The change of soil carbon and nitrogen under different grazing gradients in Hulunber meadow steppe

Abstract

The Hulunber grasslands in Inner Mongolia cover an area of up to 9.97伊10 6 km 2. Within this area, the Hulunber Leymus chinensis meadow steppe is located in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent grassland region. It is a very important example of a temperate grassland ecosystem. Grazing is the most common land use in the Hulunber meadow grasslands, therefore, understanding the changes of soil carbon, soil nitrogen and carbon sequestration under different grazing gradients will provide an important scientific basis for grassland carbon sink management in Inner Mongolia. Six stocking rate treatments (0, 0.23, 0.34, 0. 46, 0.69 and 0.92 Au / hm 2) repeated three times for each treatment, were established, with soil samples collected in early August 2011. The experimental results showed that the grazing gradient has a distinct effect on the change of soil carbon and nitrogen content and soil carbon and nitrogen storage. Soil carbon and

Heterogeneous microcommunities and ecosystem multifunctionality in seminatural grasslands under three management modes

“…In China, the grassland area is 3.55 × 10 8 hm 2 , accounting for approximately 41.7% of the territorial area and having important economic, environmental, and esthetic value (Yan et al, 2014); however, human activities have seriously affected the plant distribution, community structure, and ecosystem functions of the natural grassland communities (Xu, Gao, & Wang, 2014). Therefore, investigating the change in the structure and ecosystem function of grassland communities is important for the sustainable management and development of grassland.…”