Effects of grazing on leaf traits of four degraded indicator plants in Guinan

To study the response and adaptation strategies of degraded plants to environmental changes, the effect of grazing disturbance on leaf carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content and their stoichiometric characteristics, leaf dry matter content, and specific leaf area were analyzed in four degraded indicator plants in the alpine meadow ecosystem of Guinan County, Qinghai.The results showed that the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus content and their stoichiometric ratio in the leaves of the four speciesshowed a trend of unchanged carbon content, increased nitrogen and phosphorus content, and decreased stoichiometric ratio (C/N, C/P, and N/P) with the increase of grazing intensity. Furthermore, the growth of plants was limited by nitrogen after heavy grazing. The interaction showed that the change in grazing intensity significantly affected the leaf traits of the four plants (P < 0.01), and had the greatest impact on leaf phosphorus content (P < 0.001). In addition, specific leaf area was the most affected by species, showing species differences among different plants. It was suggested that the four plants showed a trend of increased nutrient storage as grazing intensity increased, but the regulation of specific leaf area showed species specificity.