Effect of grazing intensity on carbon and nitrogen in soil and vegetation in a meadow steppe in Inner Mongolia

Han, Guodong; Hao, Xiying; Zhao, Mengli; Wang, Mingjun; Ellert, B. H.; Willms, Walter D.; Wang, Mingjiu

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2007.11.009

Cited by 228 publications

(152 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Finally, the HYDE dataset describes the extent of land use but not the intensity. This limitation may be particularly important for the grazing category, as SOC levels have been shown to decline with increasing grazing pressure (38), although this effect appears to be dependent upon grass species composition, with C3 grasses showing large declines and C4 grasses showing small gains in SOC with increased grazing pressure (39). It is very likely that, taking these limitations together, our estimate of soil carbon debt covers only a smaller fraction of the actual debt due to human influence.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Sanderman

Hengl

Fiske

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

935

495

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Human appropriation of land for agriculture has greatly altered the terrestrial carbon balance, creating a large but uncertain carbon debt in soils. Estimating the size and spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) loss due to land use and land cover change has been difficult but is a critical step in understanding whether SOC sequestration can be an effective climate mitigation strategy. In this study, a machine learning-based model was fitted using a global compilation of SOC data and the History Database of the Global Environment (HYDE) land use data in combination with climatic, landform and lithology covariates. Model results compared favorably with a global compilation of paired plot studies. Projection of this model onto a world without agriculture indicated a global carbon debt due to agriculture of 133 Pg C for the top 2 m of soil, with the rate of loss increasing dramatically in the past 200 years. The HYDE classes "grazing" and "cropland" contributed nearly equally to the loss of SOC. There were higher percent SOC losses on cropland but since more than twice as much land is grazed, slightly higher total losses were found from grazing land. Important spatial patterns of SOC loss were found: Hotspots of SOC loss coincided with some major cropping regions as well as semiarid grazing regions, while other major agricultural zones showed small losses and even net gains in SOC. This analysis has demonstrated that there are identifiable regions which can be targeted for SOC restoration efforts.agriculture | soil organic matter | climate change | soil degradation T he incredible rise of human civilizations and the continuing sustainability of current and future human societies are inextricably linked to soils and the wide array of services soils provide (1-3). Human population and economic growth has led to an exponential rise in use of soil resources. Roughly 50 million km 2 of soils are currently being managed to some degree by humans for food, fiber, and livestock production (4), leading to the declaration that we live on a "used planet" (5). The consequences of human domination of soil resources are far ranging (6, 7): accelerated erosion, desertification, salinization, acidification, compaction, biodiversity loss, nutrient depletion, and loss of soil organic matter (SOM).Of these soil threats, loss of SOM has received the most attention, due to the critical role SOM plays in the contemporary carbon cycle (8, 9) and as a key component of sustaining food production (10, 11). Despite the intense research interest in SOM and soil organic carbon (SOC) as the dominant component of SOM, there remain many unknowns (12) that impede progress in implementing sound land management strategies to rebuild SOC stocks (13).Conversion of native soil to agricultural uses typically leads to a decline in SOC levels (14-16). The rate and extent of decline in SOC stocks should vary greatly across the globe, due to differences in soil properties, climate, type of land-use conversion, and, importantly, the specific manage...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Sanderman

Hengl

Fiske

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

935

495

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“…While some authors found an increase in SOC stock with intensively managed grasslands (Conant et al 2003;Reeder et al 2004), others concluded that high stocking rates reduce the aboveground grass biomass and, as a consequence, diminish soil C stocks, which affect the labile fractions such as the particulate organic matter (Silveira et al 2013;Smith et al 2014). Regarding to this subject, Han et al (2008) observed a decrease of 33 and 24 % in SOC and total N (0-30-cm depth), respectively, under heavy grazing when compared to light grazing in a semiarid continental steppe in northeastern Inner Mongolia. These results were confirmed by Steffens et al (2008), who found a deterioration of different soil properties including organic carbon in a heavily grazed steppe in the same semiarid region.…”

Section: Livestock Integration Into Dryland Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Proper grazing management should maintain a favorable C balance in the ecosystem versus haymaking or combined practices (Oates and Jackson 2014;Ziter and MacDougall 2013). For example, the use of conservative practices to avoid overgrazing or to fence plots has represented a solution to erosion damages in Chinese grasslands (Fang et al 2010;Han et al 2008).…”

Section: Livestock Integration Into Dryland Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

Plaza‐Bonilla¹,

Arrúe

Cantero‐Martínez

et al. 2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

131

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“…In China, grasslands occupy about 400 million ha. Of this, 78.8 million ha is located in Inner Mongolia with 30.7 million ha (39%) as desert steppe (Han et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of increasing temperature and nitrogen input on greenhouse gas emissions from a desert steppe soil in Inner Mongolia

Wang

Hao

Shan

et al. 2011

Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

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We investigated the effect of increasing soil temperature and nitrogen on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O)] from a desert steppe soil in Inner Mongolia, China. Two temperature levels (heating versus no heating) and two nitrogen (N) fertilizer application levels (0 and 100 kg N ha C or applying 100 kg ha À1 year À1 N fertilizer had no effect on the overall GHG emissions. Seasonal variability in GHG emission reflected changes in temperature and soil moisture content. At an average CH 4 consumption rate of 31.65 mg C m À2 h À1 , the 30.73 million ha of desert steppe soil in Inner Mongolia can consume (sequestrate) about 85 Â 10 6 kg CH 4 -C, an offset equivalent to 711 Â 10 6 kg CO 2 -C emissions annually. Thus, desert steppe soil should be considered an important CH 4 sink and its potential in reducing GHG emission and mitigating climate change warrants further investigation.

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Effect of grazing intensity on carbon and nitrogen in soil and vegetation in a meadow steppe in Inner Mongolia

Cited by 228 publications

References 40 publications

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Soil carbon debt of 12,000 years of human land use

Carbon management in dryland agricultural systems. A review

Influence of increasing temperature and nitrogen input on greenhouse gas emissions from a desert steppe soil in Inner Mongolia

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