University thesis:
Dissertation, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 2017
Footnote:
Description:
The Kobresia grasslands represent the world’s largest pastoral ecosystem, covering about 450,000 km² on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. The vegetation is dominated by an endemic sedge (Kobresia pygmaea), forming a lawn with a very durable, felty root mat, which occurs from 3000 to nearly 6000 m a.s.l.. The Kobresia ecosystem supports the livelihood of the Tibetan herders, for whom it is an essential grazing ground. Furthermore, it hosts tremendous terrestrial biodiversity and stores large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrients. This unique ecosystem has, however, slightly been inve...