Grazing intensity significantly changes the C : N : P stoichiometry in grassland ecosystems

He, Miao; Zhou, Guiyao; Yuan, Tengfei; Groenigen, Kees Jan van; Shao, Junjiong; Zhou, Xuhui

doi:10.1111/geb.13028

Cited by 91 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Plant C concentration significantly reduced with grazing intensity in this study, while previous studies found plant C concentration had no significant response to grazing intensity (Ding, Gong, Wang, Wu, & Liu, 2012;Liang et al, 2019). Grazing intensity is a critical factor to regulate plant C dynamic (He et al, 2019). Compared with Liang et al (2019)'s study, higher grazing intensity had stronger damage to plant stems and leaves in this study, which could decrease accumulation of organic matter.…”

Section: Effect Of Grazing On Plant C N and Pcontrasting

confidence: 69%

“…The acceleration of soil nutrient cycling might provide enough N and P for plant growth. However, He et al (2019) reported that plant N/P ratio decreased with grazing intensity. These inconsistent results showed that plant N/P ratio might be an uncertain indicator of plant growth limitations in grazing grasslands, depending on grazing intensity and time.…”

Section: Effect Of Grazing On Plant C N and Pmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Asymmetric effects of grazing intensity on macroelements and microelements in grassland soil and plants in Inner Mongolia Grazing alters nutrient dynamics of grasslands

Hou

Guo

Changcheng

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Grazing is a traditional grassland management technique and greatly alters ecosystem nutrient cycling. The effects of grazing intensity on the nutrient dynamics of soil and plants in grassland ecosystems remain uncertain, especially among microelements. A 2‐year field grazing experiment was conducted in a typical grassland with four grazing intensities (ungrazed control, light, moderate, and heavy grazing) in Inner Mongolia, China. Nutrient concentration was assessed in soil and three dominant plant species (Stipa krylovii, Leymus chinensis, and Cleistogenes squarrosa). Assessed quantities included four macroelements (carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg)) and four microelements (copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn)). Soil total C, total N, total P, available N, and available P concentrations significantly increased with grazing intensity but soil Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn concentrations had no significant response. Plant C concentration decreased but plant N, P, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn concentrations significantly increased with grazing intensity. In soil, macroelement dynamics (i.e., C, N, and P) exhibited higher sensitivity with grazing intensity, conversely in plants, microelements were more sensitive. This result indicates macroelements and microelements in soil and plants had asymmetric responses with grazing intensity. The slopes of nutrient linear regression in C. squarrosa were higher than that of S. krylovii and L. chinensis, indicating that C. squarrosa had higher nutrient acquisition capacity and responded more rapidly to heavy grazing. These findings indicate that short‐term heavy grazing accelerates nutrient cycling of the soil–plant system in grassland ecosystems, elucidate the multiple nutrient dynamics of soil and plants with grazing intensity, and emphasize the important function of microelements in plant adaptation in grazing management.

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Section: Effect Of Grazing On Plant C N and Pcontrasting

confidence: 69%

Section: Effect Of Grazing On Plant C N and Pmentioning

confidence: 98%

Asymmetric effects of grazing intensity on macroelements and microelements in grassland soil and plants in Inner Mongolia Grazing alters nutrient dynamics of grasslands

Hou

Guo

Changcheng

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The results revealed that grazing decreased P and N in the topsoil but did not influence other chemical properties such as pH, K, and the C:N ratio. The decrease in nitrogen due to grazing is a common phenomenon in heavily grazed grasslands (Han et al, 2008;He et al, 2019). Under low grazing intensities, the concentration of N in soils is usually unaffected due to the balance between N removal and N returned.…”

Section: Effect Of Drought and Grazing On Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The only study we found that reported on P showed the P response to grazing is dependent on mean annual precipitation. It was shown that grazing reduces soil P when precipitation is lower than 400 mm but increases when it higher (He et al, 2019).…”

Section: Effect Of Drought and Grazing On Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling Drought and Grazing Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks and CO2 Fluxes in a Semi-Arid African Savanna

Munjonji

Ayisi

Mudongo

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Grasslands cover ca. 30% of the global land surface and provide critical ecosystem services. Among them, carbon storage is one of the most important. However, grasslands are increasingly threatened by drought and overgrazing which might negatively affect soil carbon stocks. Despite this threat, there is a dearth of information on how drought and grazing jointly impact soil carbon stocks and CO 2 fluxes in dryland grasslands. With the aid of a large field experiment, we studied the combined effects of a 5-year extreme drought and moderate grazing on soil carbon stocks, CO 2 fluxes and soil chemical properties. Extreme drought was induced by reducing ambient rainfall by 66% using large rainout shelters. We found CO 2 fluxes to strongly respond to the 5-year experimental drought. Extreme drought reduced CO 2 emission rates by 32% compared to ambient conditions. CO 2 fluxes averaged 5.7 mg m −2 min −1 under drought compared to 8.3 mg m −2 min −1 under ambient conditions. CO 2 fluxes were, however, not influenced by grazing. At the end of the growth period, grazed plots under ambient rainfall had released 16.3 tons of CO 2 ha −1 which was 58% higher than observed on grazed plots subjected to severe drought. Soil carbon stocks were higher under drought conditions due to slower decomposition rates. Drought resulted in increased concentrations of primary macronutrients (N, P, and K), micronutrients (Zn and Mn) and pH in the top 30 cm of the soil relative to ambient conditions. The results also showed that grazing reduced the concentration of N and P in the topsoil compared to the ungrazed plots. This study provided insights on the soil carbon storage, CO 2 emission rates and nutrient dynamics in a semi-arid dryland grassland as influenced by both drought and grazing. Our study also revealed that long-term extreme drought may be favorable in terms of preserving the existing soil carbon stocks through reduced CO 2 release. This finding is critical for understanding future soil carbon dynamics in dryland grasslands in the face of climate change.

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“…In addition, many previous studies have demonstrated that heavy grazing reduced plant diversity, biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC) content in alpine grassland (Dlamini et al 2016;Sun et al 2011;Sun et al 2018), and moderate grazing might help balance species diversity protection and biomass production (Li et al 2011). However, despite of these effects, the magnitude of grazing effects on alpine grassland varies due to the difference in grazing regime, grazing intensity, grazing duration, grassland types and environmental factors (He et al 2020;Li et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Meta-Analysis of The Effects of Grazing On Plant Diversity, Biomass and Soil Properties of Alpine Grassland On The Tibetan Plateau

Li¹,

Liu²,

Zhou³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Aim As one of the main human disturbance factors in the alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau, grazing not only directly affects grassland plant diversity and biomass, but also indirectly changes soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) of grassland. Despite of extensive field grazing experiments, the impacts of grazing on grassland diversity, soil C and N remain uncertain due to different grazing management.Methods We conducted a meta-analysis of 70 peer-reviewed publications to evaluate the general response of 11 variables related to alpine grassland plant-soil ecosystems to grazing.Results The results showed that grazing significantly increased species richness, Shannon-Wiener index and Pielou evenness index by 9.8%, 7.3% and 3.7%, respectively. Aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, soil C: N ratio and soil moisture decreased by 41.9%, 17.7%, 13.1%, 12.6%, 3.3% and 20.8%, respectively. Soil bulk density and soil pH increased by 17.5% and 2.2%, respectively. Specifically, moderate grazing, long-duration (>5 years) and winter grazing contributed to the increase in the species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Pielou evenness index. Aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen and soil C: N ratio showed a decreasing trend with enhanced grazing intensity. Furthermore, grazing duration, grazing season, livestock type and grassland type also affected alpine grassland plant diversity, biomass, soil C and N.Conclusions Grazing is beneficial to the maintenance of plant diversity, but negatively affects the storage of soil C and N in alpine grassland on the Tibetan Plateau. We suggest that grazing should follow intermediate grazing practice and synthesize other appropriate grazing patterns, such as seasonal and rotation grazing, thus, further research on grazing management is needed in this regard.

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Grazing intensity significantly changes the C : N : P stoichiometry in grassland ecosystems

Cited by 91 publications

References 45 publications

Asymmetric effects of grazing intensity on macroelements and microelements in grassland soil and plants in Inner Mongolia Grazing alters nutrient dynamics of grasslands

Asymmetric effects of grazing intensity on macroelements and microelements in grassland soil and plants in Inner Mongolia Grazing alters nutrient dynamics of grasslands

Disentangling Drought and Grazing Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks and CO2 Fluxes in a Semi-Arid African Savanna

A Meta-Analysis of The Effects of Grazing On Plant Diversity, Biomass and Soil Properties of Alpine Grassland On The Tibetan Plateau

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