Figure 1
Maps to show the location of study sites. (A) Distribution of grassland types and national nature reserves (NNRs) within the TRHR. (B) The QTP and the TRHR. The natural reserve of the TRHR contains three zones that are referred to as core, buffer, and trial areas. As the first of these is strictly managed with no grazing allowed and with measures implemented to protect endangered species, all development and land use is prohibited; all former residents of this core zone have been resettled elsewhere as this is a ‘no man zone’ area. Conservation is also promoted within the buffer zone in tandem with limited and rotational grazing, while the trial zone area is used for scientific investigations, ecotourism, and other green industries40,88. The digital elevation model (DEM) data with ~30 m resolution used here (A) was obtained from NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Version 3.0 Global 1 arc second dataset (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/)89. The boundary data of QTP, TRHR, and China administrative regions used here (B) were provided by Global Change Research Data Publishing & Repository (http://www.geodoi.ac.cn/weben/doi.aspx?id=135)90, Xu35, and the Data Center for Resources and Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (http://www.resdc.cn/data.aspx?DATAID=200)91, respectively. These maps were created using the software ArcMap 10.2.2 (http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-desktop)92.
