Short-term grazing exclusion has no impact on soil properties and nutrients of degraded alpine grassland in Tibet, China

Lü, Xianguo; Yan, Ying; Sun, Jian; Zhang, X.; Chen, Y.; Wang, X.; Cheng, Guangliang

doi:10.5194/se-6-1195-2015

Cited by 109 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…First, trampling by livestock (yak and Tibetan sheep) can lead to compaction and changes in infiltration rates, bulk density, and decline of edaphon activity (Li et al, 2011b;Yu and Jia, 2014). Second, under the long-term pressure of grazing, some energy and nutrients are transferred to livestock (Li et al, 2011b;Lu et al, 2015). In addition, the available forms of nitrogen and phosphorus in the wetland are lower than in the typical meadow because they are very water-soluble and move rapidly in the wetland environment.…”

Section: Response Of Belowground Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

Epstein

Wen

et al. 2017

Solid Earth

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Abstract. Climate change and human activities have caused a shift in vegetation composition and soil biogeochemical cycles of alpine wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau. The primary goal of this study was to test for associations between community-weighted mean (CWM) traits, functional diversity, and soil properties during wetland drying. We collected soil samples and investigated the aboveground vegetation in swamp, swamp meadow, and typical meadow environments. Four CWM trait values (specific leaf area is SLA, leaf dry matter content is LDMC, leaf area is LA, and mature plant height is MPH) for 42 common species were measured across the three habitats; three components of functional diversity (functional richness, functional evenness, and functional divergence) were also quantified at these sites. Our results showed that the drying of the wetland dramatically altered plant community and soil properties. There was a significant correlation between CWM of traits and soil properties, but not a significant correlation between functional diversity and soil properties. Our results further showed that CWM-LA, CWM-SLA, and CWM-LDMC had positive correlations with soil readily available nutrients (available nitrogen, AN; available phosphorus, AP), but negative correlations with total soil nutrients (soil organic carbon is SOC, total nitrogen is TN, and total phosphorus is TP). Our study demonstrated that simple, quantitative plant functional traits, but not functional diversity, are directly related to soil C and N properties, and they likely play an important role in plant-soil interactions. Our results also suggest that functional identity of species may be more important than functional diversity in influencing ecosystem processes during wetland drying.

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Section: Response Of Belowground Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

Epstein

Wen

et al. 2017

Solid Earth

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“…The positive use of grasslands to restore degraded land and recover soil organic matter stocks has also been found in other regions, and the grasslands are very efficient even under grazing pressure (Lu et al, 2015;Orgill et al, 2016). The four Soil Regions were characterized by different IPCC factors (IPCCf i ) related to agricultural abandonment that ranged from 1.12 to 1.44 in SR1 and SR4, respectively (Table 1).…”

Section: Ipcc Factorsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration

Novara

Gristina

Sala

et al. 2017

Science of The Total Environment

127

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“…In general, no significant impacts of short-term grazing exclusion were found on either soil properties or nutrients in degraded alpine grasslands across the northern Tibetan Plateau [10]. However, soil organic carbon was reported remarkably reduced at alpine desert steppes [11] and was enhanced at alpine meadows [12] due to the short-term grazing exclusion.…”

Section: Current Assessments On Short-term Grazing Exclusionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Grazing Exclusion to Recover Degraded Alpine Pastures Needs Scientific Assessments across the Northern Tibetan Plateau

Zhang

et al. 2016

Sustainability

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Abstract:The northern Tibetan Plateau is the most traditional and important semi-nomadic region in Tibet. The alpine vegetation is sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and human activities, and is also important as an ecological security in protecting the headwaters of major rivers in Asia. Therefore, the Tibetan alpine grasslands have fundamental significance to both Mainland China and South Asia. The pasture degradation, however, likely threatens the livelihood of residents and the habitats of wildlife on this plateau. Since 2004, the government has launched a series of ecological restoration projects and economic compensatory payment polices. Many fences were additionally built on degraded pastures to prevent new degradation, to promote functionality recovery, and to balance the stocking rate with forage productivity. The grazed vs. fenced paired pastures across different zonal grassland communities along evident environmental gradients provide us with a natural comparative experiment platform to test the relative contributions of natural and anthropogenic factors. This study critically reviews the background, significance of and debates on short-term grazing exclusion with fences in this region. We also aim to figure out scientific and standardized workflows for assessing the effectiveness of grazing exclusion and compensatory payments in the future.Keywords: alpine grasslands; climate change; compensatory payment; fencing; grazing enclosure; livestock management Climate Changes and Husbandry Development in TibetThe alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau have increasingly gained attention for their sensitivity and vulnerability to climate change and human activities over the past decades [1]. The air temperature over this plateau has risen by 0.3 • C per decade since the 1960s, nearly three times the global warming rate [2]. In the northern Tibetan plateau, it has warmed by 0.5 • C per decade from 1979 to 2008 (Figure 1), which is even faster than other areas of this plateau and inland areas of China. Precipitation followed no obvious trend, but exhibited evident inter-annual and decadal variability during the same period (Figure 1). Because of the continuous warming and no evident increment in precipitation, the northern Tibetan Plateau went through a warmer and drier trajectory over the past decades.

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Short-term grazing exclusion has no impact on soil properties and nutrients of degraded alpine grassland in Tibet, China

Cited by 109 publications

References 82 publications

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

Community-weighted mean traits but not functional diversity determine the changes in soil properties during wetland drying on the Tibetan Plateau

Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration

Grazing Exclusion to Recover Degraded Alpine Pastures Needs Scientific Assessments across the Northern Tibetan Plateau

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