The Tibetan Plateau has a significant role with regard to atmospheric circulation and the mon-soon in particular. Changes between a closed plant cover and open bare soil are one of the striking effects of land use degradation observed with unsustainable range management or climate change, but experiments coupling changes of surface properties and processes with atmospheric feedbacks are rare and have not been undertaken in the world’s two largest al-pine ecosystems, the alpine steppe and the Kobresia pygmaea pastures of the Tibetan plat-eau. We coupled measurements of micro-lysimeter, chamber, ¹³C labeling, and eddy-covariance and combined the observations with land surface and atmospheric models, adapted to the highland conditions. This allowed us to analyze how three degradation stages affect the water and carbon cycle of pastures on the landscape scale within the core region of the Kobresia pygmaea ecosystem. The study revealed that increasing degradation of the Kobresia turf affects carbon allocation and strongly reduces the carbon uptake, compromis-ing the function of Kobresia pastures as a carbon sink. Pasture degradation leads to a shift from transpiration to evaporation while the total sum of evapotranspiration remains unaffect-ed. The results show an earlier onset of convection and cloud generation, likely triggered by enhanced evaporation. Consequently, precipitation starts earlier and clouds decrease the in-coming solar radiation. In summary, the changes in surface properties by pasture degradation found on the highland have a significant influence on larger scales.