Across China: Chinese scientists propose key factor in enhancing Qinghai-Tibet Plateau marsh ecological resilience

LANZHOU, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have newly presented key evidence demonstrating that spatial pattern formation drives the ecological resilience of alpine marsh on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to the Lanzhou University.

"This new study provides real-world evidence that spatial self-organizing pattern enhances the resilience of marsh ecosystems on the plateau and clarifies the underlying mechanism," said Ma Miaojun, professor at the College of Ecology of Lanzhou University and leader of the study.

Ma noted that the spatial self-organization pattern refers to the formation of heterogeneous spatial patterns created by the feedback mechanisms of an ecosystem, manifested in forms such as neat stripes, spots, and ring-shaped patterns. These patterns play a crucial role in enhancing ecosystem productivity, stability, and resilience.

Amid accelerating environmental changes, spatial self-organizing patterns in ecosystems play a role in avoiding abrupt shifts by generating stable domains of different shapes and sizes. Consequently, they can help transform abrupt shifts into gradual changes, thereby enhancing the resistance and persistence of ecosystems. This stabilizing effect is referred to as ecological resilience.

The goal is to trace the evidence and mechanisms for this phenomenon in natural ecosystems. Here, the study team of the College of Ecology of Lanzhou University conducted a large-scale plant community and spatial pattern survey across 116 sites in the alpine marsh on the eastern region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, according to Ma.

These samples include the composition of plant communities, climatic and soil factors, as well as spatial self-organizing pattern characteristics.

The sampling region on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is located at the junction of Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. This region is home to the world's largest and highest-altitude alpine marsh wetland ecosystem. It is an important water supply area for the Yellow River and has multiple ecosystem functions such as carbon sink, water conservation and biodiversity maintenance, according to Ma.

Researchers analyzed whether the formation of spatial patches enhances the resilience of alpine marsh ecosystems and examined its mechanisms. They proposed a conceptual model for enhancing the resilience of alpine marsh wetland ecosystems through the formation of spatial patches.

The alpine marsh shifted to a stable state characterized by multiple hummock characteristics during degradation. The hummock formation enhanced the compositional similarity between hummock-associated communities and the desired alpine marsh, thereby driving ecological resilience and making the system less susceptible to catastrophic transitions, according to the study results.

Furthermore, an increase in hummock area and height, coupled with a reduction in hummock number, enhanced both environmental heterogeneity and plant beta diversity.

"Published in the journal Ecology, our new study also provides important scientific basis for the protection and restoration of the alpine marsh wetland ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Ma said. ■