Degradation mechanism of typical grassland in Inner Mongolia

作者：Shiping Wang, Frank Yonghong Li · 发表于：Journal of Applied Ecology · 年份：1999 · 被引用次数：23 · 研究领域：Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology、Environmental and Agricultural Sciences、Forest, Soil, and Plant Ecology in China

The experiment was conducted on the degraded grassland in Inner Mongolia dominated by Artemisiaf gida andshort-grasses with given stocking rates for 6 years，to study the morphological responses of 9 major plant populations tograzing .The results show that the grasses with different life types and vegetative reproduction properties differed inresponding strategies to stocking rates，which formed the basis for community succession at different stocking rates.The herbage with vegetative reproduction by stolons or of higher tillering，such as Arte misiaf rigida and Potentilla a-caulis，were suitable for heavy grazing .Leymus chinense and Agropyron cristatum which are vegetative reproductionby rhizomes and tillering and Stipa krylovii were suitable for light grazing .Carex duriuscula with vegetative reproduction by rhizomes and tillering and Cleistogenes squarrosa were suitable for medium grazing.Melissitus ruthenicaand Kochia prostata with branching reproduction were suitable for light grazing .The community composition changedwith increasing stocking rate，and the proportion of short-grasses in community gradually decreased.Consequently，the degraded grassland dominated by Artemisia frigida and short-grasses ultimately converged to the degraded grassland dominated by Potentilla acaulis .Light grazing could maintain the existing state of grassland，or make it retrograde by increasing the proportion of grasses，which achieved the goal of utility- typed improvement.