Questions:Fire and grazing can affect plant communities through different pathways in grasslands. However, little is known about how these disturbances affect plant communities in recovered semi-arid grasslands. Here we investigated effects of prescribed fire, sheep grazing and their interactions on above-ground biomass and species diversity in degraded semi-arid grasslands recovered from cropping agriculture.Location: Keerqin grasslands, northeast China. Methods:A short-term grazing and burning experiment with split-plot design was conducted, with burning applied at the main plot level and grazing applied at the subplot level. After 1 year of spring burning and 2 years of grazing by sheep, the above-ground biomass, species diversity, biomass proportion of plant functional groups and soil resource availability of the grasslands were measured and compared between treatments using a split-plot ANOVA model. Results:One-year of spring fire significantly increased above-ground biomass, while 2 years of grazing by sheep significantly decreased it. Species diversity was reduced by grazing in the burned plots but enhanced by grazing in the unburned plots. Fire significantly increased the biomass percentage of grasses and reduced that of forbs.Fire also changed soil water content and inorganic N concentration, and grazing enhanced light intensity to the soil surface. Moreover, above-ground biomass was positively related to soil water content and inorganic N concentration under both disturbances. Species diversity had a positive linear relationship with biomass percentage of grasses and a negative relationship with biomass percentage of forbs under sheep grazing.Conclusions: Both short-term fire and grazing are important in determining the above-ground biomass in degraded semi-arid grasslands, and their effects are opposite. Grazing coupled with fire has negative effects on species diversity. Thus, we advise that fire and grazing should be carefully applied when used in the same management regime to maintain above-ground biomass and species diversity in managing this grassland ecosystem.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.