Restoration of ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage and microbial biomass after grazing exclusion in semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia

Wu, Xing; Li, Zongshan; Fu, Bojie; Zhou, Wangming; Huifeng, Liu; Li, Guohua

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2014.09.077

Cited by 77 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Grazing by domestic livestock is one of the major human activities that significantly affects the C and N cycles in grassland ecosystems (Knops et al ., ; Wu et al ., ). Our meta‐analysis showed that grazing decreased the C and N pools in soils, belowground plants, microbes and litters (Figs and ; Table S2).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta‐analysis

Zhou

Shao

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

398

284

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Livestock grazing activities potentially alter ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in grassland ecosystems. Despite the fact that numerous individual studies and a few meta-analyses had been conducted, how grazing, especially its intensity, affects belowground C and N cycling in grasslands remains unclear. In this study, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 115 published studies to examine the responses of 19 variables associated with belowground C and N cycling to livestock grazing in global grasslands. Our results showed that, on average, grazing significantly decreased belowground C and N pools in grassland ecosystems, with the largest decreases in microbial biomass C and N (21.62% and 24.40%, respectively). In contrast, belowground fluxes, including soil respiration, soil net N mineralization and soil N nitrification increased by 4.25%, 34.67% and 25.87%, respectively, in grazed grasslands compared to ungrazed ones. More importantly, grazing intensity significantly affected the magnitude (even direction) of changes in the majority of the assessed belowground C and N pools and fluxes, and C : N ratio as well as soil moisture. Specifically,light grazing contributed to soil C and N sequestration whereas moderate and heavy grazing significantly increased C and N losses. In addition, soil depth, livestock type and climatic conditions influenced the responses of selected variables to livestock grazing to some degree. Our findings highlight the importance of the effects of grazing intensity on belowground C and N cycling, which may need to be incorporated into regional and global models for predicting effects of human disturbance on global grasslands and assessing the climate-biosphere feedbacks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta‐analysis

Zhou

Shao

et al. 2016

Global Change Biology

398

284

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“…rigidula was accompanied by the lower absolute enzyme activities and the less microbial biomass relative to the two other species. With regard to the high significance of microbial biomass for soil restoration in desertified lands (Wu et al, ), a less microbial biomass suggested smaller soil available nutrient pools in the planted K . rigidula plots.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, microbial biomass responds more rapidly than soil organic matter due to its highly dynamic character (Iqbal et al, ). Thus, microbial biomass is a valuable metric for evaluating the effects of restoration on soil in desertified lands and assessing the restoration adaptability of different vegetation types (Wu et al, ). Soil enzyme activities are associated with vegetation (Waldrop, Balser, & Firestone, ; Sinsabaugh, Carreiro, & Alvarez, ), microbial community characteristics (Kourtev, Ehrenfeld, & Huang, ; Waldrop et al, ), soil nutrient cycling and availability (Amador, Glucksman, Lyons, & Gorres, ), and changes in the soil environment (Dick, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in physicochemical and biochemical soil properties among different plant species treatments early in the restoration of a desertified alpine meadow

Liu

Zeng

et al. 2019

Land Degrad Dev

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Soil nutrients, enzyme activities, and microbial biomass have important significance for biogeochemical cycles and are affected by vegetation restoration in degradation ecosystems. To explore the effects of replanting different plant species on soil restoration in a desertified alpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau and to optimize the restoration process with locally appropriate plant species, the soil physicochemical and biochemical properties were measured beneath the plant species Rhodiola kirilowii, Salix cupularis, and Kengyilia rigidula over two periods of vegetative growth (2 years and 5 years). The results showed that all the soil properties significantly improved over the recovery periods (p < .001) and the plant species significantly affected the patterns of soil bulk density, available resources, and biochemical properties (p < .05). However, R. kirilowii improved soil properties most significantly among the three plant species as the recovery time elapsed, and these improvements were strongly related to the greatest fresh vegetation biomass and coverage. Furthermore, R. kirilowii enhanced microbial biomass phosphorus even more, which is an important available phosphorus stock in the soil, and more effectively promoted the development of soil fungi than the two other species. Therefore, we suggest that R. kirilowii is the preferred species of the three to expedite the recovery of desertified alpine soil, and that the appropriate addition of P fertilizer and propelling the development of specific fungi groups in the soil are key to soil restoration in the desertified alpine meadow.

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“…Using legumes as forage instead of a non-nitrogen fixing species is recommended for improving the fertility of the soil since nitrogen could be a limiting factor [53]. This also leads to larger climate change mitigation benefit per area.…”

Section: Summary and Discussion Of The Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

PV water pumping for carbon sequestration in dry land agriculture

Olsson

Campana

Lind³

et al. 2015

Energy Conversion and Management

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Restoration of ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage and microbial biomass after grazing exclusion in semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia

Cited by 77 publications

References 46 publications

Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta‐analysis

Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta‐analysis

Variation in physicochemical and biochemical soil properties among different plant species treatments early in the restoration of a desertified alpine meadow

PV water pumping for carbon sequestration in dry land agriculture

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