Does the Short-Term Grazing Affect Functional Group and Plant Species Diversity of Alpine Meadow in the Tibetan Plateau?

Grazing affects the physiological and ecological characteristics of the plant community, through livestock intake and trampling (Georgiadis et al. 1989). Previous studies in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau have shown that the composition and structure of alpine meadow plant communities respond to grazing (Niu et al. 2010). However, the changes to functional groups and species diversity caused by grazing are not well documented, especially with regards to short term effects (McLaren 2008). In this study, different grazing rates were used to determine the relationship between functional groups, community diversity and yak stocking rates. The objective of this study was to reveal plant functional group responses to grazing and to predict the evolutionary trend of alpine meadow plant functional groups and community diversity under different grazing conditions, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the management of degraded grassland and the conservation of grassland diversity