Changes in multiple ecosystem services between 2000 and 2013 and their driving factors in the Grazing Withdrawal Program, China

Zhang, Haiyan; Fan, Jiangwen; Cao, Wei; Zhong, Hao; Harris, W.; Gong, Guoli; Zhang, Yaxian

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.02.028

Cited by 71 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Previous studies have suggested that the implementation of restoration projects in China has increased regional productivity [26,28] and biomass [1,29]. These conclusions are similar to studies assessing the effects of ecological projects implemented in the United States [10] and tropical areas [30].…”

Section: Different Influence Of the Typical Restoration Practices On supporting

confidence: 74%

“…On a global scale, species diversity is considered to have a positive correlation with productivity [40], which supports the opinion that biodiversity helps maintain and enhance ecosystem services [17,28]. However, some more complicated but meaningful relationships were reported, significant unimodal relationships are found between richness and herbaceous cover in Mediterranean grasslands [36].…”

Section: Implementation Of Restoration Practices Alters the Relationsmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Their high-intensity shadowing effect could suppress and limit the growth of short species [13,15]. The reestablishment of the prevailing climax constructive species in the communities, which were all tall perennials of Poaceae which would maintain strong and deeper roots, would reduce soil erodibility in this area [28].…”

Section: Influence Of Restoration Practices On Plant Community Characmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite inconsistent and non-significant changes in the Gleason index of the communities under different restoration practices, the Shannon-Wiener diversity index tended to decrease consistently with different restoration practices, and significant decreases were found in BR and RS (p < 0.05). Although the ecological project successfully restored the vegetation cover and above-ground productivity (Table 1, Figure 5) and helped restore the ecosystem's important ecological functions such as fixing sand sources [28], supplying forage grass [1], and regulating carbon sinks [3], its influence on plant species diversity in the communities might not conform to the expectations of restoration.…”

Section: Influence Of Implementing Restoration Practices On Plant Spementioning

confidence: 99%

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Grazing Exclusion, a Choice between Biomass Growth and Species Diversity Maintenance in Beijing—Tianjin Sand Source Control Project

Fan

2019

Sustainability

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Grasslands in northern China form an important ecological barrier that prevents and controls desertification. The Beijing–Tianjin Sand Source Control (BTSSC) Project has been implemented to restore grassland in order to control sand sourced pollution. This study aimed to understand the impacts of four applied restoration practices on the productivity, composition, and species diversity of vegetation communities in the BTSSC Project. The results indicated the following: (1) All the restoration practices tended to increase the height and cover of communities, and the effect was most obvious where grazing was excluded; (2) total biomass (87%), above-ground biomass (164%) and below-ground biomass (58%) only increased consistently when grazing was excluded from the steppe; (3) fenced and grazing exclusion practice significantly increased the abundance of species in communities, but all the practices tended to decrease the evenness of species; and, (4) the correlation analysis revealed that the Shannon–Wiener diversity index, and Pielou evenness index, showed significant negative correlations with the above-ground biomass of grassland communities after restoration, while no significant relationships were shown in reference plots. Our comparison of applied practices in the BTSSC project revealed that grazing exclusion might be a high priority for more successful restoration in this region.

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Section: Different Influence Of the Typical Restoration Practices On supporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Implementation Of Restoration Practices Alters the Relationsmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Influence Of Restoration Practices On Plant Community Characmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Influence Of Implementing Restoration Practices On Plant Spementioning

confidence: 99%

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Grazing Exclusion, a Choice between Biomass Growth and Species Diversity Maintenance in Beijing—Tianjin Sand Source Control Project

Fan

2019

Sustainability

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“…The role of different natural conditions in wind erosion changes needs to be further explored [9,20,21]. Previously, researchers have reported significant negative correlations between vegetation coverage and wind erosion [22], effects of temperature change on wind erosion in Inner Mongolia [23], and the ability of wind speed and precipitation to affect wind erosion [14]. In addition, studies have also shown that the trend of wind erosion and its dominant factors varied greatly due to regional heterogeneity [23,24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind Erosion Changes in a Semi-Arid Sandy Area, Inner Mongolia, China

et al. 2019

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Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in drylands. Identifying the dominant natural factors of wind erosion and using targeted treatment measures are the key steps in wind erosion control. Using Horqin Left Back Banner in China as a case study, we applied the revised wind erosion equation to simulate the spatial distribution of wind erosion in the semi-arid sandy area. Contribution assessment and constraint line analysis were used to investigate the contributions of driving forces to wind erosion changes. The results showed that the wind erosion in the whole area was reduced by 0.35 t/hm2·a from 2005 to 2016. The wind factor and vegetation coverage factor had dominant contributions to the wind erosion modulus and accounted for the erosion in 49.87% and 50.13% of the total area, respectively. In addition, the average wind speed exceeding the threshold and the number of occurrences exhibited significant correlations with the wind erosion severity. Meanwhile, the mitigation effects of vegetation coverage on wind erosion decreased with the increase in wind speed. The temporal mismatch between the wind speed and vegetation coverage was the main reason for the frequent severe wind erosion in spring. Reducing the spring wind speed through adding windbreaks would be an effective method for decreasing wind erosion in semi-arid areas.

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The role of herbivores in the grassland carbon budget for Three‐Rivers Headwaters region, Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China

et al. 2022

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Background An accurate assessment of the carbon budget is a crucial part of projecting future climate change and its impact on ecosystems. Grasslands foster multiple ecological functions including support for wild animals and livestocks. Herbivores intake forage biomass carbon, then digest and metabolize, and finally retain some carbon. The carbon processes have not been well quantified, resulting in uncertainties in the estimation of regional carbon budgets for grassland ecosystems. Methods An animal metabolic carbon flux model was developed for herbivores in the Three‐Rivers Headwaters region of China. The forage intake and metabolic carbon rates were estimated through metabolic body weight and daily digested measures for the main herbivore species. Results The carbon intake was 5.52 Tg C year−1 (45%) from partial aboveground biomass (12.2 Tg C year−1), in which 39.31% was released into the atmosphere by respiration CO2, 43.77% was returned to the ecosystem as feces and urine, and 16.96% was retained in herbivores for population regeneration or for human well‐being. Conclusions This study, as the first research on this topic, quantified the carbon flux of herbivores and found livestock accounts for a major part of consumed carbon on grasslands, which is important for understanding regional carbon budgets to mitigate and adapt to climate change over grasslands worldwide.

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Changes in multiple ecosystem services between 2000 and 2013 and their driving factors in the Grazing Withdrawal Program, China

Cited by 71 publications

References 47 publications

Grazing Exclusion, a Choice between Biomass Growth and Species Diversity Maintenance in Beijing—Tianjin Sand Source Control Project

Grazing Exclusion, a Choice between Biomass Growth and Species Diversity Maintenance in Beijing—Tianjin Sand Source Control Project

Wind Erosion Changes in a Semi-Arid Sandy Area, Inner Mongolia, China

The role of herbivores in the grassland carbon budget for Three‐Rivers Headwaters region, Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China

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