Soil Organic Carbon Content and Density in Alpine Meadows of the Tibetan Plateau in Response to Pika Outbreaks Along the Altitudinal Gradient, West China

This study investigated the effects of plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) disturbances and altitude on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage characteristics, including SOC content and density (SOCD). In this study, plateau pika outbreak areas and non-outbreak areas at different altitudes were compared in terms of vegetation biomass, soil physicochemical properties, and soil organic carbon content (SOC) and density (SOCD) to establish the relationship between vegetation and soil characteristics (including soil organic carbon content and density). The results showed that soil total nitrogen (TN) content decreased significantly (p < 0.01) with elevation in both plateau sage grouse outbreak and non-outbreak areas, and SOC and SOCD decreased significantly (p < 0.01) in plateau sage grouse outbreak areas, but SOCD increased first and then decreased with elevation in non-outbreak areas. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in total phosphorus (TP) at low elevations and nitrate nitrogen (NO₃⁻-N) at high elevations between outbreak and non-outbreak areas, but other nutrients did not differ hugely between outbreak and non-outbreak areas at the same elevation. Correlation analysis revealed that belowground biomass (BGB) in the plateau pika outbreak area was strongly significantly positively correlated with SOC (p < 0.01); structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that altitude in the plateau pika outbreak area had a direct effect on SOC (path coefficient = −0.882, p < 0.001), but altitude had a reduced influence on SOC and SOCD in the non-outbreak area; nitrate nitrogen in the plateau pika outbreak area and total nitrogen (TN) were the key influencing factors, which exerted a strong direct influence on SOC and SOCD (path coefficient = −0.666 and 0.639 (p < 0.001), respectively). Therefore, increasing vegetation biomass and nitrogen nutrient content through reseeding pasture and fertilization can facilitate the accumulation and recovery of SOC and SOCD in the ecological restoration of degraded alpine meadows, and it is especially important to quickly enrich soil nitrogen content in the outbreak area of plateau pika populations at high altitudes.