Seasonal decoupling of climate and human activity on litter and dung decomposition across the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau

Clicks: 18
ID: 329296
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #107 of 153 articles by views in journal of plant ecology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 153 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract In grassland ecosystems of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, litter and dung decomposition are essential for nutrient cycling and productivity. Using remote sensing data, field observations, and machine learning, we examined spatiotemporal patterns of litter decomposition mass (LDM) and dung decomposition mass (DDM) from 2000 to 2020. Both showed increasing trends: during the growing season (GS), LDM rose from 76.1 to 105.8 kg ha-1 and DDM from 16.9 to 26.6 kg ha-1. During the non-growing season (NGS), LDM increased from 29.0 to 46.6 kg ha-1 and DDM from 1.3 to 4.3 kg ha-1. A consistent southeast-to-northwest gradient was observed, with highest values in the southeast (GS: LDM > 500, DDM > 100 kg ha-1; NGS: LDM > 250, DDM > kg ha-1). During the GS, climate change and human activity both promoted decomposition, positively influencing LDM and DDM across 68.7%/55.8% and 85.9%/81.7% of the total grassland area, respectively. During the NGS, human activity emerged as the near-universal positive driver (> 90% of the area), while the climate weakened substantially, revealing a seasonal decoupling of decomposition controls. Decomposition peaked at ∼4000 m elevation (GS: LDM = 366.6, DDM = 86.2 kg ha-1; NGS: LDM = 156.4, DDM = 9.9 kg ha-1), identifying mid-elevation grasslands as critical nutrient-cycling hotspots. These findings underscore the need for season- and elevation-specific grassland management to sustain ecosystem productivity on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
Reference Key
openalex_W7213987771 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Weikang Zhao, 鹏泽 陈, Xiong Zhao He, Fujiang Hou
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal journal of plant ecology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jpe/rtag233
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtag233
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.