scholarly journals Effects of Fencing on Vegetation and Soil Nutrients of the Temperate Steppe Grasslands in Inner Mongolia

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1546
Author(s):  
Shan Cong ◽  
Daowei Zhou ◽  
Qiang Li ◽  
Yingxin Huang
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Temperate Steppe ◽  
Soil C ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Litter Biomass ◽  
Live Biomass

Grazing exclusion has been widely implemented in degraded grassland. However, the changes of plant communities and soil nutrients in response to fencing are still controversial. Thus, the effects of free grazing, 17 and 36 years of fencing on the plant biomass and litter biomass, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations and stocks of plant, litter and soil were investigated in the temperate steppe grasslands of northern China. The results indicated that fencing increased the aboveground live biomass and litter biomass. In addition, fencing increased C, N and P stocks of aboveground live biomass, litter biomass and soil. Although root biomass and its nutrient stocks were also significantly increased by 17 years of fencing, they were decreased with fencing extending from 17 to 36 years. Moreover, there were no significant differences in aboveground live biomass and soil N and P stocks between 17 and 36 years of fencing. Litter biomass and its C, N and P stocks were positively correlated with soil C, N and P stocks. Our results demonstrated that 17 years of fencing is an effective way to restore vegetation and soil nutrients in the temperate steppe of Inner Mongolia, but a longer fencing duration has no further positive effects on biomass production and soil nutrients accumulation.

scholarly journals Non-additive effect of day and night warming on soil respiration in a temperate steppe

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 4385-4411 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Xia ◽  
Y. Han ◽  
Z. Zhang ◽  
Z. Zhang ◽  
S. Wan
Keyword(s):  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Temperate Steppe ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Substrate Supply ◽  
Night Warming ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
C Assimilation

Abstract. This study was conducted to examine potentially differential effects of day and night warming on soil respiration in a temperate steppe in northern China. A full factorial design with day and night warming was used in this study, including control (C), day (6 a.m.–6 p.m., local time; D) warming, night (6 p.m.–6 a.m.; N) warming, and diurnal warming (W). Day warming showed neutral effect on soil respiration, whereas night warming significantly increased soil respiration by 7.1% over the first 3 growing seasons. The insignificant effect of day warming on soil respiration could be attributable to the offset of the direct positive effects by the indirect negative effects via aggravating water limitation and suppressing ecosystem C assimilation. The positive effects of night warming on soil respiration were largely due to the stimulation of ecosystem C uptake and substrate supply via over-compensation of plant photosynthesis. In addition, day and night warming showed antagonistic effects on soil respiration, which could be ascribed to their contrasting effects on ecosystem C assimilation. The results suggest differential and non-additive effects of day and night warming on soil respiration, which was driven by the treatment-induced changes in substrate supply.

scholarly journals Effects of mowing on N<sub>2</sub>O emission from a temperate grassland in Inner Mongolia, Northern China

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 19219-19243
Author(s):  
L. Zhang ◽  
Q. Wang ◽  
H. J. Laanbroek ◽  
C. Wang ◽  
D. Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Litter Production ◽  
N2o Emissions ◽  
Microbial Biomass Nitrogen ◽  
Relationship Analysis ◽  
N2o Fluxes

Abstract. Grazing and mowing are two common practices for grassland management. Mowing is now recommended as an alternative to traditional grazing for grassland conservation in Inner Mongolia, northern China. Many studies have revealed that both mowing and grazing may alter ecosystem properties in various ways. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of mowing on trace gas emissions, especially on N2O flux. In this study, we conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of mowing on N2O fluxes from a semiarid grassland in Inner Mongolia. The mowing experiment, which started in 2003, comprised four mowing intensity treatments, i.e. mowing heights at 2, 5, 10 and 15 cm above the soil surface, respectively, and a control of non-mowing, with five replicates. Gas fluxes were measured through a closed static chamber technique during the growing seasons (usually from May to September, depending on local climate at the time) of 2008 and 2009, respectively. Our results showed that mowing decreased N2O emissions, above-ground biomass and total litter production. N2O emissions were greater in May and June than in other sampling periods, regardless of treatments. A co-relationship analysis suggested that variations in seasonal N2O fluxes were mainly driven by variations in soil moisture and microbial biomass nitrogen, except in July and August. In July and August, above-ground plant biomass and soil total nitrogen became the major drivers of N2O fluxes under the soil temperatures between 16 °C and 18 °C. Overall, our study indicated that the introduction of mowing as a management practice might decrease N2O emissions in grasslands, and both mowing height and soil properties affected the magnitude of the reduction. Our findings imply that grasslands, along with proper management practices, can be a N2O sink mitigating the rise of N2O in the atmosphere.

scholarly journals Community Differentiation and Ecological Influencing Factors along Environmental Gradients: Evidence from 1200 km Belt Transect across Inner Mongolia Grassland, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Zhanyong Fu ◽  
Fei Wang ◽  
Zhaohua Lu ◽  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Lin Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Spatial Differentiation ◽  
Leymus Chinensis ◽  
Meadow Steppe ◽  
Temperate Steppe ◽  
Typical Steppe ◽  
Inner Mongolia Grassland ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Belt Transect

In this work, we conducted a 1200 km belt transect for field survey in typical and meadow steppes across Inner Mongolia Plateau in 2018. The field investigation, laboratory soil analysis, and quantitative ecology methods were utilized to explore the differentiation characteristics of the plant community, and their relationships with ecological factors. The results showed that a total of 140 vascular plants within 108 quadrats mainly comprised of Asteraceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae, and Fabaceae. Two-way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) revealed eight vegetation typologies: I: Stipa sareptana var. krylovii + Dysphania aristata, II: Stipa grandis + Leymus chinensis, III: Stipa sareptana var. krylovii + Leymus chinensis, IV: Stipa grandis + Cleistogenes squarrosa, V: Stipa grandis + Carex duriuscula, VI: Stipa baicalensis + Leymus chinensis, VII: Carex pediformis + Stipa baicalensis, VIII: Leymus chinensis + Elymus dahuricus. Detrend Correspondence Analysis (DCA) confirmed the above eight vegetation typologies and indicated a relatively small variation. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the spatial differentiation characteristics in the typical steppe were chiefly driven by precipitation, while the influencing factor in the meadow steppe was soil nutrients, followed by temperature and precipitation. The contrast between typical and meadow steppes revealed that the spatial distribution of typical steppe was influenced by precipitation, while the contribution of heat and water in the meadow steppe was equal. The conclusion revealed that the temperature and precipitation conditions coupled with soil nutrients shaped the spatial differentiation characteristics of temperate steppe vegetation in the Inner Mongolia grassland. Therefore, this study advanced our knowledge of the spatial patterns of temperate steppe along longitude and latitude gradients, providing scientific and theoretical guidance for the biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management of the Inner Mongolia grassland.

scholarly journals Reciprocal facilitation between large herbivores and ants in a semi-arid grassland

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1888) ◽  
pp. 20181665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofei Li ◽  
Zhiwei Zhong ◽  
Dirk Sanders ◽  
Christian Smit ◽  
Deli Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Large Herbivores ◽  
Litter Accumulation ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Animal Communities ◽  
Semi Arid

While positive interactions have been well documented in plant and sessile benthic marine communities, their role in structuring mobile animal communities and underlying mechanisms has been less explored. Using field removal experiments, we demonstrated that a large vertebrate herbivore (cattle; Bos tarurs ) and a much smaller invertebrate (ants; Lasius spp.), the two dominant animal taxa in a semi-arid grassland in Northeast China, facilitate each other. Cattle grazing led to higher ant mound abundance compared with ungrazed sites, while the presence of ant mounds increased the foraging of cattle during the peak of the growing season. Mechanistically, these reciprocal positive effects were driven by habitat amelioration and resource (food) enhancement by cattle and ants (respectively). Cattle facilitated ants, probably by decreasing plant litter accumulation by herbivory and trampling, allowing more light to reach the soil surface leading to microclimatic conditions that favour ants. Ants facilitated cattle probably by increasing soil nutrients via bioturbation, increasing food (plant) biomass and quality (nitrogen content) for cattle. Our study demonstrates reciprocal facilitative interactions between two animal species from phylogenetically very distant taxa. Such reciprocal positive interactions may be more common in animal communities than so far assumed, and they should receive more attention to improve our understanding of species coexistence and animal community assembly.

scholarly journals Bacterial Succession Pattern during the Fermentation Process in Whole-Plant Corn Silage Processed in Different Geographical Areas of Northern China

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 900
Author(s):  
Chao Wang ◽  
Hongyan Han ◽  
Lin Sun ◽  
Na Na ◽  
Haiwen Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acetic Acid ◽  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Ammonia Nitrogen ◽  
Corn Silage ◽  
Shanxi Province ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Bacterial Succession ◽  
Fermentation Quality

Whole-plant corn silage is a predominant forage for livestock that is processed in Heilongjiang province (Daqing city and Longjiang county), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Helin county and Tumet Left Banner) and Shanxi province (Taigu and Shanyin counties) of North China; it was sampled at 0, 5, 14, 45 and 90 days after ensiling. Bacterial community and fermentation quality were analysed. During fermentation, the pH was reduced to below 4.0, lactic acid increased to above 73 g/kg DM (p < 0.05) and Lactobacillus dominated the bacterial community and had a reducing abundance after 14 days. In the final silages, butyric acid was not detected, and the contents of acetic acid and ammonia nitrogen were below 35 g/kg DM and 100 g/kg total nitrogen, respectively. Compared with silages from Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia, silages from Shanxi contained less Lactobacillus and more Leuconostoc (p < 0.05), and had a separating bacterial community from 14 to 90 days. Lactobacillus was negatively correlated with pH in all the silages (p < 0.05), and positively correlated with lactic and acetic acid in silages from Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia (p < 0.05). The results show that the final silages had satisfactory fermentation quality. During the ensilage process, silages from Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia had similar bacterial-succession patterns; the activity of Lactobacillus formed and maintained good fermentation quality in whole-plant corn silage.

Impacts of urea N addition on soil microbial community in a semi-arid temperate steppe in northern China

2008 ◽  
Vol 311 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 19-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naili Zhang ◽  
Shiqiang Wan ◽  
Linghao Li ◽  
Jie Bi ◽  
Mingming Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Community ◽  
Soil Microbial Community ◽  
Northern China ◽  
N Addition ◽  
Temperate Steppe ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Semi Arid

Shimao culture: naming, distribution, and chronology

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-150
Author(s):  
Zhouyong Sun ◽  
Jing Shao ◽  
Nan Di
Keyword(s):  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Central Plains ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Northern Shaanxi ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Three Phases

Abstract By synthesizing previous studies and the most updated archaeological data by typical stratigraphic contexts and assemblages, Hetao region cultural remains represented by li-tripods with double-handles should be considered part of the Shimao culture. With its core distribution area spanning from northern Shaanxi to central-northern Shanxi to central-southern Inner Mongolia, the development of Shimao culture can be divided into three phases: early, middle, and late. The absolute dating of the Shimao culture ranges from approximately 2300 BCE to 1800 BCE. The Shimao culture was therefore a major late Longshan archaeological culture in northern China that stands apart from its peers in the Central Plains.

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