Effects of the restoration of alpine meadows with patches on community biomass and its allocation

The serious degradation of alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has greatly affected the community structure and productivity of grasslands. In this experiment, the degraded alpine meadows were divided into bare patches ( BP ), short-term recovered patches ( SRP ), long-term recovered patches ( LRP ) and native alpine meadows ( CK ) in the sample area of Keqihetan, Zexiong Village, Youganning Town, Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Henan County. In order to reveal the impact of grassland degradation on the community structure and aboveground/belowground biomass allocation of alpine meadows, here we measured the total community biomass (TCB), aboveground biomass (AGB), belowground biomass (BGB) and root-shoot ratio (R/S) of alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and investigated their plant community characteristics (coverage and height).The results showed that with the restoration of the alpine meadow, the height first decreased and then increased, the amount of AGB first increased and then decreased, while the coverage and BGB both increased sequentially.However, the BGB decreased with the deepening of the soil layer.We also found that R/S initially decreases and then increases with the patchy restoration of alpine meadows.At the community level, the allocation between AGB and BGB follows an allometric relationship. However, native meadows exhibit isometric allocation, whereas other patch types display allometric allocation.By studying the biomass and its distribution of degraded grassland, we can understand the impact of grassland degradation on the community structure and productivity of alpine meadow.