The CSR strategies of alpine plants and community functional diversity in the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan mountains

Abstract

Many alpine communities of the Tibetan plateau experience both harsh climates and heavy grazing, and the adaptations to such environment are realized in plant functional traits and strategies. We tested, which leaf traits allow to dominate in the two wide-spread alpine communities of the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan mountains, Kobresia alpine meadows and alpine fens, and do meadows and fens differ by community-weighted dominance-linked traits, strategy affinities, and functional diversity. Lower leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and higher specific leaf area (SLA) provides the species dominance in Kobresia alpine meadows, while size traits do not influence the dominance. Both LDMC and SLA have low functional evenness and divergence in the two communities. The prevail of stress-tolerators reflects the abiotic environment of alpine plants, but high affinities to ruderal strategy are possibly related to grazing.