Under the combined effect of stocking rate and grazing season, it is very significant to ascertain whether there is a quantitative relationship between plant community characteristics, chemical composition of forage, and grazing behaviors of Tibetan sheep to better utilize native pasture in the northeast region of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). The two consecutive year observation experiments on Tibetan sheep’s grazing behavior were conducted to evaluate the above-stated relationships between stocking rates of 8 sheep/ha and 16 sheep/ha stocking rates in the both the warm and cold seasons. The results demonstrated that at 8 sheep/ha or in the warm season, due to better forage quality, Tibetan sheep had higher herbage mass, forage crude protein (CP) concentration, CP intake, dry matter intake (DMI), and interval between feed boluses and total number of steps, as well as lower fiber concentration than that at 16 sheep/ha or in the cold season. Diurnal intake rate and walking velocity while intaking increased as both average daylight ambient temperature and relative humidity rose. Using the CP concentration, acid detergent fiber (ADF) concentration, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) concentration, and forage metabolic energy (ME) to predict grazing behavior yielded the best fit equation for Tibetan sheep. For local herdsmen to sustainably use the alpine meadow, 8 sheep/ha in the warm season should be considered as the better grazing condition for preventing grassland degradation.

Hydrothermal fluctuation is the major driving factor affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in wetlands, but how wetland drying regulates the temperature dependence of GHG emissions remains uncertain. An experimental incubation was carried out to study the interaction effects of temperature (5, 10, 15, 20°C) and moisture (40%, 60%, 100% WHC) on soil GHG emissions in a karst wetland. The results showed that: 1) the cumulative CO₂ and N₂O emissions and global warming potential (GWP) increased with increasing temperature but decreased with soil drying. 2) There was a decreasing contribution of CO₂ and an increasing contribution of N₂O to GWP with increasing temperature and moisture. 3) Soil CO₂ and N₂O emissions and GWP were positively related to urease activity and negatively related to pH, soil organic matter and catalase. Soil CH₄ emissions were positively related to soil microbial biomass C and N. The hydrothermal changes, soil properties and their interaction explained 26.86%, 9.46% and 49.61% of the variation in GWP. Our results indicate that hydrothermal fluctuation has a significant effect on total GHG emissions by regulating soil properties.