Dataset Information

Reduced grazing pressure delivers production and environmental benefits for the typical steppe of north China.

ABSTRACT: Degradation by overgrazing is common in many areas of the world and optimising grassland functions depends upon finding suitable grazing tactics. This four-year study on the northern China steppe investigated combinations of rest, moderate or heavy grazing pressure early in the summer growing season, then moderate or heavy grazing in the mid and late season. Results showed that moderate grazing pressure (~550 sheep equivalent (SE) grazing days ha(-1) year(-1)) gave the optimal balance between maintaining a productive and diverse grassland, a profitable livestock system, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Further analyses identified that more conservative stocking (~400 SE grazing days ha(-1) year(-1)) maintained a desirable Leymus chinensis composition and achieved a higher live weight gain of sheep. Early summer rest best maintained a desirable grassland composition, but had few other benefits and reduced incomes. These findings demonstrate that reducing grazing pressure to half the current district stocking rates can deliver improved ecosystem services (lower greenhouse gases and improved grassland composition) while sustaining herder incomes.

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4639777 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Reduced grazing pressure delivers production and environmental benefits for the typical steppe of north China.

Zhang Yingjun Y Huang Ding D Badgery Warwick B WB Kemp David R DR Chen Wenqing W Wang Xiaoya X Liu Nan N

Scientific reports 20151110

Degradation by overgrazing is common in many areas of the world and optimising grassland functions depends upon finding suitable grazing tactics. This four-year study on the northern China steppe investigated combinations of rest, moderate or heavy grazing pressure early in the summer growing season, then moderate or heavy grazing in the mid and late season. Results showed that moderate grazing pressure (~550 sheep equivalent (SE) grazing days ha(-1) year(-1)) gave the optimal balance between ma ...[more]

PMID: 26553566

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Project description:BackgroundAs one of the important management practices of grassland ecosystems, grazing has fundamental effects on soil properties, vegetation, and soil microbes. Grazing can thus alter soil respiration (Rs) and the soil carbon cycle, yet its impacts and mechanisms remain unclear.MethodsTo explore the response of soil carbon flux and temperature sensitivity to different grazing systems, Rs, soil temperature (ST), and soil moisture (SM) were observed from December 2014 to September 2015 in a typical steppe of Inner Mongolia under three grazing systems: year-long grazing, rest-rotation grazing, and grazing exclusion. In addition, plant aboveground and root biomass, soil microbial biomass and community composition, and soil nutrients were measured during the pilot period.ResultsSoil respiration was significantly different among the three grazing systems. The average Rs was highest under rest-rotation grazing (1.26 ?mol·m-2·s-1), followed by grazing exclusion (0.98 ?mol·m-2·s-1) and year-long grazing (0.94 ?mol·m-2·s-1). Rs was closely associated with ST, SM, potential substrate and root, and soil microbe activity. The effects of grazing among two grazing systems had generality, but were different due to grazing intensity. The root biomass was stimulated by grazing, and the rest-rotation grazing system resulted in the highest Rs. Grazing led to decreases in aboveground and microbial biomass as well as the loss of soil total nitrogen and total phosphorus from the steppe ecosystem, which explained the negative effect of grazing on Rs in the year-long grazing system compared to the grazing exclusion system. The temperature sensitivity of Rs (Q10) was higher in the rest-rotation and year-long grazing systems, likely due to the higher temperature sensitivity of rhizosphere respiration and higher "rhizosphere priming effect" in the promoted root biomass. The structural equation model analysis showed that while grazing inhibited Rs by reducing soil aeration porosity, ground biomass and SM, it increased Q10 but had a lower effect than other factors. A better understanding of the effects of grazing on soil respiration has important practical implications.

Project description:Biodiversity underpins grassland ecological functions and productive capacities. By studying the mechanisms for the maintenance of species diversity in animal communities, we can provide important theoretical guidance for the optimization of grazing management and biodiversity protection. The typical grassland of Xilingol in Inner Mongolia, China, was used as the experimental area, and a grazing intensity experiment was set up. This consisted of four gradient levels that were grazed by sheep, which were available for continuous monitoring, namely control standard sheep unit·day·hectare-1·year-1 (CK, 0 SSU·d·hm-2y-1), light grazing (LG, 170 SSU·d·hm-2·y-1), moderate grazing (MG, 340 SSU·d·hm-2·y-1), and high grazing (HG, 510 SSU·d·hm-2·y-1). Nine consecutive years of multi-indicator monitoring of vegetation was carried out from 2014-2022, using monitoring data coupled with time series and inter-annual climatic (relative moisture index, RMI) fluctuations. This was done to analyze the impacts of disturbances, such as grazing use and climatic fluctuations, on the diversity of species and above-ground productivity of the community, thereby exploring the relationship between diversity and productivity, and provide possible explanations for the emergence of a range of ecological responses. The statistical analysis methods used were One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), general linear regression and mixed-effects models. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: (1) The grassland in the experimental area under CK had the highest diversity and productivity and the ecosystem was better able to buffer the negative impacts of climatic drought. Furthermore, the effect of climate on productivity and diversity weakened as the intensity of grazing increased. (2) LG to MG had a constant diversity. (3) Grazing utilization changed the relationship between community species diversity and aboveground productivity by releasing spatial community resources, altering the structure of plant communities, weakening competitive exclusion, and strengthening complementary effects. However, under all of the conditions there is a brief stage in the time series when diversity is stimulated to increase, and the higher the grazing intensity, the earlier this occurs.

Project description:Many biodiversity experiments have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity in experimental grasslands. However, less is known about how diversity-stability relationships are mediated by grazing. Grazing is known for causing species losses, but its effects on plant functional groups (PFGs) composition and species asynchrony, which are closely correlated with ecosystem stability, remain unclear. We conducted a six-year grazing experiment in a semi-arid steppe, using seven levels of grazing intensity (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 9.0 sheep per hectare) and two grazing systems (i.e., a traditional, continuous grazing system during the growing period (TGS), and a mixed one rotating grazing and mowing annually (MGS)), to examine the effects of grazing system and grazing intensity on the abundance and composition of PFGs and diversity-stability relationships. Ecosystem stability was similar between mixed and continuous grazing treatments. However, within the two grazing systems, stability was maintained through different pathways, that is, along with grazing intensity, persistence biomass variations in MGS, and compensatory interactions of PFGs in their biomass variations in TGS. Ecosystem temporal stability was not decreased by species loss but rather remain unchanged by the strong compensatory effects between PFGs, or a higher grazing-induced decrease in species asynchrony at higher diversity, and a higher grazing-induced increase in the temporal variation of productivity in diverse communities. Ecosystem stability of aboveground net primary production was not related to species richness in both grazing systems. High grazing intensity weakened the temporal stabilizing effects of diversity in this semi-arid grassland. Our results demonstrate that the productivity of dominant PFGs is more important than species richness for maximizing stability in this system. This study distinguishes grazing intensity and grazing system from diversity effects on the temporal stability, highlighting the need to better understand how grazing regulates ecosystem stability, plant diversity, and their synergic relationships.

Dataset Information

Reduced grazing pressure delivers production and environmental benefits for the typical steppe of north China.

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Reduced grazing pressure delivers production and environmental benefits for the typical steppe of north China.

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