Abstract: Alpine grasslands constitute a key ecosystem for water conservation and regional hydrological regulation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. As typical bioturbation agents, small burrowing mammals including plateau pikas and plateau zokors play a crucial role in regulating water and soil substance transport by reshaping surface-groundwater connectivity. However, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. We review the research progress on the ecohydrological effects of burrowing mammals in alpine grasslands. Targeting two major bottlenecks in current water transport mechanism analysis and model dynamic representation, we clarify the research framework consisting of cave structural characteristics, multi-factor coupling mechanisms, multi-scale effect deduction, and research method integration. This study extracts the dual and nonlinear characteristics of hydrological effects induced by bioturbations under the regulation of rainfall and population thresholds, as well as the spatial scale dependence across point, slope, and watershed scales. On this basis, we propose to establish an integrated “space-sky-ground-well” three-dimensional monitoring technology system and a cross-scale observation and simulation integration framework, and develop a dynamic ecohydrological model with explicitly coupled biological activity modules. Such efforts provide a critical scientific basis for evaluating water resource effects and implementing adaptive management of degraded alpine grasslands under the context of climate change.

Key words: alpine grassland, small burrowing mammal, animal burrow, hydrological connectivity, ecohydrological effect