Grazing exclusion erodes the forbs functional group without altering offspring recruitment composition in a typical steppe

Zhao, Ling‐Ping; Cui, Zeng; Liu, Yü; Chang, Xiaofeng; Wu, Gao‐Lin

doi:10.1002/ldr.3485

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The plant materials harvested from the quadrat were oven‐dried for 48 h at 65°C and then weighed as the AGB. To analyze the effect mechanism of grazing on community biomass stability, plants were classified into two groups, including the grasses and forbs functional groups (Liu et al, 2015; Zhao et al, 2020; Appendix S1: Table S1). The forbs functional group includes a few leguminous plants because of their small proportion of the community biomass (<1%; Appendix S1: Figure S2).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short‐term grazing reduced community stability by decreasing community‐wide asynchrony and dominant species stability

Hao,

Diao,

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

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The effects of grazing on natural grasslands' plant composition, diversity, and productivity depend on the intensity of grazing. Besides grazing intensity, animal composition is also important. However, whether and how sheep grazing intensity affects the temporal biomass stability of plant communities is unclear. Here, we conducted a 5‐year grazing experiment to evaluate the effects of four grazing intensities on community biomass stability and the underlying mechanisms. Our results showed that the higher grazing intensity significantly decreased community biomass stability, community‐wide asynchrony, functional groups asynchrony, dominant species stability, and species dominance, but did not affect species richness. The results of structural equation modeling revealed that grazing decreased community biomass stability by decreasing dominant species stability and community‐wide asynchrony, which was attributable to the reduction in plant functional group asynchrony. Our results highlight the importance of functional group composition and dynamics in predicting the changes in community function in sheep grazing grassland ecosystems. Under continuous seasonal grazing conditions, the sustainable function and human services of grasslands in the agropastoral ecotone might decrease in the future.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short‐term grazing reduced community stability by decreasing community‐wide asynchrony and dominant species stability

Hao,

Diao,

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

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“…In the past few decades, scholars have successfully implemented many restoration measures to alleviate degradation and increase vegetation cover in degraded grasslands [ 33 , 34 ]. At present, fencing is the most effective and economical measure to restore degraded grassland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Organic Fertilizer Addition to Vegetation and Soil Bacterial Communities in Saline–Alkali-Degraded Grassland with Photovoltaic Panels

Jia,

Bai,

Gong

et al. 2024

Plants

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The Songnen grassland is an important resource for livestock production in China. Due to the intensification of anthropogenic activities in recent years, vegetation degradation has worsened, and the salinization of grassland has become increasingly serious, which severely affects the sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry. In this study, organic fertilizer addition was carried out at saline-and-alkaline-degraded Songnen grassland sites with photovoltaic panels, and we investigated the effects of organic fertilizer treatments on the vegetation and soil bacteria in these areas. The results showed that both organic fertilizer treatments increased the community composition and diversity indices of plants (p < 0.05); they also had significant effects on soil electrical conductivity and rapidly available potassium (p < 0.05). In the dominant phylum of bacteria, the relative abundance of Firmicutes increased without adding organic fertilizer under the photovoltaic panel; the addition of organic fertilizer had a significant effect on the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Desulfobacterota (p < 0.05), reducing their relative abundance, respectively. There were differences in the number of bacteria at the genus level under different treatments compared to the control, with the highest enrichment of bacteria occurring at the OFE position, and a significant difference (p < 0.05) being found between the control and the other four groups at the genus level of g_norank_f_norank_o_Actinomarinales. Organic fertilizer had a significant effect on the bacterial Simpson diversity index, with the most significant increasing trend found in OFE (the front eaves of the photovoltaic panel in fertilization area). The results of a correlation analysis showed that pH, electrical conductivity, and total nitrogen were the main factors affecting the soil bacterial community.

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“…For example, in China, more than 90% of the grassland have been degraded as a result of climate change, land use change, and unsustainable human management practices (Z. Zhang, Li, et al, 2019; Zhou et al, 2019). Degraded grassland restoration and vegetation reconstruction have been paid more consideration in the past several decades (Martin & Wilsey, 2006; Tölgyesi et al, 2019; N. N. Zhang, Sun, et al, 2019; F. Zhang et al, 2020; Zhou et al, 2019), and numerous recovery practices have also been successfully implemented to alleviate degradation and to increase the vegetation cover in degraded grasslands (e.g., K. Liu et al, 2020; Martin & Wilsey, 2006; Pykala, 2003; D. L. Wang & Guo, 2019; H. X. Zhang, Xiang, et al, 2019; L. P. Zhao et al, 2020). However, with widespread and accelerating degradation of grasslands, more efficient ecological measures are needed for the degraded grassland restoration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulated grazing and nitrogen addition facilitate spatial expansion of Leymus chinensis clones into saline‐alkali soil patches: Implications for Songnen grassland restoration in northeast China

Wang

Feng

et al. 2022

Land Degrad Dev

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The spatial expansion characteristic of most clonal plant species makes them produce large networks by elongating rhizomes/stolons, and occupy more physical space; thus it could contribute to restoring patchy degraded grasslands. Grazing and fertilization may affect the expansion of clonal plants, and thus can affect the vegetation recovery of degraded grassland. However, these have never been tested under field conditions. A field study was conducted from 2014 to 2019 to evaluate the effects of simulated moderate grazing (SG) and nitrogen (N) addition on spatial expansion of Leymus chinensis, a widespread clonal plant species in the eastern part of the Eurasian steppe. Results showed that SG and N addition increased the number of L. chinensis ramets (small but intact modules units of this plants and with its own roots) growing in saline‐alkali soil patches; moreover, SG increased the total rhizome length and bud density of these ramets across the years by 59% and 52%, and N addition increased them by 88% and 98%, respectively. SG and N addition also increased the community biomass of the saline‐alkali soil patches by 27% and 74%, respectively. Under SG conditions, more biomass of L. chinensis was allocated to belowground organs, and to ramets growing in saline‐alkali soil patches. The findings demonstrated that both SG and N addition improved the spatial expansion of L. chinensis from favourable patches into saline‐alkali soil patches, thereby potential ramet recruitment and vegetation reconstruction. Moderate grazing management or fertilization could improve the restoration of patchy degraded grasslands by affecting the spatial expansion of clonal plants.

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Grazing exclusion erodes the forbs functional group without altering offspring recruitment composition in a typical steppe

Cited by 8 publications

References 54 publications

Short‐term grazing reduced community stability by decreasing community‐wide asynchrony and dominant species stability

Short‐term grazing reduced community stability by decreasing community‐wide asynchrony and dominant species stability

Effects of Organic Fertilizer Addition to Vegetation and Soil Bacterial Communities in Saline–Alkali-Degraded Grassland with Photovoltaic Panels

Simulated grazing and nitrogen addition facilitate spatial expansion of Leymus chinensis clones into saline‐alkali soil patches: Implications for Songnen grassland restoration in northeast China

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