Relationship of plant diversity with litter and soil available nitrogen in an alpine meadow under a 9-year grazing exclusion

NWIPB OpenIR

	Relationship of plant diversity with litter and soil available nitrogen in an alpine meadow under a 9-year grazing exclusion
	Zou, Jingru ; Luo, Caiyun ; Xu, Xingliang ; Zhao, Na ; Zhao, Liang ; Zhao, Xinquan
	2016-11-01
发表期刊	ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH
摘要	Grazing exclusion is widely used globally to restore degraded grasslands. Plant diversity has important impacts on grassland ecosystem functions, including grassland productivity and carbon storage. In this study, we selected a Kobresia meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to investigate how grazing exclusion affects plant diversity. Inorganic nitrogen (NH4 (+) and NO3 (-)) was also measured because its availability impacts plant growth. We found that plant diversity in the meadow was significantly lower under grazing exclusion (fenced meadow) for 9 years compared with moderate grazing. Accumulated litter was significantly higher under grazing exclusion (386.41 g m(-2)) compared with grazing (58.77 g m(-2)). Soil inorganic nitrogen at 0-5 cm depth was significantly higher under grazing exclusion (13.60 x 10(-2) g kg(-1)) than under grazing (9.40 x 10(-2) g kg(-1)). The composition of the four functional groups (grasses, sedges, legumes, and forbs) might alter in response to significant changes in the amount of litter and soil available nitrogen content under grazing exclusion compared with grazing. However, the enhanced soil available nitrogen content showed weak feedbacks on plant diversity. In conclusion, light limitation induced by increased amounts of litter may be the main factor causing decreased plant diversity in grazing-excluded meadows compared with moderately grazed meadows.
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://210.75.249.4/handle/363003/43272
专题	中国科学院西北高原生物研究所
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zou, Jingru,Luo, Caiyun,Xu, Xingliang,et al. Relationship of plant diversity with litter and soil available nitrogen in an alpine meadow under a 9-year grazing exclusion[J]. ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH,2016.
APA	Zou, Jingru,Luo, Caiyun,Xu, Xingliang,Zhao, Na,Zhao, Liang,&Zhao, Xinquan.(2016).Relationship of plant diversity with litter and soil available nitrogen in an alpine meadow under a 9-year grazing exclusion.ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH.
MLA	Zou, Jingru,et al."Relationship of plant diversity with litter and soil available nitrogen in an alpine meadow under a 9-year grazing exclusion".ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (2016).