Grazing and Grassland Type Drive Divergent Stability Mechanisms Across Alpine Ecosystems on the Qinghai‐Xizang Plateau

ABSTRACT The Qinghai‐Xizang Plateau (QXP) plays a pivotal role in global biodiversity conservation and climate regulation, but its ecosystem stability is increasingly threatened by climate change and human disturbances. Clarifying the spatial patterns and driving mechanisms of ecosystem stability across the QXP is critical for targeted ecological conservation. By integrating remote sensing data and field surveys at 443 sites, we employed random forest analysis, piecewise structural equation modeling, and linear regression to quantify spatial patterns of ecosystem stability and detrended ecosystem stability and disentangle the direct/indirect effects of geographic, climatic, soil, biotic, and grazing factors. Results showed that ecosystem stability and detrended ecosystem stability of alpine grasslands exhibited significant spatial heterogeneity, with the order of stability being alpine meadow > alpine steppe > alpine desert. The dominant drivers of stability varied among grassland types: plant diversity and mean annual temperature (MAT) were the most critical predictors in alpine deserts; grazing intensity (negative effect) and grazing history (positive effect) dominated stability in alpine meadows; and soil total phosphorus (TP, positive effect) and grazing intensity (negative effect) were the key drivers in alpine steppes. Our findings highlight that the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem stability on the QXP is fundamentally driven by grassland type‐mediated coupling of resource availability, community structure, and soil properties. The divergent driving mechanisms among alpine desert, meadow, and steppe underscore the need for type‐specific conservation strategies: prioritizing plant biodiversity protection in alpine deserts, implementing science‐based grazing management in alpine meadows, and enhancing soil nutrient conservation in alpine steppes. Our study clarifies the spatial patterns and driving mechanisms of ecosystem stability across different alpine grassland types on the QXP, providing critical scientific support for formulating region‐specific ecological conservation strategies.