The effect of grazing intensity and season on the soil seed bank and its relation with above-ground vegetation on the alpine steppe

Chu, Hui; Zhang, Chunping; Qian, Dong; Shang, Zhanhuan; Degen, A. Allan; Yang, Xiaoxia; Yu, Yang; Yang, Zengzeng; Zhang, Yanfen

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2019.106622

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…These findings were in line with findings that the Shannon-Wiener index under ungrazed sites was greater, but the Simpson dominance index was smaller under over-grazing sites in alpine Kobresia meadows in Tibet (Wei et al, 2008). However, with increasing grazing intensity, vegetation coverage decreased dramatically but had no effects on species richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Pielou evenness index in Gangcha County, Qinghai Province (Chu et al, 2019). In the southern rangelands of Kenya, heavy grazing decreased species diversity, richness, and evenness (Jawuoro et al, 2017).…”

Section: Effects Of Grazing Intensity On Plant Community Assemblymentioning

confidence: 97%

Heavy Grazing Altered the Biodiversity–Productivity Relationship of Alpine Grasslands in Lhasa River Valley, Tibet

Xiang

et al. 2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Grazing is a crucial anthropogenic disturbance on grasslands. However, it is unknown how livestock grazing affects the relationship between biodiversity and productivity of alpine grasslands in Tibet. We carried out a grazing-manipulated experiment from 2016 to 2019 with grazing intensity levels of null (control, grazing exclusion, C.K.), moderate grazing [1.65 standardized sheep unit (SSU) per hectare, M.G.], and heavy grazing (2.47 SSU per hectare, H.G.) on a typical alpine grassland in the Lhasa River Basin, central Tibet. We measured aboveground biomass (AGB), species assembly (alpha and beta diversity indices), and soil nutrients’ availability. The results showed that grazing differently affected plant community in different treatments. Notably, the total dissimilarity value between C.K. and H.G. is 0.334. Grazing decreased the Shannon–Wiener index, increased the Berger–Parker index from 2016 to 2018 significantly, and decreased AGB and total soil nitrogen (STN) significantly. Our results also showed that the grazing affected the relationship between AGB and diversity indices and soil nutrients, including soil organic carbon (SOC) and total soil phosphorus (STP). Specifically, AGB decreased with increasing SOC and STP in all treatments, and heavy grazing changed the positive relationships between AGB, STP, and Shannon–Wiener index to negative correlations significantly compared with grazing exclusion. There was a significant negative correlation between Berger–Parker and Shannon–Wiener indices under each treatment. The general linear models showed that H.G. altered the relationship between diversity and productivity of grassland in central Tibet, and AGB and Shannon–Wiener index positively correlated in C.K. but negatively correlated in H.G. Our study suggests that H.G. caused a negative relationship between plant diversity and productivity. Therefore, sustainable grazing management calls for a need of better understanding the relationship between biodiversity and productivity of alpine grassland in central Tibet.

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Section: Effects Of Grazing Intensity On Plant Community Assemblymentioning

confidence: 97%

Heavy Grazing Altered the Biodiversity–Productivity Relationship of Alpine Grasslands in Lhasa River Valley, Tibet

Xiang

et al. 2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…Török et al (2017) reported that the low similarities between AGV and SSBs are most likely driven by spatial dispersal. Chu et al (2019) found the main reason for the low similarity was due to the low seed production of the perennial species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in soil seed bank and relationship with aboveground vegetation across microhabitats in a savanna‐woodland of West Africa

Sanou

Savadogo

Zida

et al. 2022

Nordic Journal of Botany

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Soil seed bank (SSB) characteristics may vary with habitat heterogeneity. We investigated the SSB density in three microhabitats (under canopy, eroded soil and bare soil) in five vegetation types (abandoned farm, dense woodland, gallery forest, grassland and open woodland) at varying soil depths (0–5, 5–10 and 10–15 cm) in a savanna‐woodland in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Total germinable SSB densities varied between 4 and 308 seeds per dm3 of soil. Herbaceous taxa were the major constituent of the germinable SSB across the microhabitats, regardless of vegetation type. Seedlings of 30 species emerged from the SSB, of which 24 were annual species and only 4 woody species, indicating that natural regeneration of woody species via seed dispersal is limited. Both microhabitat and vegetation type contributed to the variation in taxa richness, and germinable seed density and diversity. There was a significant difference in SSB density and richness between microhabitats in the different vegetation types (p < 0.05). The SSB densities were higher under tree canopies than outside tree canopies (eroded soil and bare soil) and highest in the upper soil layers in all vegetation types. The aboveground vegetation (AGV) and flora within the SSB shared many herbaceous species but many woody species present in the AGV were absent in the SSB. Under tree canopies are the ecological niches that favor accumulation of a diversity of seeds, suggesting the preservation and conservation of adult trees in savanna‐woodland ecosystems is critical to facilitating the restoration of these ecosystems.

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“…In contrast to the number of studies examining the aboveground vegetation, relatively few have focused on the impacts of disturbance on soil seed bank richness (Cingolani et al, 2005; Gao & Carmel, 2020; Harrison et al, 2003); those that have frequently produce contradictory results (Chu et al, 2019; Haretche & Rodríguez, 2006; Matus et al, 2005). Our meta‐analysis suggests three potential reasons for this variation among empirical studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global meta‐analysis of grazing effects on soil seed banks

Shi

Huang

et al. 2022

Land Degrad Dev

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Livestock grazing is a major disturbance affecting plant diversity and abundance in terrestrial ecosystems. The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) predicts that moderate-intensity grazing should produce the highest species diversity, while the Milchunas-Sala-Lauenroth (MSL) model posits that the IDH is valid only for mesic areas. However, it remains unclear how grazing affects soil seed bank and whether or not the IDH or MSL models are valid for soil seed bank communities. Here, we presented a global meta-analysis synthesizing 483 observations: we found that grazing had a negative effect on soil seed bank abundance, but did not alter seed bank richness or the compositional similarity between the soil seed bank and the aboveground vegetation. Further refining the analysis, light-intensity grazing was found to increase seed bank richness, while moderate-intensity grazing had no effect, and heavyintensity grazing had a negative effect. Additionally, for both arid and mesic areas, soil seed bank richness declined with grazing intensity increased. Overall, grazing effects on soil seed banks differed from expectations set by studies of aboveground vegetation. Our study provides key insights for policy-makers managing livestock grazing and grassland conservation.

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The effect of grazing intensity and season on the soil seed bank and its relation with above-ground vegetation on the alpine steppe

Cited by 23 publications

References 77 publications

Heavy Grazing Altered the Biodiversity–Productivity Relationship of Alpine Grasslands in Lhasa River Valley, Tibet

Heavy Grazing Altered the Biodiversity–Productivity Relationship of Alpine Grasslands in Lhasa River Valley, Tibet

Variation in soil seed bank and relationship with aboveground vegetation across microhabitats in a savanna‐woodland of West Africa

A global meta‐analysis of grazing effects on soil seed banks

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