Livestock grazing modifies the effect of environmental factors on soil temperature and water content in a temperate grassland

Odriozola, Iñaki; García‐Baquero, Gonzalo; Laskurain, Nere Amaia; Aldezábal, A.

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.08.002

Cited by 61 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Recent studies in these field plots have reported higher mean soil water content (Odriozola et al. ), as well as higher above‐ground productivity based on NDVI measurement, in Site 3 compared to Site 1 (Aldezabal et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Grazing exclusion unleashes competitive plant responses in Iberian Atlantic mountain grasslands

Odriozola

García‐Baquero

Fortin

et al. 2016

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions Does the absence of equalizing mechanisms after cessation of grazing unleash strong above‐ground competitors to create large patches in the community? Do these competitive intraspecific aggregations displace and exclude other species, thereby reducing species diversity? Location Atlantic grasslands, Aralar Natural Park, Basque Country, Northern Iberian Peninsula. Methods Large herbivores were experimentally excluded from three sites (50 m × 50 m exclusion fences) during 9 yr in a productive semi‐natural grassland system with a long history of grazing, using adjacent grazed plots as experimental controls. Sampling was carried out by systematically placing 100 quadrats (0.5 m × 0.5 m) in each of the six plots. Floristic composition and abundance, as well as eight hydrological and chemical soil properties, were measured in each quadrat. The spatial structures created by competitive species were analysed using RDA in conjunction with Moran's eigenvector maps, and soil variables were simultaneously included in the analyses, thus disentangling the structures likely created by niche effects. Competitive exclusion was further determined using linear regressions between species richness and abundance of competitive species. Results Grazing exclusion unleashed competitive species such as Festuca microphylla and Agrostis capillaris, which became dominant in the exclusion plots and created large spatial patches. Furthermore, a negative linear relationship, consistent across exclusion plots, was observed between species richness and abundance of competitive species, indicating that strong above‐ground competitors outcompeted other species when herbivores were excluded. However, the outcome of grazing exclusion across sites depended to some extent on local environmental conditions (niche effects). Conclusions This work confirms that the powerful equalizing mechanism of disturbance by herbivores is crucial for species co‐existence in productive grasslands. However, important differences observed in environmental effects across sites suggest that, even in highly productive grasslands, plant traits and local environmental characteristics (niche effects) do matter for species co‐existence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Grazing exclusion unleashes competitive plant responses in Iberian Atlantic mountain grasslands

Odriozola

García‐Baquero

Fortin

et al. 2016

Applied Vegetation Science

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“…At the same time, species of large body size such as ungulates may cause soil compaction or erosion by trampling, and many medium‐sized herbivores such as rodents and lagomorphs also physically disturb soil by burrowing (Eldridge & Koen, ; Veldhuis, Howison, Fokkema, Tielens, & Olff, ). Moreover, drastic reduction in vegetation height under strong herbivore pressure may expose the soil surface to greater microclimate fluctuations (Odriozola, Garcia‐Baquero, Laskurain, & Aldezabal, ). Longer‐term consequences at the community and ecosystem level depend on the interplay between the aforementioned mechanisms and other effects on plant species composition and litter accumulation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of belowground communities to large aboveground herbivores: Meta‐analysis reveals biome‐dependent patterns and critical research gaps

Andriuzzi

Wall

2017

Global Change Biology

104

101

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The importance of herbivore-plant and soil biota-plant interactions in terrestrial ecosystems is amply recognized, but the effects of aboveground herbivores on soil biota remain challenging to predict. To find global patterns in belowground responses to vertebrate herbivores, we performed a meta-analysis of studies that had measured abundance or activity of soil organisms inside and outside field exclosures (areas that excluded herbivores). Responses were often controlled by climate, ecosystem type, and dominant herbivore identity. Soil microfauna and especially root-feeding nematodes were negatively affected by herbivores in subarctic sites. In arid ecosystems, herbivore presence tended to reduce microbial biomass and nitrogen mineralization. Herbivores decreased soil respiration in subarctic ecosystems and increased it in temperate ecosystems, but had no net effect on microbial biomass or nitrogen mineralization in those ecosystems. Responses of soil fauna, microbial biomass, and nitrogen mineralization shifted from neutral to negative with increasing herbivore body size. Responses of animal decomposers tended to switch from negative to positive with increasing precipitation, but also differed among taxa, for instance Oribatida responded negatively to herbivores, whereas Collembola did not. Our findings imply that losses and gains of aboveground herbivores will interact with climate and land use changes, inducing functional shifts in soil communities. To conceptualize the mechanisms behind our findings and link them with previous theoretical frameworks, we propose two complementary approaches to predict soil biological responses to vertebrate herbivores, one focused on an herbivore body size gradient, and the other on a climate severity gradient. Major research gaps were revealed, with tropical biomes, protists, and soil macrofauna being especially overlooked.

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“…Livestock grazing is the most prevalent economic activity in Tibet (Zhou et al, 2006), resulting in significant ecological effects. For example, it reduces vegetation biomass, switches dominant plant species to short and prostrate forb species (Lkhagva et al, 2013), expands the range of soil temperature fluctuation, increases soil mean temperature, enhances forage quality (Odriozola et al, 2014), and decreases microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen (Fu et al, 2012). Furthermore, owing to strong ruminant CH 4 emission, total greenhouse gas budget of high grazing densities (-1034 g CO 2eq m -2 yr -1 ) was nearly four times to that of low grazing densities (-260 g CO 2eq m -2 yr -1 ) (Skiba et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Biogeographic Pattern of Microbial Functional Genes along an Altitudinal Gradient of the Tibetan Pasture

Zhao

Wang

et al. 2017

Front. Microbiol.

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As the highest place of the world, the Tibetan plateau is a fragile ecosystem. Given the importance of microbial communities in driving soil nutrient cycling, it is of interest to document the microbial biogeographic pattern here. We adopted a microarray-based tool named GeoChip 4.0 to investigate grassland microbial functional genes along an elevation gradient from 3200 to 3800 m above sea level open to free grazing by local herdsmen and wild animals. Interestingly, microbial functional diversities increase with elevation, so does the relative abundances of genes associated with carbon degradation, nitrogen cycling, methane production, cold shock and oxygen limitation. The range of Shannon diversities (10.27–10.58) showed considerably smaller variation than what was previously observed at ungrazed sites nearby (9.95–10.65), suggesting the important role of livestock grazing on microbial diversities. Closer examination showed that the dissimilarity of microbial community at our study sites increased with elevations, revealing an elevation-decay relationship of microbial functional genes. Both microbial functional diversity and the number of unique genes increased with elevations. Furthermore, we detected a tight linkage of greenhouse gas (CO2) and relative abundances of carbon cycling genes. Our biogeographic study provides insights on microbial functional diversity and soil biogeochemical cycling in Tibetan pastures.

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Livestock grazing modifies the effect of environmental factors on soil temperature and water content in a temperate grassland

Cited by 61 publications

References 43 publications

Grazing exclusion unleashes competitive plant responses in Iberian Atlantic mountain grasslands

Grazing exclusion unleashes competitive plant responses in Iberian Atlantic mountain grasslands

Responses of belowground communities to large aboveground herbivores: Meta‐analysis reveals biome‐dependent patterns and critical research gaps

The Biogeographic Pattern of Microbial Functional Genes along an Altitudinal Gradient of the Tibetan Pasture

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