Aboveground net primary productivity of vegetation along a climate-related gradient in a Eurasian temperate grassland: spatiotemporal patterns and their relationships with climate factors

Accurate assessments of spatiotemporal patterns in net primary productivity and their links to climate are important to obtain a deeper understanding of the function, stability and sustainability of grassland ecosystems. We combined a satellite-derived NDVI time-series dataset and field-based samples to investigate spatiotemporal patterns in aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), and we examined the effect of growing season air temperate (GST) and precipitation (GSP) on these patterns along a climate-related gradient in an eastern Eurasian grassland. Our results indicated that the ANPP fluctuated with no significant trend during 2001–2012. The spatial distribution of ANPP was heterogeneous and decreased from northeast to southwest. The interannual changes in ANPP were mainly controlled by year-to-year GSP; a strong correlation of interannual variability between ANPP and GSP was observed. Similarly, GSP strongly influenced spatial variations in ANPP, and the slopes of fitted linear functions of the GSP–ANPP relationship increased from arid temperate desert grassland to humid meadow grassland. An exponential function could be used to fit the GSP–ANPP relationship for the entire region. An improved moisture index that combines the effects of GST and GSP better explained the variations in ANPP compared with GSP alone. In comparisons with the previous studies, we found that the relationships between spatiotemporal variations in ANPP and climate factors were probably scale dependent. We imply that the quantity and spatial range of analyzed samples contribute to these different results. Multi-scale studies are necessary to improve our knowledge of the response of grassland ANPP to climate change.     

Quantitative assessment of the contributions of climate change and human activities on global grassland degradation

Grassland degradation received considerable concern because of its adverse impact on agronomic productivity and its capacity to provide goods and service. Climate change and human activities are commonly recognized as the two broad underlying drivers that lead to grassland degradation. In this study, a comprehensive method based on net primary productivity (NPP) was introduced to assess quantitatively the relative roles of climate change and human perturbations on worldwide grassland degradation from 2000 to 2010. The results revealed that at a global scale, 49.25 % of grassland ecosystems experienced degradation. Nearly 5 % of these grasslands experienced strong to extreme significant degradation. Climate change was the dominant cause that resulted in 45.51 % of degradation compared with 32.53 % caused by human activities. On the contrary, 39.40 % of grassland restoration was induced by human interferences, and 30.6 % was driven by climate change. The largest area of degradation and restoration both occurred in Asia. NPP losses ranged between 1.40 Tg C year^?1 (in North America) and 13.61 Tg C year^?1 (in Oceania) because of grassland degradation. Maximum NPP increase caused by restoration was 17.57 Tg C year^?1 (in North America). Minimum NPP was estimated at 1.59 Tg C year^?1 (in Europe). The roles of climate change and human activities on degradation and restoration were not consistent at continental level. Grassland ecosystems in the southern hemisphere were more vulnerable and sensitive to climate change. Therefore, climate change issues should be gradually integrated into future policies and plans for domestic grassland management and administration.     

草地退化对植物硅分布和植硅体碳汇的影响:以北方农牧交错带草地为例

草地生态系统中,硅(Si)不仅在植物生长过程中扮演着重要的角色,而且通过形成植硅体碳(Phytolith-Occluded Carbon,简称PhytOC)的方式参与陆地生态系统碳循环。近几十年来,由于人为干扰等因素导致的草地退化引起了广泛的关注。本研究中,我们选取了我国北方农牧交错带中30个不同退化程度的样地,分析了8种常见植物(共71个样品)地上部分Si含量和分布特征,并估算了植硅体碳产生通量。结果发现,随着草地退化的加剧,糙隐子草(Cleistogenes squarrosa)地上部分Si含量呈下降趋势,而羊草(Leymus chinensis)表现为先上升后下降的倒"V"型。不同退化程度样地植物地上部分Si平均含量分别为12.25±1.02 g/kg(轻度)、10.56±1.15 g/kg(中度)和8.06±0.93 g/kg(重度),而植硅体碳产生通量显著下降,分别为0.320±0.038 kg/(ha·a)、0.190±0.021 kg/(ha·a)和0.068±0.006 kg/(ha·a)(P<0.05)。研究表明,草地退化对不同种类植物的Si含量和产生通量的影响不同,这可能是由于植物的功能类型不同造成的。草地退化可以导致种群结构的变化和地上净初级生产力(ANPP)的降低,从而影响草地植物地上部分Si的分布和植硅体的固碳能力。当退化严重时,初步估算北方农牧交错带内草地植物地上部分植硅体固碳速率将下降5倍以上。     

Climatic causes of ecological and environmental variations in the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers of China

In the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers of China, glaciers, frozen ground, the hydrological system, and alpine vegetation have changed over the past decades years. Climatic causes of these variations have been analyzed using mean monthly air temperature and monthly precipitation between 1956 and 2000, and monthly evaporation from φ20 evaporation pans between 1961 and 1996. In the source region of the Yangtze River, lower temperature and plentiful precipitation during the 1960s and continuing into the early 1980s triggered a glacier advance that culminated in the early 1990s, while a robust temperature increase and precipitation decrease since 1986 has forced glaciers to retreat rapidly since 1995. Permafrost degradation is another consequence of the climatic warming. The variations in the hydrological system and alpine vegetation are controlled mainly by the climate during the warm season. Warmer and drier summer climate is the major cause of a degradation of the vegetation, desiccation of the high-cold marshland, a decrease in the areas and numbers of lakes and rivers in the middle and north source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, and a reduction in surface runoff in the source region of the Yangtze River for the last 20 years. The causes of eco-environmental change in Dari area, near the outlet from the source area of the Yellow River, are different from those elsewhere in the study area. A noticeable reduction in runoff in the source region of the Yellow River and degradation of alpine vegetation in Dari area are closely related to the permafrost degradation resulting from climate warming.     

青藏高原土壤碳排放研究进展

青藏高原土壤碳排放研究是评估国家区域碳排放量和预测气候变化所可能导致影响的关键. 首先对青藏高原土壤碳排放的关键性影响因子进行探讨, 并分析了土壤碳排放的时空分布格局变化. 目前青藏高原土壤碳排放研究主要是针对高寒草甸及高寒草地生态系统, 较少涉及高寒荒漠, 研究区域较为分散; 土壤碳排放受到气候环境因素、生物因素及人为因素等多重因素的影响, 其中温度、土壤湿度、土壤区系生物、人为因素及多年冻土退化是最关键的影响因素; 土壤碳排放具有明显的时空变异性, 空间变异性在生物群丛、景观、区域和生物群系四个尺度体现, 时间变异性在日、季、年上体现. 总体而言, 青藏高原土壤碳排放的研究较少, 尤其关于大尺度、长时间序列的研究以及土壤碳排放的机理等方面的研究十分缺乏, 有待于后续加强研究.     

The long-term trends (1982–2006) in vegetation greenness of the alpine ecosystem in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The increased rate of annual temperature in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau exceeded all other areas of the same latitude in recent decades. The influence of the warming climate on the alpine ecosystem of the plateau was distinct. An analysis of alpine vegetation under changes in climatic conditions was conducted in this study. This was done through an examination of vegetation greenness and its relationship with climate variability using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer satellite imagery and climate datasets. Vegetation in the plateau experienced a positive trend in greenness, with 18.0 % of the vegetated areas exhibiting significantly positive trends, which were primarily located in the eastern and southwestern parts of the plateau. In grasslands, 25.8 % of meadows and 14.1 % of steppes exhibited significant upward trends. In contrast, the broadleaf forests experienced a trend of degradation. Temperature, particularly summer temperature, was the primary factor promoting the vegetation growth in the plateau. The wetter and warmer climate in the east contributed to the favorable conditions for vegetation. The alpine meadow was mostly sensitive to temperature, while the steppes were sensitive to both temperature and precipitation. Although a warming climate was expected to be beneficial to vegetation growth in the alpine region, the rising temperature coupled with reduced precipitation in the south did not favor vegetation growth due to low humidity and poor soil moisture conditions.     

The relationship of vegetation and soil differentiation during the formation of black-soil-type degraded meadows in the headwater of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

In alpine meadow ecosystems, considerable spatial heterogeneity in forb-dominant vegetation exists as a result of severe grassland degeneration; however, there is limited quantitative information on the vegetative differences between degenerated and pristine grasslands. Therefore, a field study, which seeks to identify the edaphic factors driving the variation in plant composition and distribution, was conducted in a severely degraded alpine meadow located in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, NW China. Five meadows, an original meadow and four degraded meadows, were used to determine the differentiation and relationships between the vegetation and soil of degraded alpine meadows. The dominated species of these degraded meadows are Ligularia virgaurea–Artemisia gmelinii (LA), Oxytropis ochrocephala–Leontopodium nanum (OL), Aconitum pendulum–Potentilla anserina (AP) and Stellera chamaejasme–Artemisia nanschanica (SA), respectively. The results indicate that vegetation cover, grass biomass, species number and diversity indices clearly decrease from the original to the degraded meadow. Soil water, clay and nutrient content are also reduced with grassland degradation in surface and subsoil layers. The joint study of floristic and edaphic variables confirms that the soil features, especially the bulk density, sand content, pH, salinity, N and K, mainly determine the establishment of vegetation in the severely degraded fields of this study. These results may be useful for alpine grassland ecosystem restoration and management.     

A review of formation mechanism and restoration measures of “black-soil-type” degraded grassland in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The aim of this paper was to review the formation mechanism and restorative measures of the black-soil-type degraded grassland ecosystem of the source area of Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The relationship among plants, animals, soil, climate change, human activity and the black-soil-type degraded grassland was analyzed based on a review of literature and report of previous investigations conducted by the authors. Degradation of the black-soil-type grassland was caused by a set of complex factors such as altitude range, district characteristics and weather conditions, which existed for a long period of time. Livestock overgrazing and climate dryness were the dominant factors that caused the degradation of the grassland in question. In addition, damages done by rodents, especially pikas (Ochotona curzoniae), via burrowing through the turf and gnawing at herbs have sped up the formation process of the degradation of the black-soil-type grassland. Furthermore, with the inflation of the population in the last 20 years, the influence of human activity on grassland degradation cannot be neglected. Based on the different successive stages of degradation of the black-soil-type grassland ecosystem, different restorative measures were suggested. The lightly and moderately degraded grasslands should be kept away from disturbance, such as fencing closure, weeding, fertilizing, using rodenticide, decreasing stocking rate, optimizing population structure stocked and slaughter ages; whereas the artificial and semi-artificial grassland establishment required to restore ecosystems should be applied to heavily and extremely degraded grasslands.     

数据挖掘算法在高寒草地退化驱动因素相关性分析中的应用

高寒草地的退化受到众多自然、人为活动的影响,退化与驱动因素之间的耦合关系复杂。本文以青海省称多县为研究区,提取2005—2014年归一化植被指数(NDVI,normalized difference vegetation index)时间序列数据集,结合温度、降水、社会经济因素,运用基于数据挖掘的提升度算法进行相关性分析,研究影响高寒草地退化指标与表示高寒草地退化指标之间两者的关系。本文采用提升度算法针对3个等级的NDVI、可食量、植株高度与相应的温度、降水、鼠害和放牧强度之间的关系进行分析,能够更精确地分析各驱动因子在不同等级取值范围下对草地不同等级退化的贡献率,发现驱动因素与草地退化之间的影响关系并不是单向的,而是到达一定的程度时会出现逆向影响关系。本研究得到如下结论:(1)草地植被覆盖度低与气温和降水存在负相关;(2)草地可食量低与气温和人口存在负相关,与牲畜存在正相关;(3)地上植株高度低与牲畜呈现正相关。     

Responses of typical grasslands in a semi-arid basin on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to climate change and disturbances

Alpine grassland ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) are vulnerable to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances, which may have significant effects on the QTP’s carbon budgets. In this study, vegetation and soil characteristics were compared among alpine grassland ecosystems in a semi-arid basin on the northeast ridge of the QTP (1) among alpine swamp meadow, meadow, steppe meadow and steppe soils, which represent the direction of succession under climate-warming conditions, and (2) among alpine, degraded and tilled meadow soils to investigate the effects of human disturbance. The results showed that (1) if the alpine grassland ecosystems succeed in this direction, climate warming will cause a loss of carbon, and (2) tilling activity also results in carbon loss. Therefore, these results indicate that anthropogenic disturbance regimes that change more rapidly than climate may exert a more profound influence on carbon dynamics and balance. However, the plots that were set in the present study represented only part of the basin due to road accessibility. Relationships between leaf area index (biomass and soil carbon) and fractional vegetation cover × vegetation height from this study are fairly good, which can be applied at regional scale to estimate carbon pools. In combination with detailed information of grassland types, climate and human activities, the effects of climate change and disturbances can be estimated using remote sensing datasets.     

基于GIMMS NDVI的青藏高原植被指数时空变化及其气温降水响应

青藏高原植被生态系统脆弱, 是研究全球气候变化陆地植被生态系统响应的理想场所。以GIMMS NDVI、 气温和降水及植被类型数据为基础, 利用一元线性回归模型、 相关系数、 偏相关系数及t检验方法, 分析了青藏高原1982 - 2015年NDVI时空变化及其气温降水响应特征, 结果表明： 1982 - 2015年青藏高原NDVI时间变化过程总体表现为不显著的增加过程, 空间变化以显著增加为主, 占总面积的63.26%, 分布在高原北部、 西部和南部; 显著减少集中分布在高原中东部和东南部, 仅占总面积的3.45%。青藏高原主要植被类型NDVI平均值表现为： 阔叶林>针叶林>灌丛>草甸>高山植被>草原>荒漠, 其中草原、 高山植被和荒漠植被NDVI呈显著线性增加过程, 灌丛、 针叶林和阔叶林植被的NDVI呈不显著的减少过程。青藏高原NDVI与气温相关系数空间上呈南北向分布, 具有纬度地带性特征, 显著正相关分布在高原中北部, 显著负相关分布在高原中南部; NDVI与降水的相关系数呈东西向分布, 具有干湿度地带性特征, 显著正相关分布在高原中部, 显著负相关分布在高原东西两侧。研究认为1982 - 2015年青藏高原北部水热条件缺乏区域NDVI出现显著增加趋势, 而高原东南部水热条件充足地区NDVI呈现出显著减少趋势。深入开展植被类型NDVI气候响应的差异性研究, 有助于深入理解全球气候变化影响的区域差异及科学制定植被生态保护政策。     

Use of the temperature–vegetation dryness index for remote sensing grassland moisture conditions in the vicinity of a lignite open-cast mine

Anthropogenic activities, especially resulting in changes in the water conditions, usually disturb biological and agricultural functions of grasslands, leading to their degradation, often on large areas. Remote sensing observations of such changes in grassland ecosystems evoke a great interest, but they are still a difficult task, especially when performed on industrial and mining areas. This paper presents a new effective method of remote sensing of grassland moisture conditions based on temperature–vegetation dryness index (TVDI) calculated from free Landsat imagery, and employing the TVDI spatial variability estimated from a semivariance analysis. The practical applicability of the method is demonstrated on the example of monitoring of the extensive neighborhood of lignite open-cast mine within a period of a few years. Besides, the developed method was validated at the studied area, using in situ information. Thus, we demonstrated that TVDI may serve as an effective indicator of grassland moisture conditions, even in problematic areas.     

高寒草甸植被生产量年际变化及水分利用率状况

分析了海北地区高寒草甸植被2001-2011年11 a耗水量、 生物现存量、 净初级生产量、 水分利用率及其相关性, 结果表明: 植物生长期5-9月耗水量416.30 mm, 植被地上净初级生产量(ANPP)、 地下净初级生产量(BNPP)以及总的净初级生产量(NPP=ANPP+BNPP)分别为393.07 g·m^-2、 945.26 g·m^-2、 1 338.33 g·m^-2, BNPP与ANPP之比为2.404. 8月底植被现存生物量达3 422.92 g·m^-2, 其中地上和地下现存量分别为411.07 g·m^-2、 3 011.85 g·m^-2, BNPP与ANPP之比高达7.327, 说明植被现存量巨大, 归还土壤碳能力强. NPP与5-9月植被耗水量相关性很差, 但与5-9月平均气温具有显著的正相关关系, 表明高寒草甸地区水分条件可满足植物生长的基本需求, 而同期温度是影响NPP提高的重要因素. 11 a来BNPP、 ANPP和NPP平均水分利用率分别为0.958 g·m^-2·mm^-1、 2.326 g·m^-2·mm^-1和3.284 g·m^-2·mm^-1, 表明高寒草甸植被净初级生产具有较高的水分利用率.     

青藏高原多年冻土区两种高寒草地生态系统土壤氮季节变化及其与环境因子的关系

在气候变化背景下,青藏高原多年冻土区生态环境发生着一系列变化并进一步影响土壤氮循环过程,但目前冻融循环及植被生长周期中土壤氮的动态变化还不清楚。以青藏高原腹地的风火山和特大桥地区的两种典型草地生态系统为研究对象,分析了土壤可利用氮（NH₄⁺-N、NO₃^--N、DON）及微生物量氮（MBN）的季节变化。结果表明：土壤铵态氮（NH₄⁺-N）及可溶性有机氮（DON）含量在非生长季高于生长季,土壤硝态氮（NO₃^--N）在生长季高于非生长季;风火山地区高寒草甸生态系统中土壤NH₄⁺-N在融化期含量较高;土壤MBN在植被生长旺盛期降低,在植被生长后期升高;风火山地区高寒草甸生态系统中土壤MBN含量、特大桥地区高寒草原生态系统中土壤可利用氮总量与土壤全氮（TN）含量显著正相关。这表明,土壤全氮含量、植被吸收以及冻融作用均可引起土壤可利用氮及MBN的季节变化。     

黄土丘陵小流域生态用水试验研究——气候和土地利用变化的影响

为探讨黄土高原地区的生态恢复,以半干旱黄土丘陵区安家沟小流域的气象、土壤水分、地形图和土地利用图(1982年和2002年)为源信息,分析了不同植被类型的蒸散量和生态用水量、流域生态用水量及其与气候和土地利用变化的关系。研究结果表明:(1)流域土地利用结构从1982-2002年间变化较大,农地(特别是梯田)增加较快,乔木林地急剧减少,主要表现为毁林、开荒和造田;(2)研究区内各种植被/土地利用类型的蒸散量和生态用水都极大地受控于气候(特别是降雨量)的影响,其年际差异较大;(3)不同植被/土地利用类型间的蒸散量和生态用水差异明显,在各个年份乔灌林的生态用水量均大于农作物和自然草地的蒸散量和生态用水量,但生态用水的差异程度小于蒸散量的差异程度;(4)以自然草地(即荒草地)为标准,农作物的蒸散量和自然草地接近,但乔灌林地的蒸散量和生态用水量均远高于自然草地,难于实现土壤水分平衡;(5)流域土地利用结构的变化(主要是强耗水植被的减少)减小了流域生态用水量,增强了流域的水分平衡能力。     

Postglacial changes in the Asian summer monsoon system: a pollen record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Zhou, W., Yu, S.‐Y., Burr, G. S., Kukla, G. J., Jull, A. J. T., Xian, F., Xiao, J., Colman, S. M., Yu, H., Liu, Z. & Kong, X. 2010: Postglacial changes in the Asian summer monsoon system: a pollen record from the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 528–539. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00150.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. A new pollen record constrained by 32 AMS radiocarbon dates from the Hongyuan peatland in the Zoige Basin reveals the long‐term dynamics of an alpine wetland ecosystem on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau over the last 13 500 years. Changes in pollen assemblages and influxes suggest that local vegetation has experienced three distinct stages, from alpine coniferous forest–meadow (13 500–11 500 cal. a BP), through alpine coniferous forest (11 500–3000 cal. a BP), back to alpine coniferous forest–meadow (3000 cal. a BP–present). This record reflects an ecosystem response along a transition zone where the South Asian and East Asian monsoon systems may have had different palaeoclimatic influences. A comparison of this record with other pollen records across the Tibetan Plateau shows common features with regard to large‐scale Holocene climatic changes, but highlights a pattern of regional temporal and spatial variability that depends on the topography and position relative to the South Asian and East Asian monsoon fronts.     

Understanding the past to interpret the future: comparison of simulated groundwater recharge in the upper Colorado River basin (USA) using observed and general-circulation-model historical climate data

In evaluating potential impacts of climate change on water resources, water managers seek to understand how future conditions may differ from the recent past. Studies of climate impacts on groundwater recharge often compare simulated recharge from future and historical time periods on an average monthly or overall average annual basis, or compare average recharge from future decades to that from a single recent decade. Baseline historical recharge estimates, which are compared with future conditions, are often from simulations using observed historical climate data. Comparison of average monthly results, average annual results, or even averaging over selected historical decades, may mask the true variability in historical results and lead to misinterpretation of future conditions. Comparison of future recharge results simulated using general circulation model (GCM) climate data to recharge results simulated using actual historical climate data may also result in an incomplete understanding of the likelihood of future changes. In this study, groundwater recharge is estimated in the upper Colorado River basin, USA, using a distributed-parameter soil-water balance groundwater recharge model for the period 1951–2010. Recharge simulations are performed using precipitation, maximum temperature, and minimum temperature data from observed climate data and from 97 CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, phase 5) projections. Results indicate that average monthly and average annual simulated recharge are similar using observed and GCM climate data. However, 10-year moving-average recharge results show substantial differences between observed and simulated climate data, particularly during period 1970–2000, with much greater variability seen for results using observed climate data.     

Climatic and geologic controls on the piezometry of the Querença-Silves karst aquifer,Algarve (Portugal)

Karst aquifers in semi-arid regions, like Querença-Silves (Portugal), are particularly vulnerable to climate variability. For the first time in this region, the temporal structure of a groundwater-level time series (1985–2010) was explored using the continuous wavelet transform. The investigation focused on a set of four piezometers, two at each side of the S. Marcos-Quarteira fault, to demonstrate how each of the two sectors of the aquifer respond to climate-induced patterns. Singular spectral analysis applied to an extended set of piezometers enabled identification of several quasi-periodic modes of variability, with periods of 6.5, 4.3, 3.2 and 2.6 years, which can be explained by low-frequency climate patterns. The geologic forcing accounts for ~15 % of the differential variability between the eastern and western sectors of the aquifer. The western sector displays spatially homogenous piezometric variations, large memory effects and low-pass filtering characteristics, which are consistent with relatively large and uniform values of water storage capacity and transmissivity properties. In this sector, the 6.5-year mode of variability accounts for ~70 % of the total variance of the groundwater levels. The eastern sector shows larger spatial and temporal heterogeneity, is more reactive to short-term variations, and is less influenced by the low-frequency components related to climate patterns.     

Satellite evidence for no change in terrestrial latent heat flux in the Three-River Headwaters region of China over the past three decades

Terrestrial latent heat flux (LE) in the Three-River Headwaters region (TRHR) of China plays an essential role in quantifying the amount of water evaporation and carbon sink over the high altitude Tibetan Plateau (TP). Global warming is expected to accelerate terrestrial hydrological cycle and to increase evaporation. However, direct field observations are lacking in this region and the long-term variability in LE remains uncertain. In this study, we have revised a semi-empirical Penman LE algorithm based on ground eddy covariance (EC) observations from an alpine grass site and provided new satellite-based evidence to assess LE change in the TRHR during 1982–2010. Our results show that the average annual terrestrial LE in the TRHR is about 38.8 W/m ² and there is no statistically significant change in annual LE from 1982 to 2010. We also found that during the same time period, terrestrial LE over the east region of the TRHR significantly decreased, on average, by 0.7 W/m ² per decade, which was driven primarily by the surface incident solar radiation (R_s) limitation, offsetting the increased LE over the west region of the TRHR caused by the increased precipitation (P) and soil moisture (SM).     

Tag-encoded pyrosequencing analysis of bacterial diversity within different alpine grassland ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,China

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is sensitive to climate change, with ecosystems that are important with respect to scientific research. Here high-throughput DNA pyrosequencing was used to assess bacterial diversity within different alpine grassland ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. In total, 34,759 sequences were obtained for the three ecosystems––alpine cold swamp meadow (ASM), alpine cold meadow (AM), alpine sandy grassland (ASG), and 31 phyla and a small number of unclassified bacteria were detected. The bacterial community structures were different for each alpine grassland ecosystem. The Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the predominant phyla in all three ecosystems. Besides this, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi were abundant in ASM, Bacteroidetes, Gemmatimonadetes and Verrucomicrobia were abundant in AM, and Actinobacteria were abundant in ASG. In addition, the functional bacterial genera also differed with each alpine grassland ecosystem. The ASM contained more nitrifying bacteria, methane-oxidizing bacteria and sulfur- and sulfate-reducing bacteria, whereas the ASG ecosystem contained more nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Pyrosequencing provided a greater insight into bacterial diversity within different alpine grassland ecosystems than previously possible, and gave key data for the involvement of bacteria in the protection of alpine grassland ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China.