Grazing intensity enhances spatial aggregation of dominant species in a desert steppe

Plant Species Diversity Response to Animal Grazing Intensity in Semi-Steppe Rangelands

Knowledge of the relationships between biotic components of rangeland ecosystem i.e. herbivores and plants is important for range managers. In order to study herbivorse grazing intensity on plant species diversity, an experiment was conductef using fuor grazing treatments in darrehshar rangelands, Ilam province in 2015. Plant species data were taken based on a randomized-systematic sampling met...

Effects of grazing intensity on soil labile organic carbon fractions in a desert steppe area in Inner Mongolia

Grazing can cause changes in soil carbon (C) level. This study aimed to elucidate the response of soil labile organic carbon (SLOC) under four different grazing intensities: non grazing (NG), 0 sheep·ha(-1); light grazing (LG), 0.91 sheep·ha(-1); moderate grazing (MG), 1.82 sheep·ha(-1), and heavy grazing (HG), 2.73 sheep·ha(-1). Results showed that there was no significant difference in total ...

Spatial patterns of vegetation and soil fertility along a grazing gradient in a desert steppe in Inner Mongolia, China

A six-year grazing exclusion changed plant species diversity of a Stipa breviflora desert steppe community, northern China

Excluding grazers is one of most efficient ways to restore degraded grasslands in desert-steppe communities, but may negatively affect the recovery of plant species diversity. However, diversity differences between grazed and fenced grasslands in desert-steppe are poorly known. In a Stipa breviflora desert steppe community in Northern China, we established six plots to examine spatial patterns ...

Grazing alters the biophysical regulation of carbon fluxes in a desert steppe

To determine the role of grazing on CO2 fluxes in a desert steppe, we used paired eddy-covariance systems to measure the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and microclimate on adjacent pastures of grazed (GS) and ungrazed (FS) steppes on the Mongolian Plateau from 2010 to 2011. The first year was an average precipitation year, while the second year was a dry year. In 2010, there was 91% greater growi...