Abstract:
Dominance and polarizing rule of niche for twenty-two main plant populations in
Elymus nutans/Puccinellia tenuiflora mixed-sown alpine grasslands with different stocking rates were studied. Results show that after three grazing seasons,
Elymus nutans and
Puccinellia tenuiflora are still the dominant plants in plots with different grazing rates, whereas sub-dominant and concomitant plants are highly variable if not vulnerable. Under ifferent grazing conditions, planted
Elymus nutansplant is the competitive winner and restrains growth of
Puccinellia tenuiflora due to its high height, deep and well-developed roots, hence widest niche breadth(0.956),which closely followed by
Puccinellia tenuiflora (0.821). Planted
Elymus nutans and
Puccinellia tenuiflora plants and invading
Poa spp. have larger niche overlaps with other plants, except for
Koeleria cristata, Festuca rubra, Anaphalis lacteal and among each other. There are also larger niche overlaps among
Potentilla anserina, P. multifida and
P.nivea; and
Kobresia humilis, K. parva and
Carex ivanavoe,which exhibit similar phenology. This indicates that larger niche overlaps exist among plant species with similar morphology and phenology, and between species with greater niche breadths over others.Species distributing in two extremities along stocking rate gradients show narrower niche overlaps.