Qilian Mountains subalpine meadows

• Category: Grassland, Tundra, and Human Biomes.
• Geographic Location: Asia.
• Summary: The alpine meadows of the Qilian Mountains once enjoyed rich biodiversity but now are under increasing pressure from overgrazing and unsustainable use of resources.

The Qilian Mountains are situated at the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, forming the border between Qinghai and Gansu provinces in China. The range is comprised of several parallel ranges that run northwest to southeast, and is bordered by desert areas: the Alashan Plateau to the north and the Qaidam Basin to the south. The range has a temperate continental mountainous climate with cold winters and warm summers. Seasonal rains peak during the summer season.

The mountains are comprised of rocky scree slopes and glaciated peaks. Alpine meadows lie below 10,827 feet (3,300 meters), deciduous shrub is found from 10,827 to 14,764 feet (3,300 to 4,500 meters), and cushion plants grow sparsely above 14,764 feet (4,500 meters). The north-facing slopes are typically wetter and therefore enjoy greater biodiversity, including coniferous forest ecosystems. South-facing slopes are drier, and support alpine meadow and shrub. The Qilianshan National Nature Reserve, on the northern side of the range, includes several habitat types (forest, alpine meadow, and shrub). Inhabitants of the range include Tibetans, Mongolians, Hans, and other ethnic groups.

As natural pastures, the Qilian alpine meadows help store carbon dioxide, but as these pastures become denuded of grass or come under the plow, they are no longer able to store as much carbon, thus degrading their ability to offer the ecological service of slowing greenhouse gas output and global warming. Additionally, alpine rangelands are important because of their high biodiversity and their role in preventing soil erosion.

Seasonal melting of the glaciers in the Qilian Mountains has been a crucial source of water in this dry region. Studies since the 1970s have shown that the glaciers in the Qilian Mountains have been retreating. Natural vegetation once in abundance here helped to conserve the waters and prevented flooding. As the grasslands became denuded, an increased risk of flooding and erosion followed. The streams and rivers that originate in the Qilian Mountains provide irrigation for agriculture, otherwise impossible in the dry Hexi Corridor in Gansu province.

The meadows of the Qilian Mountains are heavily overgrazed, primarily by yaks and Tibetan sheep, leading to fewer grasses and higher proportions of unpalatable and poisonous plants. Even though sheep and yaks have similar forage demands, sheep herds are typically three times larger than yak herds. Traditionally, herders in this region practiced pastoral nomadism, allowing their animals to move from one area to the next. Herd sizes were limited by what the pastures could sustain. This practice prevented the meadows from becoming overgrazed.

In the 1950s, some of the residents of the Qilian Mountains were organized in brigades, which engaged in animal husbandry as well as agriculture, cultivating oats, barley, and rapeseed or canola. In recent decades, the meadows at lower elevations in the Qilian range have begun to be fenced off and allotted to individual families for grazing and cultivating mustard (for oil production). There have been reports of a decrease in grazing productivity, due to more families in the region owning more animals. With the advent of fenced pastures, animals are concentrated and contained, resulting in overgrazed pastures during the summer months.

Midsummer, many herders move their animals to pastures on the north side of the mountains, even though these pastures belong to other families. One positive side effect of enclosing pastures is a noted improvement in the quality of pastures damaged by the zokor, a burrowing rodent similar to the mole. When pastures that were damaged by excessive zokor activity were fenced and reseeded, they recovered productivity within one season. In such enclosed pastures, increased vegetation coverage also leads to improved carbon storage.

Flora and Fauna

Several native plant species here are collected for medicinal uses. Of particular concern is the Chinese caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis), which is found throughout the alpine meadows of the Tibetan Plateau, including the Qilian Mountains. This parasitic fungus infects burrowed caterpillars, overtaking the caterpillar body until nothing remains but the caterpillar-shaped fungus. This fungus is highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine, and despite the ability to artificially cultivate this medicinal substance, the quest for financial gain has led to unsustainable harvesting of the caterpillar fungus.

Among the endangered, vulnerable, or near-threatened animal species whose natural habitats include the Qilian Mountains are the snow leopard, Tibetan gazelle, ibex, white-lipped deer, argali, and wild yak. These animals are endangered as a result of habitat destruction and poaching. Once common across the Tibetan steppe, the Tibetan gazelle has been poached for its pelt as well as for its horns, which are valued in Chinese traditional medicine; the gazelle is now limited to small enclaves, including the Qilian Mountains.

Conservation Efforts

Many plant species native to the Qilian Mountains are rare or endangered as a result of habitat destruction and overcollection for the traditional medicinal market. Since the 1990s, scientists in China and abroad have been focusing their attention on the genetic and chemical properties of these medicinal herbs with the hope of cultivating them commercially. This would alleviate stress on the wild populations, and some cultivated specimens might be used to repopulate natural environments.

The Qilianshan National Nature Reserve (QNNR), established in 1987, includes 10,243 square miles (26,530 square kilometers) of land on the northern side of the mountain range in the Gansu province. Though the reserve includes many habitats, in practice, it is primarily a no-logging zone that protects coniferous forests. Livestock graze in the reserve, with detrimental results for the grassland ecosystems. In 2012, the QNNR area was expanded to better protect the meadow, forest, and alpine scrub. The snow leopards in this area are under the strict protection of the state. Officials set up over 400 monitoring sites each year to evaluate the conservation situation in the region as part of the systematic monitoring project launched in 2011. From 2011 to 2021, the project identified seventy species not previously known to have lived in the mountains.

Bibliography

Carpenter, Chris. "Qilian Mountains Subalpine Meadows." OneEarth, 23 Sept. 2020, www.oneearth.org/ecoregions/qilian-mountains-subalpine-meadows. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

"China’s Qilian Mountains National Park Spots over 70 New Species of Wildlife in Past Decade." Global Times, 6 July 2021, www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1227975.shtml. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

Dong, Shikui. “Revitalizing the Grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.” Grassland Research, vol. 2, no. 3, 2023, pp. 241–50, doi.org/10.1002/glr2.12055. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

Harris, Richard. Wildlife Conservation in China: Preserving the Habitat of China’s Wild West. M. E. Sharpe, 2007.

Kürschner, Harald, et al. “Phytosociological Studies in the North-Eastern Tibetan Plateau (NW China): A First Contribution to the Subalpine Scrub and Alpine Meadow Vegetation.” Botanische Jahrbücher Für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte Und Pflanzengeographie, vol. 126, no. 3, 2005, pp. 273–315, doi.org/10.1127/0006-8152/2005/0126-0273. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

Liu, Wei, et al. “Assessing Soil Organic Carbon Stock Dynamics under Future Climate Change Scenarios in the Middle Qilian Mountains.” Forests, vol. 12, no. 12, 2021, p. 1698, doi.org/10.3390/f12121698. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.

Squires, Victor, et al. Towards Sustainable Use of Rangelands in North-West China. Springer, 2010.