Track 2-13: Ecology and Control of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Pests of Grass and Forage
Description
The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae; see Fig.1 for photo) is a small mammal that lives in the alpine grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau. There are several uncertainties existing in the ecological behavior of the plateau pika and its impact on the alpine grasslands, and this impact has long been a subject under discussion. The mammal will have created both positive and negative impacts to the plateau environment and the alpine ecology. In China the plateau pika is regarded as a pest and has been a target of control or extermination because it is a competitor with livestock for food.It also putatively destroys fragile high-altitude grasslands and accelerates the spread of deserts. On the other hand, some scientists have believed that the plateau pika is important for alpine grasslands and the ecology, by tilling the soil and also by functioning as a keystone species for biodiversity of the plateau. This paper summarizes a part of the pika’s behavior identified through the experiment conducted during the summer of 2012 in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China.
Included in
An Ecological Monitoring of the Plateau Pika and Its Impact on Grassland–An Experiment in the Yushu District, Qinghai Province of China
The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae; see Fig.1 for photo) is a small mammal that lives in the alpine grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau. There are several uncertainties existing in the ecological behavior of the plateau pika and its impact on the alpine grasslands, and this impact has long been a subject under discussion. The mammal will have created both positive and negative impacts to the plateau environment and the alpine ecology. In China the plateau pika is regarded as a pest and has been a target of control or extermination because it is a competitor with livestock for food.It also putatively destroys fragile high-altitude grasslands and accelerates the spread of deserts. On the other hand, some scientists have believed that the plateau pika is important for alpine grasslands and the ecology, by tilling the soil and also by functioning as a keystone species for biodiversity of the plateau. This paper summarizes a part of the pika’s behavior identified through the experiment conducted during the summer of 2012 in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China.
