Disentangling the effects of defoliation, excreta return and trampling from livestock on grassland ecosystem compositional and functional temporal stability

作者：Chujun Dong, Tongtian Guo, Ruihuan Zhang, Yuqi Wei, Gaowen Yang, Yingjun Zhang, Peter Meidl, Nan Liu · 发表于：Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.agee.2025.109605 · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Rangeland and Wildlife Management、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Grazing animals can shape plant community composition and functioning through three mechanisms: defoliation , excreta return (dung and urine deposition), and trampling. However, little field research has been done to explore the independent effects of these grazing mechanisms on grassland compositional and functional (ANPP) temporal stability, though it is essential for preserving a sustainable grazing system . To fill this gap, we conducted field experiments in two grasslands (typical and meadow steppe) in the eastern Eurasian temperate steppe to explore the individual and combined effects of defoliation , excreta return and trampling on plant diversity, species asynchrony, dominant species stability, and consequently grassland temporal stability. We showed that defoliation played a predominant role in regulating grassland temporal stability in both steppes. Defoliation significantly increased community compositional and functional temporal stability in typical steppe, but decreased community compositional temporal stability and showed no effect on functional temporal stability in the meadow steppe. This was mainly due to different responses of the dominant species on the two steppes. Grassland temporal stability was also dependent on trampling from animal hooves, which caused a decrease in community functional temporal stability in the meadow steppe, yet had no effect on the typical steppe. Although excreta return alone did not affect grassland temporal stability, it signif...