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Long-term grazing effects on vegetation characteristics and soil properties in a semiarid grassland, northern China

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Abstract

Understanding the responses of vegetation characteristics and soil properties to grazing disturbance is useful for grassland ecosystem restoration and management in semiarid areas. Here, we examined the effects of long-term grazing on vegetation characteristics, soil properties, and their relationships across four grassland types (meadow, Stipa steppe, scattered tree grassland, and sandy grassland) in the Horqin grassland, northern China. Our results showed that grazing greatly decreased vegetation cover, aboveground plant biomass, and root biomass in all four grassland types. Plant cover and aboveground biomass of perennials were decreased by grazing in all four grasslands, whereas grazing increased the cover and biomass of shrubs in Stipa steppe and of annuals in scattered tree grassland. Grazing decreased soil carbon and nitrogen content in Stipa steppe and scattered tree grassland, whereas soil bulk density showed the opposite trend. Long-term grazing significantly decreased soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC) in annual-dominated sandy grassland. Soil moisture in fenced and grazed grasslands decreased in the following order of meadow, Stipa steppe, scattered tree grassland, and sandy grassland. Correlation analyses showed that aboveground plant biomass was significantly positively associated with the soil carbon and nitrogen content in grazed and fenced grasslands. Species richness was significantly positively correlated with soil bulk density, moisture, EC, and pH in fenced grasslands, but no relationship was detected in grazed grasslands. These results suggest that the soil carbon and nitrogen content significantly maintains ecosystem function in both fenced and grazed grasslands. However, grazing may eliminate the association of species richness with soil properties in semiarid grasslands.

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Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge all the members of the Naiman Desertification Research Station, China Academy of Science (CAS), for their guidance and help with fieldwork. This paper was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571106 and 41622103), China National Key Research and Development Plan (2016YFC0500506), and “One Hundred Talent” Program (Y451H31001).

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  1. Urat Desert-Grassland Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Jing Zhang, Xiaoan Zuo, Peng Lv, Jie Lian & Xiyuan Yue

  2. Naiman Desertification Research Station, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, CAS. 320 Donggang West Road, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Zhang, Xiaoan Zuo, Xin Zhou, Peng Lv & Xiyuan Yue

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  1. Jing Zhang
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Zhang, J., Zuo, X., Zhou, X. et al. Long-term grazing effects on vegetation characteristics and soil properties in a semiarid grassland, northern China. Environ Monit Assess 189, 216 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-017-5947-x

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