Effects of Fence Enclosure on Vegetation Community Characteristics and Productivity of a Degraded Temperate Meadow Steppe in Northern China

Abstract

Species composition and biomass are two important indicators in assessing the effects of restoration measures of degraded grasslands. In this paper, we present a field study on the temporal changes in plant community characteristics, species diversity and biomass production in a degraded temperate meadow steppe in response to an enclosure measure in Hulunbuir in Northern China. Our results showed that the plant community responded positively to the fence enclosure in terms of vegetation coverage, height, above- and belowground biomass. A year-to-year increase in aboveground biomass was observed, and this increase plateaued at the ninth year of the enclosure. Our results also showed that the existing dominant and foundation species gained predominance against other species. The sum of the biomass of these two species was more than doubled after the ninth year of the enclosure. However, belowground biomass only briefly increased until the fifth year of the enclosure and then decreased until the end of the experimental period. Plant diversity, evenness, and richness indices showed similar trends to that of belowground biomass. Overall, we found that the degraded temperate meadow steppe responded significantly positively to the enclosure treatment, but an optimal condition was only reached after approximately 5–7 years of continuous protection, providing a solid use case for grassland conservation and management at regional scales.

Enclosure in Combination with Mowing Simultaneously Promoted Grassland Biodiversity and Biomass Productivity

“…However, grasslands in China have experienced extensive degradation during the past few decades, mostly due to overexploitation [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Located in northeastern Inner Mongolia, the temperate meadow steppe in Hulunber represented one of the most conserved grasslands in the whole of China until recently, as characterized by its native vegetation, rich biodiversity, and diversified landscapes [ 10 ]. Grassland degradation in Hulunber expanded from 10% in extent in the 1980s to over 50% in the early 2000s, and is still developing at an average rate of 2% per year [ 11 ].…”

A Multi-Site Evaluation of Winter Hardiness in Indigenous Alfalfa Cultivars in Northern China

“…The results obtained here have multiple implications to the development of forage industry, enhancement of food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation in China [42]. On the one hand, the successful establishment of alfalfa can provide bulk quantities of high-quality protein forage for animal husbandry, especially for the development of the dairy industry [5,37,40,[43][44][45]. On the other hand, the forage-crop rotation can improve the soil quality, especially in saline-alkaline land, or medium-to low-yielding land areas, which plays a great role in improving soil fertility, consolidating farmland quality, and ensuring food safety and stable production [37,38,43,[46][47][48].…”

Soil characteristic changes and quality evaluation of degraded desert steppe in arid windy sandy areas

“…Grassland degradation reduces vegetation coverage and species diversity, changes species composition, and reduces stored organic carbon and nutrients in soil ( Gao et al, 2019 ; Han et al, 2018 ; Liu, Schleuss & Kuzyakov, 2017 ; Mchunu & Chaplot, 2012 ). It also has adverse effects on the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems and the balance of the regional and ecological environment ( Bai et al, 2008 ; Nacun et al, 2018 ; Shen, Liu & Zhou, 2015 ; Xu et al, 2020 ). It is necessary to further quantitatively evaluate grassland degradation and its related factors, which have been subjects of intense research in recent years.…”