Researchers empirically tested the potential of artificial grassland creation to restore and revegetate degraded grassland on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. A four-year field test found that the intervention had a positive impact on soil quality, biomass cover, and other relevant metrics.

Nature-based Intervention:

In an effort to better understand possible solutions to the challenge of grassland degradation, researchers at the Southwest University for Nationalities and the Chinese Academy of Science empirically tested the merit of establishing artificial grasslands for restoring and revegetating degraded grassland, especially in heavily degraded areas. An area within the Plateau was designated for grassland planting. First, the grassland was ploughed and harrowed prior to the seeding of perennial grasses by hand at a soil depth of two to three centimetres. Nitrogen was applied for the purpose of fertilisation and finally, the plots were harrowed and tamped to prevent soil erosion. Livestock was excluded from the reseeded plots in the first year of the project, but were allowed re-entry thereafter.

Overview of context and outcomes:

The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau is a globally important terrestrial biome of which two-thirds is covered by grassland. Unfortunately, anthropogenic pressures including seasonal overgrazing, poorly managed land reclamation, road construction, and sand and gold mining have caused severe land degradation. These degradation challenges are further exacerbated by climate change induced impacts including increased warming, drying, presence of pests, wind erosion, and freeze-thaw. After four years of restoration, the researchers examined the results to find that the effort had positive impacts on soil quality, biomass recovery, and several other identified metrics relevant for measuring the extent of restoration and revegetation.