Recruitment of seedlings versus ramets as affected by pasture degradation in alpine meadows and the implications for ecological restoration

Background: The degradation of alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has an impact on vegetation recruitment from seedlings and ramets.Aims: Understanding the relative contribution of recruitment by seedling and ramet in alpine meadows is for the ecological restoration of degraded grasslands on the QTP.Methods: An experiment was conducted to investigate seedling and ramet densities, species composition and their relationships with standing vegetation in plots representative of non-degraded (ND), lightly (LD), moderately (MD) and severely degraded (SD) alpine meadows.Results: With increasing degradation and the reduction in vegetation cover, the number of seedlings and ramets declined. The proportion of young plants arising from seedlings was low, with the majority of species reproducing clonally. The establishment of seedlings of forbs in SD meadows led to species-rich, forb-dominant vegetation in these areas.Conclusions: LD and MD meadows appear to be able to be managed by reduced grazing for the restoration of grass- and sedge-dominated pastures. In contrast, restoration of SD meadows will require additional intervention, such as of seeding and weed eradication.