Effects of forest expansion on mountain grassland: changes within soil organic carbon fractions

Guidi, Claudia; Magid, Jakob; Rodeghiero, Mirco; Gianelle, Damiano; Vesterdal, Lars

doi:10.1007/s11104-014-2315-2

Cited by 49 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The only soil property correlated with R. ferrugineum cover was C content. Other studies also reported higher contents of organic C in forest than in grasslands (Guo et al 2007;Guidi et al 2014). As a consequence of reduced soil temperature and moisture following forest succession (Hiltbrunner et al 2013), the decomposition of organic matter is slowed down, leading to a decreased incorporation of C into soil aggregates (Gregorich et al 2006).…”

Section: Cover Of R Ferrugineum Is Related To the Distribution Of Fimentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Therefore, only the two ortophotos were analysed quantitatively using Sigmascan Pro v. 5.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL), for estimating the percentage of image pixels referable to shrubs and trees ground cover through analysis water infiltration and soil structural stability (Mamo & Bubenzer 2001;Joseph et al 2003), which regulate soil erosion (Klima 2007). In grassland, Guidi et al (2014) emphasized the importance of the stable storage of carbon. Compared to forests, they found that managed and abandoned grasslands store substantially more C in stable mineral soil aggregates and as much C in total.…”

Section: Description Of Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fine roots of grasses have high turn-over rates (Schneider et al 2006) and a positive effect on aggregate stabilization (Jastrow et al 1998). Their lower length, weight density and turnover in forests compared with grasslands can therefore reduce aggregate stability as found by Guidi et al (2014).…”

Section: Shrub Cover Reduces Species Richness and Heterogeneitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shrubland and grassland differ in ecosystem functioning and, hence, shifts in the mosaic structure may affect the provision of ecosystem services. Several of these services are modulated by belowground components of the ecosystem, for example, the retention of water and nutrients in the soil, the sequestration of carbon (C) and soil stability (Guidi et al 2014). However, vegetation studies are usually restricted to aboveground components.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Above- and belowground patterns in a subalpine grassland-shrub mosaic

Pornaro

Schneider

Leinauer

et al. 2016

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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Many mountain pastures consist of a mosaic of grassland and shrub communities. Ongoing changes in mountain agriculture have affected the balance between the two elements of the mosaic. In order to understand the consequences of these changes for ecosystem functioning, we studied patterns in vegetation, root structure and soil properties along transects of varying grassland-to-shrub proportions. Our hypothesis was that differences in the vegetation aboveground are accompanied by differences belowground, related to soil properties and depth. The research was conducted at a subalpine site in the Trentino region (South-eastern Alps), consisting of Nardus stricta grasslands alternating with shrub patches of Rhododendron ferrugineum. Our investigation showed that the composition of vegetation was mainly governed by R. ferrugineum cover and less by soil properties. Plant species richness peaked at low to intermediate degrees of shrub cover and composition between transects became more similar with increasing shrub cover. Where R. ferrugineum cover was higher, Hemicryptophytes caespitosae were replaced by Nano-phanerophytes with consequences for belowground structures. At increasing shrub cover, root length density decreased, especially in the top soil, while root weight density remained stable and C content increased insignificantly. We discuss that theses structural changes along the gradient of R. ferrugineum cover affect a number of ecosystem services. The presented evidence suggests that maintaining grasslands with a low cover of R. ferrugineum balances a number of services, namely plant species diversity, carbon stabilization in soil and the prevention of soil erosion.

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Section: Cover Of R Ferrugineum Is Related To the Distribution Of Fimentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Description Of Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Shrub Cover Reduces Species Richness and Heterogeneitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Above- and belowground patterns in a subalpine grassland-shrub mosaic

Pornaro

Schneider

Leinauer

et al. 2016

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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show abstract

“…Changes in grasslands can further alter the carbon balance (Guidi et al, 2014), and affect the biodiversity (Gieselman et al, 2013) and food production (O'Mara, 2012). However, due to climate change coupled with negative human interferences (mostly overgrazing and the clearing of grassland for cultivation and urbanization), nearly half of global grasslands have degraded (Gang et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-induced grassland degradation/restoration in the central Tibetan Plateau: The effects of ecological protection and restoration projects

Cai

Yang

2015

Ecological Engineering

179

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A B S T R A C TEcological projects are an important and vital method to help ecosystem adaptation and restoration in response to the environment change and human interference. The accurate and objective assessment of ecological projects will assist ecosystem management and adaption. This study took the central Tibetan Plateau as the study area, where a series of ecological projects has been implemented since 2005 to prevent grassland degradation by protecting and restoring the grasslands. Our aim is to explore where and to what extent the ecological projects influenced the grassland variation, using SPOT NDVI-based residual trend as an indicator. The results indicated that before the projects (between 1998 and 2004), human-induced degradation characterized the grassland. However, a general grassland restoration was detected after the projects from 2005 to 2012. Moreover, over 60% of project plots had positive trends in the NDVI residuals. From the spatial patterns, project-induced restoration was detected in the western and northern regions, such as Maduo, Dongde and Xinghai counties. For the eastern regions, the human-induced degradation has been generally mitigated and yet not reversed after the projects. Our results indicated that ecological protection and restoration projects in the central Tibetan Plateau have mitigated the grassland degradation and even reversed the degradation in some areas, and also suggested that the NDVI-based residual trend is a useful indicator for assessing the effectiveness of the ecological projects in alpine regions.

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Effects of land use change on organic carbon dynamics associated with soil aggregate fractions on the Loess Plateau, China

Zhong¹,

Han²,

Xu³

et al. 2019

Land Degrad Dev

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Organic carbon (OC) sequestration through soil aggregation is an important aspect of land use change/conversion (LUCC) influencing the terrestrial ecosystem C cycle, although little is known on the changes in aggregate dynamics and their contributions to OC accumulation after LUCC in regions with serious soil erosion. Therefore, bulk soil samples under four land uses (farmland and three vegetated soils converted from farmland 42 years ago: Robinia pseudoacacia [RP42yr], Caragana korshinskii [CK42yr], and abandoned land [AL42yr]) in the Loess Plateau, China, was collected, separated into seven aggregate size fractions, and examined for OC content. Farmland conversion into AL42yr, CK42yr, and RP42yr increased macroaggregate (>2 mm) and mesoaggregate (2–0.25 mm) proportions, mean weight diameter, and geometric mean diameter but decreased microaggregates (0.25–0.053 mm) amount. Bulk soil and aggregates OC content and stock varied with soil depth and land use types but were usually highest in RP42yr. Mesoaggregates contained higher OC content and stock than other aggregates at 0‐ to 20‐cm depth under all land uses. Increases in the OC stocks of mesoaggregates accounted for 46% and 85% of the increase in bulk soil OC stocks at 0‐ to 20‐ and 20‐ to 40‐cm depth, respectively. Thus, soil OC accumulation after LUCC is mainly due to increased OC stock within mesoaggregates, which is further attributed to increased mesoaggregate proportions. Overall, vegetation restoration promotes the physical protection of OC by increasing soil aggregation, being a management option to enhance the C sequestration potential in ecological fragile regions.

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Effects of forest expansion on mountain grassland: changes within soil organic carbon fractions

Cited by 49 publications

References 61 publications

Above- and belowground patterns in a subalpine grassland-shrub mosaic

Above- and belowground patterns in a subalpine grassland-shrub mosaic

Human-induced grassland degradation/restoration in the central Tibetan Plateau: The effects of ecological protection and restoration projects

Effects of land use change on organic carbon dynamics associated with soil aggregate fractions on the Loess Plateau, China

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