In order to explore responses of soil microbial communities among different alpine meadows under warming and clipping, soil microorganisms of three alpine meadow sites (low altitude: 4313 m, alpine steppe meadow, 30°30′ N, 91°04′ E; mid-altitude: 4513 m, alpine steppe meadow, 30°31′ N, 91°04′ E; and high altitude: 4693, alpine Kobresia meadow, 30°32′ N, 91°03′ E) were measured using the phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) method. Both warming and clipping significantly reduced PLFA content and changed the community composition of soil microbial taxa, which belong to bacterial and fungal communities in the alpine Kobresia meadow. Warming significantly reduced the soil total PLFA content by 36.1% and the content of soil fungi by 37.0%; the clipping significantly reduced the soil total PLFA content by 57.4%, the content of soil fungi by 49.9%, and the content of soil bacteria by 60.5% in the alpine Kobresia meadow. Only clipping changed the total fungal community composition at a low altitude. Neither clipping nor warming changed the microbial community composition at a moderate altitude. Soil temperature, soil moisture, and pH were the main factors affecting soil microbial communities. Therefore, the effects of warming and clipping on soil microbial communities in alpine meadows were related to grassland types and soil environmental conditions.

Enclosure is one of the most widely used management tools for degraded alpine grassland on the northern Tibetan Plateau, but the responses of different types of grassland to enclosure may vary, and research on these responses can provide a scientific basis for improving ecological conservation. This study took one site for each of three grassland types (alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine desert) on the northern Tibetan Plateau as examples, and explored the effects of enclosure on plant and soil nutrients by comparing differences in plant community biomass, leaf-soil nutrient content and their stoichiometry between samples from inside and outside the fence. The results showed that enclosure can significantly increase all aboveground biomass in these three grassland types, but it only increased the 10–20 cm underground biomass in the alpine desert. Enclosure also significantly increased the leaf nutrient content of the dominant plants and contents of total nitrogen (N), total potassium (K), and organic carbon (C) in 10–20 cm soil in alpine desert, thus changing the stoichiometry between C, N and P (phosphorus). However, enclosure significantly increased only the N content of dominant plant leaves in alpine steppe, while other nutrients and stoichiometries of both plant leaves and soil did not show significant differences in alpine meadow and alpine steppe. These results suggested that enclosure has differential effects on these three types of alpine grasslands on the northern Tibetan Plateau, and the alpine desert showed the most active ecological conservation in the responses of its soil and plant nutrients.

The impact of diurnal unsymmetrical rise in temperature on soil respiration (R_s) is not fully understood; thus, we explored such a warming influence on R_s in an agroecological system of the Lhasa. A field warming experiment (C: control; DW: daytime warming; NW: nighttime warming; DW+NW: daytime plus nighttime warming) was carried out in a naked barley ecological system. The DW, NW and DW+NW treatments dramatically increased soil temperature and decreased soil moisture but did not markedly modify R_s. The effects of DW and NW on soil respiration sensitivity (Q₁₀) during the daytime and nighttime were different; they had no effects on daytime Q₁₀ of R_s, but a significant inhibitory effect on nighttime Q₁₀ of R_s. A diurnal unsymmetrical rise in temperature brought about different results for the Q₁₀ of R_s but did not cause changes in R_s under different experimental treatments in agroecological systems of the Lhasa.

Pennisetum centrasiaticum is widely distributed in arid and semi-arid areas of Tibet. Its rhizome system is developed and has strong resistance to adversity. In this study, the physiological characteristics and drought resistance of P.centrasiaticum seedlings from 12 drought-stressed sites in Tibet were examined at the Lhasa Plateau Ecosystem Research Station of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. PEG-6000 solution with five levels of water potential (0, –0.7, –1.4, –2.1, and –2.8 MPa) was used to simulate drought stress, and malondialdehyde (MDA), proline (Pro) and chlorophyll contents were determined. The balance between production and elimination of reactive oxygen species in P.centrasiaticum was destroyed, leading to membrane lipid peroxidation and the production of MDA, and accelerating the decomposition of chlorophyll. P.centrasiaticum absorbed water from the outside to resist drought by secreting proline and other osmotic regulating substances. The Pro and chlorophyll contents in P.centrasiaticum showed a temporary rising trend, and then decreased with the decrease in water potential. MDA content increased with the decrease in water potential. By using the membership function method, the drought resistance of P.centrasiaticum seedlings from the 12 areas was evaluated, and the results showed that the drought resistance at the sites went from strong to weak in this order: Xietongmen > Linzhou > Sog > Damxung > Tingri > Namling > Gyirong > Linzhi > Purang > Dingjie > Longzi > Sa'gya. The drought resistance of P.centrasiaticum was strong in Xietongmen, Linzhou and Sog. Whether P.centrasiaticum from these three areas is suitable for cultivation in arid and semi-arid areas of Tibet needs further study.

Low temperature is an important limiting factor for alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau. This study is based on data from on-site experimental warming platforms (open top chambers, OTC) at three elevations (4300 m, 4500 m, 4700 m) on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry characteristics of plant communities, both above-ground and below-ground, were observed in three alpine meadow ecosystems in August and September of 2011 and August of 2012. Experimental warming significantly increased above-ground nitrogen content by 21.4% in September 2011 at 4500 m, and reduced above-ground carbon content by 3.9% in August 2012 at 4300 m. Experimental warming significantly increased below-ground carbon content by 5.5% in August 2011 at 4500 m, and the below-ground ratio of carbon to nitrogen by 28.0% in September 2011 at 4300 m, but reduced below-ground nitrogen content by 15.7% in September 2011 at 4700 m, below-ground carbon content by 34.3% in August 2012 at 4700 m, and the below-ground ratio of carbon to nitrogen by 37.9% in August 2012 at 4700 m. Experimental warming had no significant effect on the characteristics of community carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry under other conditions. Therefore, experimental warming had inconsistent effects on the carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry of plant communities at different elevations and during different months. Soil ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen content were the main factors affecting plant community carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry.

Precipitation and growing season length (GSL) are vital abiotic and biotic variables in controlling vegetation productivity in alpine regions. However, their relative effects on vegetation productivity have not been fully understood. In this study, we examined the responses of the maximum normalized difference vegetation index (NDVImax) to growing season precipitation (GSP) and GSL from 2000 to 2013 in 36 alpine grassland sites on the Tibetan Plateau. Our results indicated that NDVImax showed a positive relationship with prolonged GSL (R² = 0.12) and GSP (R² = 0.39). The linear slope of NDVImax increased with that of GSP rather than GSL. Therefore, GSP had a stronger effect on NDVImax than did GSL in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau.