Divergent effects of grazing versus mowing on plant nutrients in typical steppe grasslands of Inner Mongolia

作者：Jiayue Liu, Lu Li, Lei Ji, Yanlong Li, Jiaojiao Liu, Frank Yonghong Li · 发表于：Journal of Plant Ecology · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1093/jpe/rtac032 · 被引用次数：26 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Pasture and Agricultural Systems

Abstract Grazing and mowing are two major land use types in natural grasslands, which have intensive effects on nutrient cycling of grassland ecosystems by deposition of fecaluria nutrient versus removal of hay nutrient. Plant nutrients sensitively respond to the changes in nutrient cycling, while the information on the effects of diverse grazing versus mowing regimes on plant nutrients at different organs or levels are incomplete. A field experiment was conducted to compare the effects of continuous versus rotational grazing, and low versus high mowing frequencies on grassland ecosystems in a semiarid steppe of Inner Mongolia. Plant community characteristics and C, N and P concentrations of dominant species were determined across different managements. We found (i) plant community height and standing biomass significantly decreased with grazing intensity under both continuous and rotational grazing and under annual mowing. (ii) Plant shoot C concentration decreased, whereas N and P concentrations increased with grazing intensity in the two grazing regimes, while these concentrations showed no significant changes in response to the two mowing regimes. (iii) Plant community aboveground C, N and P pools significantly decreased with grazing intensity of both grazing regimes, but did not decrease with mowing frequency in the two mowing regimes. (iv) Plant root C, N and P concentrations showed little significant response to different grazing or mowing regimes, indicating a relativ...