and the degree of this correlation, especially in relation to minimum and maximum air temperatures across various vertical gradient zones of the Plateau, necessitates further examination. Utilizing the normalized difference phenology index (NDPI) and considering four distinct hydrothermal conditions (minimum, maximum, mean temperature, and precipitation) during the growing season, an analysis was conducted on the correlation of NDPI with hydrothermal conditions across plateau elevations from 2000 to 2021. Results indicate that the correlation between vegetation greenness and hydrothermal conditions on the Tibetan Plateau grasslands is spatially varied. There is a pronounced negative correlation of greenness to maximum temperature and precipitation in the northeastern plateau, while areas exhibit stronger positive correlations to mean temperature. Additionally, as elevation increases, the positive correlation and sensitivity of alpine grassland vegetation greenness to minimum temperature significantly intensify, contrary to the effects observed with maximum temperature. The correlations between greenness and mean temperature in relation to elevational changes primarily exhibit a unimodal pattern across the Tibetan Plateau. These findings emphasize that the correlation and sensitivity of grassland vegetation greenness to hydrothermal conditions are both elevation-dependent and spatially distinct.

Near-natural restoration is acknowledged as an effective strategy for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in degraded grasslands. However, the alterations in SOC fractions, stability, and relative sequestration capacity after restoration of degraded alpine meadows remain uncertain. In this study, we utilized the degraded alpine meadows on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau as a research area, with grazing as the control (CK) and restoration of 20 years of banned grazing (BG) and growing season resting grazing (RG). We analyzed the characteristics of SOC, SOC fractions, recalcitrant index (RI), and relative capacity of soil C sequestration (SCS_capacity) under near-natural restoration measures. The objective of this study was to assess the recovery of SOC following near-natural restoration. The results showed that soil water content (SWC), SOC, soil total nitrogen (TN), and soil total phosphorus (TP) increased, while bulk density (BD) decreased in the degraded alpine meadow after near-natural restoration. In addition, near-natural restoration led to significant increases in particulate organic carbon (POC), readily oxidizable carbon (ROC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) content (P < 0.05). The SOC stock significantly increased, while the RI decreased. Compared to RG, BG had a greater increase in SOC stock. The study showed that 20 years of near-natural restoration in degraded alpine meadows mainly enhanced soil active carbon pools, while short-term restoration did not increase soil carbon stability. Therefore, avoiding re-exposure to overgrazing is essential to maintaining the restoration effect.