Table 2. Plant community characteristics and biomass.
Statistical comparison of overall mean values of plant community characteristics and biomass indices ± standard error (S.E.) in alpine grassland by using paired difference t-test (α = 0.05) between free grazing (FG) plots and grazing exclusion (GE) plots. P-values below 0.05 are in bold.
| Indices | Site | Alpine meadow | Alpine steppe | Alpine desert steppe | Alpine grassland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total cover (TC) | FG (%) | 61.32 ± 5.29 | 14.96 ± 1.36 | 6.74 ± 1.43 | 34.65 ± 5.27 |
| GE (%) | 70.07 ± 3.54 | 25.59 ± 3.46 | 8.74 ± 0.46 | 43.48 ± 5.23 | |
| Vegetation height (VH) | FG (cm) | 2.62 ± 0.56 | 5.39 ± 0.30 | 5.77 ± 0.29 | 4.20 ± 0.39 |
| GE (cm) | 5.63 ± 1.02 | 8.13 ± 1.11 | 6.66 ± 0.19 | 6.85 ± 0.70 | |
| Simpson index (D) | FG | 0.37 ± 0.05 | 0.67 ± 0.02 | 0.43 ± 0.05 | 0.51 ± 0.04 |
| GE | 0.35 ± 0.07 | 0.66 ± 0.02 | 0.23 ± 0.07 | 0.48 ± 0.05 | |
| Shannon index (H) | FG | 0.80 ± 0.11 | 1.32 ± 0.08 | 0.71 ± 0.10 | 1.02 ± 0.08 |
| GE | 0.74 ± 0.13 | 1.31 ± 0.05 | 0.38 ± 0.10 | 0.95 ± 0.09 | |
| Pielou index (E) | FG | 0.42 ± 0.05 | 0.76 ± 0.02 | 0.65 ± 0.09 | 0.60 ± 0.04 |
| GE | 0.43 ± 0.07 | 0.76 ± 0.04 | 0.55 ± 0.14 | 0.59 ± 0.05 | |
| Aboveground biomass (AB) | FG (g m−2) | 70.86 ± 10.82 | 33.95 ± 4.86 | 17.15 ± 5.39 | 48.49 ± 6.56 |
| GE (g m−2) | 80.62 ± 10.94 | 55.39 ± 5.78 | 31.23 ± 3.69 | 63.92 ± 6.28 | |
| Belowground biomass (BB) | FG (g m−2) | 628.27 ± 240.67 | 203.30 ± 26.49 | 218.33 ± 46.71 | 393.85 ± 112.84 |
| GE (g m−2) | 1,010.86 ± 265.88 | 272.80 ± 33.02 | 232.67 ± 36.18 | 596.37 ± 137.11 | |
| Total biomass (TB) | FG (g m−2) | 699.13 ± 241.52 | 237.25 ± 28.49 | 235.48 ± 51.96 | 442.34 ± 114.77 |
| GE (g m−2) | 1,091.48 ± 263.27 | 328.19 ± 37.24 | 263.89 ± 35.96 | 660.28 ± 137.98 |