Grazing alters species relative abundance by affecting plant functional traits in a Tibetan subalpine meadow

He, Qifang; Jiang, Kai; Hou, Weicheng; Zhao, Yang; Sun, Xinhang; Wang, Lu; Zou, Yike; Zhu, Zhenhao; Zhang, Hui

doi:10.1002/ece3.7891

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These ecological processes comprehensively induced grassland community degradation, indicating that the nutrient allocation strategies of plants had intensive effects on the grassland ecosystem. Our study also supported the findings of He et al (2021) from a nutrient reallocation perspective [ 47 ]. Moreover, this research proposed an underlying mechanism of grassland ecosystem structure and function degradation driven by grazing at the individual, population, and community levels.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Plant functional traits determine the characteristics of the population and community, and are also the key to assessing the degradation of grassland ecosystem productivity in grazed grasslands [ 47 ], and their study has become a hotspot in grazed grassland research. Nutrient reallocation between stems and leaves has significant effects on plant functional traits in grazed grasslands [ 28 , 44 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutrient reallocation between stem and leaf drives grazed grassland degradation in inner Mongolia, China

Liu

et al. 2022

BMC Plant Biol

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Background Decline in height and aboveground biomass of the plant community are critical indicators of grassland ecosystem degradation. Nutrient reallocation induced by grazing occurs among different organs, which balances the trade-off between growth and defense. However, it is not yet clear how nutrient reallocation strategies affect plant community structure and functions in grazed grasslands. A grazing experiment was conducted in a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. We investigated plant community characteristics and measured plant functional traits of dominant species (Leymus chinensis and Cleistogenes squarrosa) at individual and population levels. Carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) concentrations of stem and leaf in the two species were also determined. Results N, P, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn concentrations in leaves and stems of L. chinensis and C. squarrosa significantly increased with grazing intensity, and microelements (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) were more sensitive to grazing. The nutrient slopes of macro- and microelements in leaves were significantly higher than those in stems under grazing, indicating that nutrient resources were preferentially allocated to leaves and enhanced the compensatory growth of leaves in the grazed grassland. With increasing grazing intensity, the aboveground biomass of stems and leaves in the two species significantly decreased, but leaf to stem ratio increased at the individual level, indicating that plants preferentially allocated biomass to leaves under grazing. The increase in leaf to stem ratio due to nutrient reallocation between the two organs significantly reduced height and aboveground biomass at population and community levels, driving grassland ecosystem degradation. Conclusion Our study revealed the driving forces of community structure and function degradation in grazed grasslands from the perspective of nutrient resource allocation, and provided insights into plant adaptation strategies to grazing.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient reallocation between stem and leaf drives grazed grassland degradation in inner Mongolia, China

Liu

et al. 2022

BMC Plant Biol

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“…, intensity + frequency) shapes the functioning strategy of plant communities ( e.g. , speed of regrowth, photosynthetic capacity, speed of nutrient cycling; see He et al 2021 ; Moreno García et al 2014 ; Zheng et al 2015 ) by increasing the survival rate and the successful establishment of certain plant species to the detriment of functionally contrasting species and by triggering physiological responses of vegetation that converge into plant communities with defined ecological functions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Key Grazing Behaviours of Beef Cattle Identify Specific Genotypes of the Glutamate Metabotropic Receptor 5 Gene (GRM5)

Moreno García,

Perelman,

Dynes

et al. 2024

Behav Genet

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Genotype-phenotype associations between the bovine genome and grazing behaviours measured over time and across contexts have been reported in the past decade, with these suggesting the potential for genetic control over grazing personalities in beef cattle. From the large array of metrics used to describe grazing personality behaviours (GP-behaviours), it is still unclear which ones are linked to specific genes. Our prior observational study has reported associations and trends towards associations between genotypes of the glutamate metabotropic receptor 5 gene (GRM5) and four GP-behaviours, yet the unbalanced representation of GRM5 genotypes occurring in observational studies may have limited the ability to detect associations. Here, we applied a subsampling technique to create a genotypically-balanced dataset in a quasi-manipulative experiment with free ranging cows grazing in steep and rugged terrain of New Zealand’s South Island. Using quadratic discriminant analysis, two combinations of eleven GP-behaviours (and a total of fifteen behaviours) were selected to build an exploration model and an elevation model, respectively. Both models achieved ∼ 86% accuracy in correctly discriminating cows’ GRM5 genotypes with the training dataset, and the exploration model achieved 85% correct genotype prediction of cows from a testing dataset. Our study suggests a potential pleiotropic effect, with GRM5 controlling multiple grazing behaviours, and with implications for the grazing of steep and rugged grasslands. The study highlights the importance of grazing behavioural genetics in cattle and the potential use of GRM5 markers to select individuals with desired grazing personalities and built herds that collectively utilize steep and rugged rangelands sustainably.

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“…Furthermore, the density of dominant, good competitor species had the highest scores in the ungrazed parcel. When grazing intensity is low, better competitor plants can reach greater height as they acquire more resource, and can overcome resource limitation more effectively in dense, ungrazed vegetation and grow efficiently (Westoby et al, 1999;He et al, 2021). Livestock grazing decreases green biomass and litter (Magnano et al, 2019) which is obviously more pronounced under more intensive grazing.…”

Section: Species Richness and Green Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

High species richness of sheep-grazed sand pastures is driven by disturbance tolerant and weedy short-lived species

Kovacsics-Vári,

Sonkoly,

Tóth

et al. 2024

Preprint

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We selected 15 sheep-grazed sand pastures along increasing grazing intensity to study fine scale biomass patterns of main fractions (green biomass, litter) and that of plant species and functional groups (life forms and social behaviour types). We classified them into five grazing intensity levels based on stocking rate, proximity to drinking and resting places, and the number of droppings and other tracks of grazing animals. We formulated three study questions: i) How does increasing intensity of sheep grazing affect the amount of green biomass, species richness and their relationship in sand pastures? ii) How does increasing intensity of sheep grazing affect the biomass of perennial and short-lived graminoids and forbs? iii) How does disturbance value (expressed in the biomass ratio of disturbance tolerant and ruderal species) change along the gradient of grazing intensity? A unimodal relationship between green biomass and species richness was detected. Along the grazing intensity gradient, we found an increasing trend for species richness; significant differences for green biomass (decreasing trend) and litter (decreasing trend), moreover for graminoids (decreasing trend), and short-lived forbs (increasing trend). We found an increasing amount of disturbance tolerant and ruderal species with increasing grazing intensity. We concluded that stocking rate and proximity to drinking and resting places jointly affected vegetation and created an uneven pattern for composition and amount of biomass in all grazing intensity levels. Our findings might be instructive for pastures in densely populated regions which are prone to the encroachment of disturbance-tolerant and ruderal species.

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Grazing alters species relative abundance by affecting plant functional traits in a Tibetan subalpine meadow

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Cited by 8 publications

References 42 publications

Nutrient reallocation between stem and leaf drives grazed grassland degradation in inner Mongolia, China

Nutrient reallocation between stem and leaf drives grazed grassland degradation in inner Mongolia, China

Key Grazing Behaviours of Beef Cattle Identify Specific Genotypes of the Glutamate Metabotropic Receptor 5 Gene (GRM5)

High species richness of sheep-grazed sand pastures is driven by disturbance tolerant and weedy short-lived species

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