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The effects of different intensities of long-term grazing on the direction and strength of plant–soil feedback in a semiarid grassland of Northwest China

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Abstract

Aims

Plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) and grazing drive community dynamics in grasslands. We examined how the intensity of grazing and PSF interact to affect plant growth and explored what drives the observed feedback effects.

Methods

Three dominant perennial plant species; Artemisia capillaris, Lespedeza davurica, and Stipa bungeana were grown in field-conditioned soil (sterilized or unsterilized) collected from four grazing intensities in a semiarid grassland of northwest China. Soil nutrient concentrations and root fungal communities were determined.

Results

Plant biomass increased with grazing intensity for the three plant species. Within each grazing intensity, plant growth in sterilized soil relative to unsterilized soil differed markedly among species. Soil inorganic nitrogen (N) concentration tended to increase with increasing grazing intensity. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonization was high for all grazing intensities for L. davurica. Fusarium tricinctum, the most common pathogenic Fusarium species, had the highest frequency from the control for A. capillaris and tended to increase with increasing grazing intensity for S. bungeana.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that in grasslands plant growth can be modified by the intensity of grazing via grazing-induced changes in soil nutrient availability and fungal communities. Additional studies are needed to determine how grazing intensity affects species co-existence through PSFs to mixed communities.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. Chunping Zhang, Dr. Zulfi Jahufer, Dr. Dongwen Luo and Dr. Saman Bowatte for the help in data analysis and the revision of the manuscript. We are grateful to Xiang Yao and Yong Liu for the help of field vegetation survey, and Juan Wang for the assistance of greenhouse experiment. We also acknowledge the excellent informed comments from the two referees. This research was financially supported by National Basic Research Program of China (2014CB138702) and National Public Welfare Industry of Agricultural Science and Technology Special Projects (201303057).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems; College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, PO Box 61, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730020, China

    Tao Chen, Zhibiao Nan & Fujiang Hou

  2. Retired scientist of AgResearch, Grasslands Research Center, Private Bag 11-008, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand

    Michael Christensen

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  1. Tao Chen
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  2. Michael Christensen
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  3. Zhibiao Nan
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Correspondence to Zhibiao Nan.

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Chen, T., Christensen, M., Nan, Z. et al. The effects of different intensities of long-term grazing on the direction and strength of plant–soil feedback in a semiarid grassland of Northwest China. Plant Soil 413, 303–317 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3103-y

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