Delimiting important ecological conservation areas is critical for ecological integrity, sustainability of the ecological service function, and management of environmental degradation. However, the process of defining important areas for ecological protection purposes is elusive, especially in the Qinghai Province of China, which is home to unique ecosystems. To address this issue, we selected biodiversity (endangered mammals, birds, and plants), soil retention, water storage, and carbon sequestration to define and delimit important areas for the protection of these ecosystem functions. We found that the important endangered birds of Qinghai Province were mainly distributed in the eastern and southern parts, while important endangered plants were relatively centralized, with relatively high distribution in the Golog of Qinghai Province. The total amounts were 2.245 billion tons, 46.513 billion m³, and 60.91 Tg for soil retention, water storage, and carbon sequestration in Qinghai ecosystems, respectively. Soil retention and carbon sequestration presented a similar trend, with high levels in the eastern and low levels in the western parts of Qinghai, while water storage was higher in the south than in the north. Among various ecosystem types, the grassland ecosystem was the main body of soil retention, water retention, and carbon sequestration; soil retention, water retention, and carbon sequestration were quite small in the desert, town, and city ecosystems. By evaluating the spatial distribution of the service functions of ecosystems, we found that extremely important areas of the ecosystem service function in Qinghai Province totaled 247,200 square kilometers, and the important areas summed to 124,500 square kilometers. Combined extremely important and important areas of the ecosystem service function reached 371,700 square kilometers and accounted for 53.36% of the total area of Qinghai. The ecological protection red line has now become an important national strategy for ecological protection. The demarcation of the ecological protection red line has great significance in safeguarding Qinghai’s ecological security. It is the basic guarantee for sustainable economic and social development in China.

The Asian water plantain, Alisma orientale (Sam.) Juzep, is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant. The dried tubers of the Alisma orientale, commonly referred to as Alismatis rhizome (AR), have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a variety of diseases. Soil properties and the soil microbial composition are known to affect the quality and bioactivity of plants. Here, we sought to identify variations in soil fungal communities and soil properties to determine which would be optimal for cultivation of A. orietale. Soil properties, heavy metal content, and pesticide residues were determined from soils derived from four different agricultural regions around Shaowu City, Fujian, China, that had previously been cultivated with various crops, namely, Shui Dao Tu (SDT, rice), Guo Shu Tu (GST, pecan), Cha Shu Tu (CST, tea trees), and Sang Shen Tu (SST, mulberry). As fungi can either positively or negatively impact plant growth, the fungal communities in the different soils were characterized using long-read PacBio sequencing. Finally, we examined the quality of A. orientale grown in the different soils. Our results show that fungal community diversity of the GST soil was the highest with saprotrophs the main functional modes in these and SDT soils. Our data show that GST and SDT soils were most suitable for A. orientale growth, with the quality of the AR tubers harvested from GST soil being the highest. These data provide a systematic approach at soil properties of agricultural lands in need of replacement and/or rotating crops. Based on our findings, GST was identified as the optimal soil for planting A. orientale, providing a new resource for local farmers.

Actinobacteria play major roles in human health and soil nutrient biogeochemical cycles, which are important for environmental protection. On the northern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, the Qiangtang Alpine Grasslands have recently become degraded to varying degrees due to global climate changes and human disturbances. Here, we compared the community diversity, composition, and potential metabolic functions of Actinobacteria in soil from different degradation conditions through Illumina MiSeq sequencing. The soil Actinobacteria community structure in the Qiangtang Alpine Grasslands of northern Tibet was dominated by Nocardioides, Gaiella, Solirubrobacter, and Pseudonocardia, with evidence of previously unidentified taxa. Compared with non-degraded and severely degraded grasslands, the moderately degraded grassland had the highest soil Actinobacteria alpha-diversity, and the community composition showed significant differences between degraded grasslands with different degrees of degradation. The interactions between Actinobacteria and KO functions predominantly show negative correlations, but significant positive correlations outnumber significant negative ones. This study showed that Actinobacteria diversity and potential ecological functions in the alpine grasslands of northern Tibet decreased with grassland degradation due to the loss of vegetation cover. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively manage and protect the Qiangtang Alpine Grasslands on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

The Mitika alpine wetland is a globally important wetland on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which serves as a vital carbon reservoir on Earth’s surface. However, the seasonal variation characteristics of its soil methanotrophs communities remain poorly understood. To deepen our understanding of the role of this biome in geochemical cycles, we selected three typical ecosystems from the Mitika wetland in northern Xizang: alpine grassland, swamp meadow, and fen. Surface soil samples were collected across spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons. Using high-throughput sequencing, we analyzed methanotrophs diversity, community structure, and responses to environmental factors. The dominant phyla were α-Proteobacteria (Type II aerobic methanotrophs), candidate_division_NC10, and unclassified bacteria. At the genus level, Methylocystis , Methylococcus , and Methylocapsa were the primary taxa. Neutral model analysis indicated that random processes dominate community assembly, with winter communities better fitting the neutral model and exhibiting lower diffusion constraints. Among environmental factors, pH, Total Nitrogen (TN), Electrical Conductivity (EC), Salt (Salt), and Water Content (WC) showed significant correlations with certain methanotrophs groups. Structural equation modeling further revealed that fundamental soil physicochemical factors exert a significant positive influence on alpha diversity. Our findings reveal the seasonal dynamics and ecosystem differences of methanotrophs communities in the Mitika alpine wetland, thus contributing to a more thorough understanding of carbon cycling functions in alpine wetlands.