Ecological basis of Alpine meadow ecosystem management in Tibet: Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station

Alpine meadow and shrub are the main pasture types on the Tibetan Plateau, and they cover about 35% of the total land area. In order to understand the structural and functional aspects of the alpine ecosystem and to promote a sustainable animal production system, the Haibei Alpine Meadow Research St ation was established in 1976. A series of intensive studies on ecosystem s tructure and function, including the energy flow and nutrient cycling of th e ecosystem, were the main tasks during the first 10 years. Meanwhile, stud ies with 5 different grazing intensities on both summer and winter pasture have been conducted. In the early years of the 1990s, the research station started to focus its research work on global warming, biodiversity and sust ainable animal production systems in pastoral areas. Various methods for im proving degraded pasturelands have been developed in the region.