Effects of livestock overgrazing on the relationships between plant and microbial diversity across the temperate steppes in northern China

Zhao, Xuan; Delgado‐Baquerizo, Manuel; Song, Yueqing; Cai, Jinting; Chang, Qing; Liu, Jushan; Zhu, Honghui; Li, Zhiqiang; Chen, Ying; Song, Xuxin; Zhu, Yan; Wang, Jian Yong

doi:10.1002/ldr.4526

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 53 publications

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“…Rangelands, which occupy approximately 25% of the Earth's land area, is a major contributor to species richness in many ecosystems of the world (Alkemade et al, 2013). Globally, overgrazing is considered the most important driver of land degradation (Pandit et al, 2018; Zhao et al, 2023), that is, negatively impacts rangeland conditions (Cowie et al, 2019). Species diversity is declining in the rangelands, because of high grazing pressure (Alkemade et al, 2013; Lamas et al, 2021; Pringle & Landsberg, 2004), climate change and conversion of rangeland to other land use, especially cropland (Alkemade et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the response of rare and common plant species to human induced rangeland degradation at a landscape scale in western Iran

Faramarzi,

Isselstein

2023

Land Degrad Dev

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Knowledge of plant species distribution and abundance at different landscape scales and management‐induced degradation is essential for the conservation, planning, and enhancement of the biodiversity of rangelands. In this study, additive partitioning of species diversity based on contribution diversity was used to analyze the interaction of landscape scale and grazing intensity factor to better understand the distribution of rare and common species. A total of 64 units (quadrats) were sampled by using a nested hierarchical sampling design at three scales of two regions (semi‐arid vs. Mediterranean), four sites, and four quadrats in both exclosure and grazing areas. The regional‐scale species richness (γs(q)) was calculated by the sum of the quadrat (αs(q)) and site (βs(q)) scale contributions to the region. The calculated rank of αs(q) indicated that an abundance of rare species for exclosures (α < 0.05) and the Mediterranean area (α < 0.01) was significantly greater than for grazing and the arid area, respectively. The highly palatable plants significantly correlated (α < 0.01) with the contribution diversity components (alpha/beta) in the exclosure areas but not in grazed areas. Furthermore, of the measured explanatory variables, the electrical conductivity (EC) of the soil was significantly negatively related to γs(q) which shows a sensitivity of rare species to the variable environmental conditions that are related to human influences interacting with soil and climatic conditions. The vegetation attributes of biomass and vegetation cover were significantly (α < 0.01) higher for managed exclosure sites than the grazed areas. The findings of this investigation demonstrate an increasing trend for rare species in managed and better environmental conditions. In conclusion, the protection and restoration of plant species diversity in semi‐arid and Mediterranean grasslands in western Iran are possible through the application of sustainable management practices by decision‐makers and managers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the response of rare and common plant species to human induced rangeland degradation at a landscape scale in western Iran

Faramarzi,

Isselstein

2023

Land Degrad Dev

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Long-term grazing effects on soil-borne pathogens are driven by temperature

Wang,

Zhang,

Delgado-Baquerizo

et al. 2024

Commun Biol

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Soils support a highly diverse community of plant pathogens, which are highly responsive to global change. Climate and livestock grazing are the main global changes in grasslands, yet, how long-term grazing alone, and in interaction with climate, influence the distribution of soil-borne plant pathogens remain virtually unknown. Here, we present the first long-term regional-scale experimental investigation on the impacts of livestock grazing on soil-borne fungal plant pathogens and their association with plant community across 10 experimental sites spanning a climate gradient in the steppe in Northern China. Our results showed that long-term grazing effects on the diversity and proportion of soil-borne fungal plant pathogens are strongly controlled by temperature, with grazing increasing pathogen richness and proportions largely in cooler grasslands. We further show that long-term grazing supported stronger connections between soil-borne fungal pathogens and plant communities. Our work demonstrates that climate controls the effects of grazing on plant pathogens, which is critical to understand and manage grasslands in a changing world.

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The Restoration Effect of Degraded Grassland Depends on the Response of Species Root Distribution to Resource Availability

Zhao,

Li,

Peng

et al. 2024

Agronomy

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Nitrogen (N) fertilization is an effective practice for restoring degraded grasslands, which might strongly depend on the rooting system and resource competition of individual plant species. The purpose of this study is to explore a method to distinguish the response of various plant root architectures to the resource availability in a mixed ecosystem in situ. Field experiments were conducted using isotope techniques in conjunction with a specialized experimental design at a semiarid grassland location featuring heavily grazed (HG) and moderately grazed (MG) grassland sites with different dominant species. The same amounts of water and 15N-labelled fertilizer were uniformly supplied by a tube fertigation system at soil depths of 0, 15 and 45 cm. At both the HG and MG sites, there was a significant increase in aboveground net primary production (ANPP), water use efficiency (WUE) and 15N use efficiency (15NUE) at the community level with increasing depths of fertigation. The ANPP and plant N uptake exhibited higher values at the HG site compared to those at the MG site, while 15NUE and 15N abundance were significantly lower at the HG site. The annual species Salsola collina Pall. exhibited the highest aboveground biomass (AGB) and 15N abundance compared to all other species. Furthermore, the 15N enrichment of S. collina increased with greater depths of 15N-labelled fertilization, indicating that S. collina might develop a more extensive root system in response to water and N addition in the degraded grassland. Our study highlights that using isotope methods could indirectly distinguish root distribution and resource acquisition. In the recovery of degraded grassland by N fertilizer, we should not only consider the aboveground biomass but also pay special attention to the resource competition of individual plant species due to the possible discrepancy in rooting systems.

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Effects of livestock overgrazing on the relationships between plant and microbial diversity across the temperate steppes in northern China

Cited by 3 publications

References 53 publications

Assessing the response of rare and common plant species to human induced rangeland degradation at a landscape scale in western Iran

Assessing the response of rare and common plant species to human induced rangeland degradation at a landscape scale in western Iran

Long-term grazing effects on soil-borne pathogens are driven by temperature

The Restoration Effect of Degraded Grassland Depends on the Response of Species Root Distribution to Resource Availability

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