Effects of short-term grazing exclusion on vegetation and soil in early succession of a Subhumid Mediterranean reclaimed coal mine

Pallavicini, Y.; Camino, M. J.; Martínez-Ruiz, Carolina

doi:10.1007/s11104-018-3629-2

Cited by 39 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…The adaptive management framework allowed us to adjust our actions by adding seedlings, which was critical to increasing native cover at our site. Our finding that excluding herbivores was necessary for the successful establishment of E. fasciculatum but not A. californica demonstrates that the susceptibility of native seedlings to herbivory can vary by species, which has been found in other systems as well (Sigcha, Pallavicini, Camino, & Martinez‐Ruiz, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Impacts of competition and herbivory on native plants in a community‐engaged, adaptively managed restoration experiment

Kimball

Long

Ludovise³

et al. 2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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Restoring biodiversity to degraded sites in the wildland–urban interface is challenging due to many factors, including competition with non‐native species and increased herbivore pressure. In a unique collaboration between land managers, environmental educators, students, and academic ecologists, we tested the effectiveness of multiple restoration techniques in an adaptive management framework, modifying methods each year based on results in the previous years. We evaluated the impact of non‐native species and rabbit herbivores on soil moisture and native plant growth. We added native seedlings to our site either immediately adjacent to existing native shrubs (potential nurse plants) or in the open. One native species, Artemisia californica, was significantly negatively influenced by the presence of an existing shrub and grew more in the open in both a wet and a dry year. Another native species, Eriogonum fasciculatum, experienced high mortality by rabbit herbivores when it was not protected by fencing. Fencing also increased abundance of non‐native plants, so a combination of fencing and non‐native removal without a nurse plant was optimal for restoration. Soil moisture was greater in the open than under existing native shrubs, indicating that existing shrubs decreased soil water available to seedlings. Data collected by trained students was indistinguishable from that collected by professional ecologists. Our use of community‐engaged science demonstrates how scientific adaptive management experiments can include a diversity of participants and allow for immediate dissemination and implementation of results.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Impacts of competition and herbivory on native plants in a community‐engaged, adaptively managed restoration experiment

Kimball

Long

Ludovise³

et al. 2019

Conservat Sci and Prac

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“…Mixed results regarding the effects of grazing exclusion on soil pH have been found in previous studies, with negative (Raiesi & Riahi, 2014; Wu et al, 2009), neutral, (Shang et al, 2017; Sigcha et al, 2018) or positive (Cheng et al, 2016) effects. We found that the soil pH decreased with grazing exclusion at most grassland sites across China.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Significant soil acidification caused by grazing exclusion across China’s grassland areas

et al. 2020

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Soil pH is strongly associated with soil biogeochemical cycles and biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. Grazing exclusion (GE) has been widely adopted as an effective practice to restore degraded grasslands. However, the effect of GE on soil pH is still poorly understood and remains inconclusive. We synthesized data for 63 sites from the peer‐reviewed literature and 43 additional field sites and investigated the differences in soil pH following grazing exclusion across China’s grasslands. The mean pH across all samples decreased by 0.13 units with grazing exclusion (mean pH 8.15 and 8.02 for the grazed and grazing exclusion groups, respectively, p < 0.001). The pH of the surface soil (0–20 cm) showed the greatest rates of decrease in grazing exclusion grasslands, whereas the pH of the deep soil layers (20–100 cm) showed a limited response to grazing exclusion. In general, the largest rate of decrease in soil pH occurred after medium‐term periods (5–15 years) of grazing exclusion, whereas a smaller rate of change was found over short‐ (≤5 years) and long‐term periods (≥15 years) of grazing exclusion. Of the environmental factors examined, the climatic conditions, accumulation of biomass and the soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics were important factors influencing soil pH following grazing exclusion. Our results indicate that grazing exclusion causes significant soil acidification, especially in surface soils and humid areas. Our results provide an important reference for the future management of China’s grasslands.

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“…As well as primary productivity, they provide substantial additional ecosystem functions, such as diversity maintenance, soil and water protection, and carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) sequestration Ebrahimi et al, 2016;Fu and Shen, 2017;Fu et al, 2018). The main method of grassland utilization worldwide is grazing (Dong et al, 2011), which can alter community structure and affect C and N storage (Mcsherry and Ritchie, 2013;Sigcha et al, 2018). Continuous overgrazing and poor management could induce severe grassland degradation and pose an increasing threat to ecosystem functioning and biodiversity (Shao et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With respect to productivity, some studies have found that there were no significant differences in plant biomass between freely grazing (FG) and GE regions (Fu et al, 2014;Dong et al, 2017), whereas others showed that GE markedly restored vegetation and enhanced productivity of degraded grasslands (Wu et al, 2009;Jing et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2018). Additionally, some research has indicated that GE was conducive to the maintenance of plant species diversity (Zhao and Gillet, 2011;Mekuria and Aynekulu, 2013;Zhang and Zhao, 2015), whereas others reported no change and even a decrease of species diversity, due to litter accumulation altering access to light, water and competitive exclusion of species (Wu et al, 2009;Bi et al, 2018;Sigcha et al, 2018). Similarly, the effects of GE on soil nutrients are controversial.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community structure and carbon and nitrogen storage of sagebrush desert under grazing exclusion in Northwest China

et al. 2020

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Overgrazing is regarded as one of the key factors of vegetation and soil degradation in the arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China. Grazing exclusion (GE) is one of the most common pathways used to restore degraded grasslands and to improve their ecosystem services. Nevertheless, there are still significant controversies concerning GE's effects on grassland diversity as well as carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage. It remains poorly understood in the arid desert regions, whilst being essential for the sustainable use of grassland resources. To assess the effects of GE on community characteristics and C and N storage of desert plant community in the arid desert regions, we investigated the community structure and plant biomass, as well as C and N storage of plants and soil (0-100 cm depth) in short-term GE (three years) plots and adjacent long-term freely grazing (FG) plots in the areas of sagebrush desert in Northwest China, which are important both for spring-autumn seasonal pasture and for ecological conservation. Our findings indicated that GE was beneficial to the average height, coverage and aboveground biomass (including stems, leaves and inflorescences, and litter) of desert plant community, to the species richness and importance values of subshrubs and perennial herbs, and to the biomass C and N storage of aboveground parts (P<0.05). However, GE was not beneficial to the importance values of annual herbs, root/shoot ratio and total N concentration in the 0-5 and 5-10 cm soil layers (P<0.05). Additionally, the plant density, belowground biomass, and soil organic C concentration and C storage in the 0-100 cm soil layer could not be significantly changed by short-term GE (three years). The results suggest that, although GE was not beneficial for C sequestration in the sagebrush desert ecosystem, it is an effective strategy for improving productivity, diversity, and C and N storage of plants. As a result, GE can be used to rehabilitate degraded grasslands in the arid desert regions of Northwest China.

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Effects of short-term grazing exclusion on vegetation and soil in early succession of a Subhumid Mediterranean reclaimed coal mine

Cited by 39 publications

References 58 publications

Impacts of competition and herbivory on native plants in a community‐engaged, adaptively managed restoration experiment

Impacts of competition and herbivory on native plants in a community‐engaged, adaptively managed restoration experiment

Significant soil acidification caused by grazing exclusion across China’s grassland areas

Community structure and carbon and nitrogen storage of sagebrush desert under grazing exclusion in Northwest China

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