Feida  Sun, Wenye  Chen, Ye  Qing, Lin  Liu, Wei  Liu, 
    The Density of Active Burrows of Plateau Pika in Relation to Biomass and 
  Allocation in the Alpine Meadow Ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 13,Issue 9,
    2014,
    Pages 598-607,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2014.598.607,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2014.598.607)
    Abstract: Understanding the relationships between degrees of Plateau pika density and 
  plants biomass is
  essential for improving the management of pika populations in alpine meadow 
  ecosystems. Twelve survey
  sites with active burrow of plateau pika were classified into four degrees of 
  density: approximately zero-density,
  low-density, medium-density and high-density to evaluate pika populations and 
  biomass allocation
  interactions. The results revealed that plant composition, overall vegetation 
  height and cover, dominant species
  were significantly different among the four sites. Additionally, plant functional 
  groups, aboveground,
  belowground and total biomass, root:shoot ratios and the proportion of living 
  roots were greatest at
  the zero-density site and those at the medium-density site were the lowest. 
  Researchers postulate that pika
  activities may not be the source of the differences but a symptom of grassland 
  degradation. As such, a
  reduction of livestock numbers, a variable rotational grazing system, restorative 
  management techniques and
  community participation in co-management of the meadows are likely to effectively 
  improve grassland
  productivity and deter pika outbreaks. Further, pika population fluctuations 
  should be monitored and when the
  population exceeds the economic threshold of low-density (110 pikas or/and 512 
  active burrows ha<SUP>-1</SUP>) or
  reaches high-density (200 pikas or/and 1360 active burrows ha<SUP>-1</SUP>) integrated 
  management strategies should be
  implemented to protect damage.
    Keywords: Huffman encoding steganographic;DNA cryptography;Threshold secret sharing;algorithm;animal image processing