Global Ecology and Conservation (Apr 2024)
The lost biodiversity and degraded alpine wetlands caused by strong earthquake on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau did not self-restore in the short term
Abstract
Alpine wetlands play important ecological roles by maintaining biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem reliability, stability, and functionality. However, geological disasters, such as earthquakes, cause biodiversity loss and degradation of the alpine wetlands. The robust M7.4 Maduo earthquake in May 2021 resulted in a decrease in the abundance or regional die-off of aquatic organisms and alpine wetlands degradation on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau that year. In the present follow-up study, we determined whether the biodiversity loss and degradation of alpine wetlands caused by this earthquake could self-restore after more than one year. In August 2022, we conducted field investigations at three representative sites in Maduo; determined several biodiversity indices, including species number, density, biomass, Shannon diversity, Margalef richness, and Pielou's evenness, of all the aquatic plants and macrobenthos in the earthquake-affected and unaffected alpine wetlands; and obtained soil samples for the determination of different parameters. All six biodiversity indices and the soil organic carbon and moisture contents in the unaffected wetlands were significantly higher than those indices in the degraded alpine wetlands, and the salinity in the unaffected wetlands was significantly lower than that in the degraded wetlands, implying that the lost biodiversity of aquatic organisms and deteriorated edaphic environment were still not restored. Furthermore, all six biodiversity indices of aquatic plants and macrobenthos were positively related to soil moisture and organic carbon contents and negatively correlated with salinity. This study provides scientific insights and suggestions for preventing geological disasters, protecting biodiversity and restoring alpine wetlands.
