Trade-offs in ecological, productivity and livelihood dimensions inform sustainable grassland management: Case study from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Yang, Mingyue; Dong, Shikui; Dong, Qingyu; Xu, Yudan; Liu, Shiliang; Liu, Wenting; Zhao, Xinyue

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2021.107377

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…This finding contrasts with Yang et al (2021), who reported different trends in the Chao1 and ACE index of bacteria and fungi following the conversion of cropland into grassland; and Zhang et al (2018), who also found that fungi had a lower Chao1 value after 10 years of grazing exclusion, while the bacterial Chao1 index showed no difference between grazing and grazing‐excluded grasslands. These inconsistent results indicate that the response mechanism of bacteria and fungi to land use or cover change should be given more attention in the future.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

“…Covering roughly 40% of the Earth's land surface (Wang & Fang, 2009), grasslands provide an important global ecological service by storing biomass carbon and soil organic carbon (Clark et al, 2020), as well as supporting biodiversity and food security (Hoeffner et al, 2021; Yang et al, 2021). However, changing precipitation and temperature distributions and increasing economic and population pressures have led to forage yield instability and shortages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil properties and microbiome of annual and perennial cultivated grasslands on theQinghai–TibetanPlateau

et al. 2021

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Efforts to enhance food, fibre, and forage yields and achieve global food security have included the conversion of natural grasslands to cultivated grasslands. The quantitative effects of a global shift in grassland management on soil properties and microbial communities critical to ecosystem function have remained largely unexplored, particularly on China's Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Accordingly, the distinct and contrasting effects of annual Avena grasslands (AAG) versus perennial Elymus nutans Griseb. cultivated grasslands (PEG) on the region's soil properties and microbiome were investigated in an effort to examine their contribution to maintaining soil carbon and nutrients. Across three sites per grassland type, soil moisture content (45.55%), soil organic carbon (48.97 g kg−1), soil total nitrogen (5.13 g kg−1), and soil ammonium nitrogen (298.32 mg kg−1) were 19%–32% greater at PEG sites than AAG sites, whereas soil pH (7.81), soil total phosphorus (0.44 g kg−1), and soil available phosphorus (0.81 mg kg−1) were 2%–31% lower. The AAG and PEG site soils had different bacterial and fungal β‐diversities but similar α‐diversities. The relative combined abundance of Gemmatimonadetes and Chytridiomycota, and that of Rozellomycota individually, were, respectively, higher and lower in AAG versus PEG site soils. This suggests that, on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, contrasting grassland cultivation practices affect soil properties and microbes differently. Given the strong interaction between a soil and its microbiome, changes in a soil's microbial community structure can be expected to substantially alter soil function. This will have important ecological service implications, particularly in terms of carbon storage and water conservation in this ecologically fragile region.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil properties and microbiome of annual and perennial cultivated grasslands on theQinghai–TibetanPlateau

et al. 2021

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“…We further analyzed the residual error and found that it had an expanding trend over time, which was in line with the characteristics of policy effects and further confirmed the positive impact of the wide‐area‐implemented policy on vegetation restoration. This was also consistent with previous studies (e.g., Li et al, 2021; Yang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

A novel framework for evaluating the effect of vegetation restoration via grazing exclusion by fencing: A case‐study from the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Yang

Zhang

2022

Land Degrad Dev

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Grazing exclusion by fencing (GEF) has been implemented to prevent the deterioration of grassland ecosystems in China since the beginning of this century; meanwhile, the effects have attracted widespread attention from the academic community. However, due to the simultaneity of different factors, it is difficult to separate the effect of different policies from natural resource endowments and identify the independent role of each policy. In this study, a novel framework was established based on spatiotemporal statistics. First, an indicator‐denoted vegetation restoration potential achievement degree (VRPAD) was introduced to lessen the impact of resource endowment conditions. Second, a double‐difference model of both space and time was developed to reflect the net improvement of VRPAD brought by GEF. The case study showed that 15 out of the 17 fenced‐off enclosures achieved positive VRPAD growth since the GEF implementation, while only 58.8% showed a much faster improvement or a slower degeneration than their adjacent areas. It was also found GEF effect presented apparent administrative differences in terms of spatial distribution. The number of effective fences accounted for 75% in Mami Town, but it was 0 in Chabu Town. It is concluded that the role of GEF may be overestimated, multi‐pronged approaches are more conducive to vegetation restoration, and strengthening grassroots management and self‐policing of fences is important to improve GEF efficiency. This research provides a novel framework for distinguishing policy effect and is expected to inspire new ideas and methodological support for policy formulation and evaluation.

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“…As deforestation of natural forests is 100% forbidden since 2020, the future timber will come mainly from tree plantations. For grazing optimization, we assume that livestock production is not affected by grassland fencing due to refined livestock management such as improving feed nutrient and fine-seed breeding 41 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biophysical and economic constraints on China’s natural climate solutions

Lü

Tian

et al. 2022

Nat. Clim. Chang.

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Trade-offs in ecological, productivity and livelihood dimensions inform sustainable grassland management: Case study from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Cited by 27 publications

References 68 publications

Soil properties and microbiome of annual and perennial cultivated grasslands on theQinghai–TibetanPlateau

Soil properties and microbiome of annual and perennial cultivated grasslands on theQinghai–TibetanPlateau

A novel framework for evaluating the effect of vegetation restoration via grazing exclusion by fencing: A case‐study from the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Biophysical and economic constraints on China’s natural climate solutions

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