Effects of Si on N and P stoichiometry in degraded grassland of northern China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Hao ◽  
Zhaoliang Song ◽  
Xiaodong Zhang ◽  
Qiang Li ◽  
Weihua Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern China ◽  
Degraded Grassland

Research on Wind Erosion of Xilamuren Grassland, Inner Mongolia

2014 ◽  
Vol 955-959 ◽  
pp. 3505-3508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ming Gao ◽  
Rui Qiang Zhang ◽  
Jian Ying Guo
Keyword(s):  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Wind Erosion ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Vegetation Coverage ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Grassland Vegetation ◽  
Available Nitrogen ◽  
Vegetation Height ◽  
Degraded Grassland

In northern China, grassland has degraded severely and wind erosion occurs remarkably due to irrational land use in recent years. By employing sand sampler and mobile wind tunnel, an observation for 6 years was made to analyze the mechanisms of wind erosion in Xilamuren grassland, the central of Yinshan Mountains, Inner Mongolia. Results show that: (1) vegetation is the decisive factor for controlling wind erosion and the inhibiting effect of vegetation height on wind erosion is greater than that of vegetation coverage. (2) Wind erosion modulus in the initial period of enclosure reaches 1313.7 t km-2a-1 and with the improvement of the grassland vegetation, wind erosion decreases year by year. (3) For every 1000 kg soil eroded by wind, 15 kg organic matter, 227g available nitrogen, 262g available phosphorus and 120g available potassium lose in the region at the same time, being a tremendous fertility loss. Therefore, the protection of base grassland and restoration of degraded grassland are two fundamental approaches to control wind erosion on the grassland.

scholarly journals Soil organic matter dynamics under different land use in grasslands in Inner Mongolia (northern China)

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5103-5113 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Zhao ◽  
W. Wu ◽  
X. Xu ◽  
Y. Xu
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Groundwater Supply ◽  
Aliphatic Carbon ◽  
Degraded Grassland

Abstract. We examined bulk soil properties and molecular biomarker distributions in surface soils from Inner Mongolian grasslands in order to understand the responses of soil organic matter to different land use. A total of 16 soils were collected from severely degraded grassland by overgrazing (DG), native grassland without apparent anthropogenic disturbance (NG), groundwater-sustaining grassland (GG) and restored grassland from previous potato cropland (RG). Compared to NG, soil organic carbon content was lower by 50% in DG, but higher by six-fold in GG and one-fold in RG. The δ13C values of soil organic carbon were –24.2 ± 0.6‰ in DG, –24.9 ± 0.6‰ in NG, –25.1 ± 0.1‰ in RG and –26.2 ± 0.6‰ in GG, reflecting different degradation degrees of soil organic matter or different water use efficiencies. The soils in DG contained the lowest abundance of aliphatic lipids (n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids, ω-hydroxylalkanoic acids and α-hydroxyalkanoic acids) and lignin-phenols, suggesting selective removal of these biochemically recalcitrant biomarkers with grassland degradation by microbial respiration or wind erosion. Compared to NG, the soils in GG and RG increased ω-hydroxylalkanoic acids by 60–70%, a biomarker for suberin from roots, and increased α-hydroxylalkanoic acids by 10–20%, a biomarker for both cutin and suberin. Our results demonstrate that the groundwater supply and cultivation–restoration practices in Inner Mongolian grasslands not only enhance soil organic carbon sequestration, but also change the proportions of shoot- versus root-derived carbon in soils. This finding has important implications for the global carbon cycle since root-derived aliphatic carbon has a longer residence time than the aboveground tissue-derived carbon in soils.

scholarly journals Soil organic matter dynamics under different land-use in grasslands in Inner Mongolia (northern China)

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 5613-5637
Author(s):  
L. Zhao ◽  
W. Wu ◽  
X. Xu ◽  
Y. Xu
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Groundwater Supply ◽  
Degraded Grassland

Abstract. We examined bulk soil properties and molecular biomarker distributions in surface soils from Inner Mongolia grasslands in order to understand the responses of soil organic matter to different land-use. The total of sixteen soils were collected from severely degraded grassland by overgrazing (DG), native grassland without apparent anthropogenic disturbance (NG), groundwater-sustaining grassland (GG) and restored grassland from previous potato cropland (RG). Compared to NG, soil organic carbon content was lower by 50% in DG, but higher by six-fold in GG and one-fold in RG. The δ13C values of soil organic carbon were −24.2 ± 0.6‰ in DG, −24.9 ± 0.6‰ in NG, −25.1 ± 0.1‰ in RG and −26.2 ± 0.6‰ in GG, reflecting different degradation degrees of soil organic matter or different water use efficiencies. The soils in DG contained the lowest abundance of aliphatic lipids (n-alkanes, n-alkanols, n-alkanoic acids, ω-hydroxylalkanoic acids and α-hydroxylalkanoic acids) and lignin-phenols, suggesting selective removal of these biochemically recalcitrant biomarkers with grassland degradation by microbial respiration or wind erosion. Compared to NG, the soils in GG and RG increased ω-hydroxylalkanoic acids by 60–70%, a biomarker for suberin from roots, and increased α-hydroxylalkanoic acids by 10–20%, a biomarker for both cutin and suberin. Our results demonstrate that the groundwater supply and cultivation-restoration practices in Inner Mongolia grasslands not only enhance soil organic carbon sequestration, but also change the proportions of shoot vs. root-derived carbon in soils. This finding has important implications for global carbon cycle since root derived aliphatic carbon has a longer residence time than the aboveground tissue-derived carbon in soils.

Effect of snow disasters on livestock farming in some rangeland regions of China and mitigation strategies – a review

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. H. Shang ◽  
M. J. Gibb ◽  
R. J. Long
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Livestock Farming ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Animal Products ◽  
Holistic Strategy ◽  
Economic Survival ◽  
Degraded Grassland

Severe snowfall events, termed snow disasters, lead to losses of livestock, preventing sustainable development of livestock systems, in the rangelands of northern China. In order to reduce losses under snow disasters, a review of the factors contributing to these losses was used to indicate the most appropriate strategy. It is proposed that governments and herders should implement a holistic strategy using a multi-disciplinary approach to ensure sustainable development in these rangelands. The possibility of seeing snow disasters as a natural restraint on livestock numbers and allowing losses to take place during these events is not considered as acceptable as part of a holistic strategy. The aim of the strategy is to improve animal nutrition, health and disease control rather than simply mounting rescue missions to save threatened livestock. It is suggested that central and local governments should encourage permanent solutions through a combination of education, the provision of materials for animal housing and the creation of reserve banks sufficient to ensure adequate feeding and survival of livestock through the winter, whether threatened by snow disasters or not. The economic return from the marketing of animal products should be enhanced through a combination of government and herder initiatives to promote a higher turnover rate of livestock and to encourage the sale of high-quality products. Regeneration of degraded grassland by herders should be encouraged by enhancing vegetation cover and forage plant height, thereby reducing the effect of snow cover on forage accessibility. Since current stocking rates on many rangelands are too high, their reduction should be an absolute priority in order to prevent irreversible degradation of rangelands. Only by improving herders’ confidence in their economic survival, through the adoption of such changes, will they be persuaded to reduce grazing livestock numbers, thereby helping to ensure, not only the short-term survival of livestock through snow disasters, but the long-term survival of their rangeland pastures upon which their livelihood depends.

scholarly journals Response of soil respiration to nitrogen addition along a degradation gradient in a temperate steppe of northern China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinbin Chen ◽  
Xiaotian Xu ◽  
Hongyan Liu ◽  
Wei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Root Biomass ◽  
Northern China ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Degraded Grassland

Abstract. Although numerous studies have been conducted on the responses of soil respiration (Rs) to nitrogen (N) addition in grassland ecosystems, it remains unclear whether a nonlinear relationship between Rs and N addition exists and whether there is a uniform response across grasslands with different degradation status. We established a field experiment with six N treatments (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 g N m−2 y−1) on four grassland sites, each with a varied degradation states in the Inner Mongolia steppe of northern China during the growing seasons of 2012 and 2013. Rs and its major influential factors, including aboveground biomass, root biomass, plant tissues carbon (C) and N concentrations, soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (STN), microbial biomass and soil pH, were measured. Results show that N fertilization did not change the seasonal patterns of Rs but it changed the magnitude of Rs in grasslands with a different degradation status and only degradation had signification effects on Rs. This shows that variations of Rs in degraded grasslands were due to the difference in SOC content. The response of Rs to N addition differed with the severity of degradation. Furthermore, the response of Rs to N addition slowed down over time. The dominant factor controlling Rs changed across different degradation grasslands. The leading factors for Rs were SOC and STN in non-degraded and moderately degraded grassland; soil pH in severely degraded grassland; and aboveground biomass and root biomass in extremely degraded grassland. Our results highlight the importance of considering the degradation level of grassland to identify soil carbon emissions in grassland ecosystems, and N addition may alter the difference of soil carbon emissions in different degraded grasslands and change its soil carbon emissions pattern.

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