Soil Organic Carbon Content and Density in Response to Pika Outbreaks Along the Altitudinal Gradient in Alpine Meadows of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, West China

作者：Wenzhi Yao, Jing Zhang, Xilai Li · 发表于：Land · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/land14050981 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Plant Parasitism and Resistance、Plant and animal studies、Cassava research and cyanide

This study investigated the effects of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) disturbances and altitude on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage characteristics, including SOC content and SOC density (SOCD). In this study, plateau pika outbreak areas and non-outbreak areas at different altitudes were compared in terms of vegetation biomass, soil physicochemical properties, SOC content and SOCD to establish the relationship between vegetation and soil characteristics (including SOC content and SOCD). The results showed that SOC and SOCD decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in plateau pika outbreak areas, but SOCD increased first and then decreased with elevation in non-outbreak areas. Soil total nitrogen (TN) content decreased significantly (p < 0.01) with elevation in both plateau pika outbreak and non-outbreak areas. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in total phosphorus (TP) at low elevations and nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) at high elevations between outbreak and non-outbreak areas, but other nutrients did not differ hugely between outbreak and non-outbreak areas at the same elevation. Correlation analysis revealed that belowground biomass (BGB) in the plateau pika outbreak area was significantly and positively correlated with SOC (p < 0.01); structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that altitude had a direct effect on SOC (path coefficient = −0.882, p < 0.001) in the plateau pika outbreak area, but only a reduced influence on SOC and SOCD in the no...