Response of Vegetation and Soil Characteristics to Grazing Disturbance in Mountain Meadows and Temperate Typical Steppe in the Arid Regions of Central Asian, Xinjiang

Abstract

Grazing is one of the most common causes of grassland degradation, therefore, an assessment of soil physicochemical properties and plant nutrients under grazing is important for understanding its influences on ecosystem nutrient cycling and for formulating appropriate management strategies. However, the effects of grazing on grassland soil physicochemical properties and plant nutrients in mountain meadow and temperate typical steppe in the arid regions are still unclear. Therefore, we investigated the vegetation nutrient concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P, and K) as well as soil physicochemical properties in the topmost 40 cm depth soil, to evaluate how these factors respond to grazing disturbance in a mountain meadow and temperate typical steppe within a mountain basin system in arid regions. Our results revealed that the soil bulk density values at depth of 0–40 cm increased after grazing in the mountain meadow and temperate typical steppe, whereas the soil water content decreased in the mountain meadow and increased in the temperate typical steppe after grazing. In the mountain meadow, soil total N and available P in addition to vegetation N and P concentrations increased in response to high-intensity grazing, while soil available N, available K and vegetation K decreased after grazing; in addition, soil pH, soil total P and K showed no significant changes. In the temperate typical steppe, the soil total P, soil available N, P, and K, and vegetation N, P, and K increased under relatively low-intensity grazing, whereas soil pH and soil total K showed no significant changes except for the deceasing soil total N. Our findings showed the different responses of different grassland ecosystems to grazing. Moreover, we propose that further related studies are necessary to better understand the effects of grazing on grassland ecosystems, and thereby provide a theoretical basis for the sustainable use of animal husbandry and ecological restoration of grasslands.

Soil Microbial Communities Affect the Growth and Secondary Metabolite Accumulation in Bletilla striata (Thunb.) Rchb. f.

“…Soil organic carbon (SOC) content was determined using the Kaushal Method ( Kaushal et al, 2020 ), while soil organic matter (SOM) content was determined using the H 2 SO 4 -K 2 Cr 2 O 7 oxidation method ( Wenjun et al, 2014 ). Soil pH was measured in soil suspensions (1:2.5) using a pH electrode ( Bi et al, 2020 ). Total nitrogen (T-N) content was determined using the Kjeldahl Method ( Roth et al, 2014 ), while ammonium nitrogen content in a KCl (2 mol/L) extract was measured using the indophenol blue colorimetric method ( Ye et al, 2017 ).…”

“…After these extractions, flame photometry was used to measure total iron (T-Fe), total manganese (T-Mn), total zinc (T-Zn), and total copper (T-Cu) concentrations. The same method was applied again to measure available calcium (A-Ca), available potassium (A-K), and available magnesium (A-Mg) concentrations after extraction with ammonium acetate (NH 4 OAc, 1 mol/L, pH = 7) ( Bi et al, 2020 ).…”

Quantitative Analysis of the Research Trends and Areas in Grassland Remote Sensing: A Scientometrics Analysis of Web of Science from 1980 to 2020

“…(2) Research on the process of grassland ecosystem management [5,16,50,55,103], including grassland degradation and restoration, stocking capacity estimation, crude protein content estimation, and alien species invasion monitoring. Studies have focused on nitrogen, carbon, and water cycle processes in grassland [4,16,104], and phenology is also an important research topic [5,8,9,22,74,105,106].…”

“…One of the important functions of satellites is monitoring various natural disasters in large areas using, for example, high temporal and spatial resolution remote sensing and satellite radar [8,111]. At present, most research focuses on the causes, early warning systems, post-disaster evaluation, and recovery following fires, snow disasters, and droughts [103,112,113]. Few studies have been conducted on insect disasters [114].…”

Impacts of Short-Term Grazing Intensity on the Plant Diversity and Ecosystem Function of Alpine Steppe on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

“…Livestock grazing is the primary land use and human disturbance of grassland worldwide. Grazing by herbivores affects plant communities and ecosystem functions through a variety of mechanisms, including trampling, selective feeding, and fecal excretion of livestock [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Grassland plant diversity and ecosystem functions have different responses to grazing intensity.…”