Abstract: In response to rapid climate warming, plants in the alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are increasingly migrating to high altitude or high latitude. However, few studies have addressed the processes and mechanisms of species migration, which limits our comprehensive understanding the responses and adaptation of alpine plants to climate warming. In this review, we summarized related studies on plant migration and analyzed the key processes and mechanisms restricting plant migration to high altitude or high latitude in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the perspective of life history, including seed dispersal, seed germination, seedling establishment, and plant competition. Generally, seed dispersal is the main factor limiting the migration of alpine grassland plants to high altitude or high latitude. Seed germination and seedling establishment also play a role. The competition among mature plants may have limited influence on plant migration. Currently, many studies on QinghaiTibet Plateau focus on model simulation. In the future, long-term in situ observations and field manipulative experiments should be strengthened to clarify the processes and mechanisms underlying species migration in alpine grassland, which would provide theoretical basis for model simulation, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem function maintenance.

Key words: climate warming, seedling establishment, species migration, seed germination, seed dispersal.