Artificial Management Improves Soil Moisture, C, N and P in an Alpine Sandy Meadow of Western China

Wu, Gao‐Lin; Li, Wei; Zhao, Ling‐Ping; Shi, Zhihua

doi:10.1016/s1002-0160(11)60142-2

Cited by 25 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Soil C, N and P contents could probably be increased by enclosures under conditions of higher annual rainfall, that is, >600 mm (Wu et al ., ). However, under low rainfall conditions, the altitude has a significant influence on these results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…1,400 m) desert rangelands (Zhou et al ., ), and they were lower than the current study (C:N > 10) in alpine desert rangelands at higher altitudes (2,700 m). Under good conditions for vegetation and with high rainfall, the changes in soil N and P contents caused by enclosure were greater than those in soil C (Wu et al ., ). Where natural vegetation is found, the C:N and N:P ratios increased from the top soil layer toward the deeper layers, which can be attributed to N and P deposition in the deeper layers (Su et al ., ), but this does not apply to cultivated or disturbed croplands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The differences in TP among the three soil levels differed from the between-level differences in SOC and TN, whereas TP decreased downwardly from the surface toward the deeper layers (Figure 2). Soil C, N and P contents could probably be increased by enclosures under conditions of higher annual rainfall, that is, >600 mm (Wu et al, 2011). However, under low rainfall conditions, the altitude has a significant influence on these results.…”

Section: Effect Of Enclosure On Soil Carbon Nitrogen and Phosphorusmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Effect of Enclosure on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus of Alpine Desert Rangeland

et al. 2014

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Enclosures have been set-up in rangelands in China since about 1980 to control grazing. This was performed in order to favour the recovery of degraded vegetation and soil. Alpine desert rangeland is an important ecosystem in China, and enclosure was considered a means of rangeland restoration for long-term grazing. Soil properties were studied in a 6-year enclosure experiment, which found that without grazing, vegetation cover and aboveground plant biomass increased significantly. A positive, but not significant, trend in soil bulk density was also found. However, the storage of soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) decreased insignificantly after 6 years of enclosure. The ratio of C:N and C:P of soil increased in the (0-10)-cm and (10-20)-cm layers but decreased in the (20-30)-cm layer. In conclusion, prevention of grazing for 6 years did not significantly improve soil quality or potential carbon sequestration in the alpine desert rangelands. We recommend the removal of fences intended for rangeland and biodiversity protection from such landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Effect Of Enclosure On Soil Carbon Nitrogen and Phosphorusmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Effect of Enclosure on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus of Alpine Desert Rangeland

et al. 2014

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“…Restoration methods such as passive restoration (i.e., removing domestic grazers) and active restoration (i.e., replanting target plant) have been widely used in degraded sandy grasslands [4][5][6][7]. Recently, some ecologists have documented that passive restoration of degraded lands should be considered first because passive restoration relies on the natural succession of a regressive ecosystem to drive recovery without anthropogenic help, which has also excluded the disturbance of domestic animals (i.e., cattle, sheep) [8][9][10]; thus, the cost is much cheaper than the active method.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Seed Bank and Plant Community Development in Passive Restoration of Degraded Sandy Grasslands

et al. 2016

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Abstract:To evaluate the efficacy of passive restoration on soil seed bank and vegetation recovery, we measured the species composition and density of the soil seed bank, as well as the species composition, density, coverage, and height of the extant vegetation in sites passively restored for 0, 4, 7, and 12 years (S0, S4, S7, and S12) in a degraded grassland in desert land. Compared with S0, three more species in the soil seed bank at depths of 0-30 cm and one more plant species in the community was detected in S12. Seed density within the topsoil (0-5 cm) was five times higher in S12 than that in S0. Plant densities in S7 and S12 were triple and quadruple than that in S0. Plant coverage was increased by 1.5 times (S4), double (S7), and triple (S12) compared with S0. Sørensen's index of similarity in species composition between the soil seed bank and the plant community were high (0.43-0.63), but it was lower in short-term restoration sites (S4 and S7) than that in no and long-term restoration sites (S0 and S12). The soil seed bank recovered more slowly than the plant community under passive restoration. Passive restoration is a useful method to recover the soil seed bank and vegetation in degraded grasslands.

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“…Soil nutrients and light resources in the community are basically occupied by forbs, and the establishment of new plant species is much more difficult. Therefore, the improvement of such severely degraded alpine grasslands may require additional restoration measures such as shallow tillage, fence enclosures, and reseeding [47][48][49][50][51].…”

Section: Effects Of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Addition On Alpine Ecosysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Community Production rather than Structure Improvement under Nitrogen and Phosphorus Addition in Severely Degraded Alpine Meadows

Zong

Shi

2019

Sustainability

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Fertilization is a common management measure for the restoration of degraded grasslands. In order to investigate whether fertilization can improve the severely degraded alpine meadows, we conducted a fertilization experiment on the Tibetan Plateau that began in 2008. The treatments were nitrogen (N) addition alone (50 kg N ha−1 year−1, LN; 100 kg N ha−1 year−1, HN) or combined with phosphorus (P) fertilizer [(50 kg N + 50 kg P) ha−1 year−1, LN+P; (100 kg N + 50 kg P) ha−1 year−1, HN + P] in a severely degraded alpine meadow. Eleven consecutive years of N and P fertilization did not significantly change plant species richness, while fertilization reduced the plant species diversity index, with the most significant reduction in HN and HN + P treatments. LN + P and HN + P treatments greatly increased community coverage and aboveground biomass, while N addition alone, especially the HN treatment, significantly reduced community coverage and aboveground biomass. Fertilization had no effect on edible pastures, while N and P fertilization significantly increased the biomass of forbs. The proportion of forbs to total aboveground biomass was more than 90%, and fertilization had no effect on this proportion. This shows that forbs still have an absolute advantage in the community. In addition, HN, LN + P, and HN + P treatments significantly reduced ecosystem stability. Community aboveground biomass was greatly enhanced in the N and P fertilization treatments, and this was beneficial for the ecosystem quality and soil hydrological functioning. However, fertilization treatments did not improve the community structure with either N addition alone or combined with P fertilizer, which was of little significance in providing forages for the sustainable development of livestock husbandry. To improve the structure of severely degraded alpine grasslands, it is necessary to combine other measures such as cutting the roots of forbs, fencing, or reseeding.

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Artificial Management Improves Soil Moisture, C, N and P in an Alpine Sandy Meadow of Western China

Cited by 25 publications

References 20 publications

Effect of Enclosure on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus of Alpine Desert Rangeland

Effect of Enclosure on Soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus of Alpine Desert Rangeland

Soil Seed Bank and Plant Community Development in Passive Restoration of Degraded Sandy Grasslands

Enhanced Community Production rather than Structure Improvement under Nitrogen and Phosphorus Addition in Severely Degraded Alpine Meadows

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