Abstract
Background and aims
Grazing drives carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics of grasslands through livestock trampling, defoliation, and excretion. Still, the responses of N uptake by plant species and simultaneous C allocation into the soil to grazing intensity remain unclear.
Methods
In-situ 15NH4+ / 15NO3− and 13C-CO2 labeling experiment was conducted in Inner Mongolia grasslands under 5 years of grazing with no, light (4 sheep 1.33 ha−1) and heavy (12 sheep 1.33 ha−1) intensity to reveal the contribution of plant-derived C into the soil and the fate of N on day one and three after 13C-labeling. Experiment had a completely randomized design (n = 3), and every plot included Leymus chinensis, Carex korshinskyi, Cleistogenes squarrosa, and Stipa grandis.
Results
Grazing increased plants’ total N uptake compared to control (no grazing); higher NO3− uptake was found compared to NH4+ (aboveground: 0.40–20.78 vs. 0.32–6.58 µg N m−2; belowground: 0.04–9.92 vs. 0.01–0.49 µg N m−2), irrespective of grazing intensity. C. korshinskyi showed the highest N uptake (3–21 µg N m−2) under the three grazing intensities. 13C-CO2 assimilation was the lowest under heavy grazing (aboveground: 1.06–10.67 mg C m−2; belowground: 0.25–1.53 mg C m−2) regardless of plant species. 13C-CO2 assimilation by L. chinensis and C. squarrosa decreased 3–5 times with grazing intensity. Grazing increased 13C-SOC irrespective to soil depth compared to no grazing.
Conclusions
Grazing patterns affected the plants’ total assimilation C capacity and N uptake and the response varies among plant species, as well as the allocation of plant-C transfer into the soil.
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Data Availability
All data that support the findings of this study can be found in the article and/or supplementary materials.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Dr. Isabel Greenberg for her support and help with the experiment and for valuable comments on the manuscript. This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31988102; 42277319), Key Project of Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation (2020ZD06), PPP-China project (57445941), RUDN University Scientific Projects Grant System and RSF project (#23-17-00118).
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Zhou, J., Ding, Y., Tian, Y. et al. Exploring grazing intensity effects: nitrogen uptake in grassland species and soil carbon allocation. Plant Soil (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06662-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-024-06662-2