Effects of establishing an artificial grassland on vegetation characteristics and soil quality in a degraded meadow

doi:10.1080/15659801.2013.863669

NWIPB OpenIR

	Effects of establishing an artificial grassland on vegetation characteristics and soil quality in a degraded meadow
	Wang, Chang Ting 1; Wang, Gen Xu 2; Liu, Wei 3; Wang, Yong 1; Hu, Lei 1; Ma, Li 1
	2013-12-01
发表期刊	ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
卷号	59 期号:3 页码:141-153
文章类型	Article
摘要	Grassland restoration, which utilizes agricultural practices (e.g., ploughing, harrowing, and fertilization), can not only change ecosystem processes to support the survival of native plants but can also affect soil microbial biomass and activity. In an artificial grassland established to restore a degraded meadow, parameters including coverage, species richness, diversity, and biomass (including above- and below-ground biomass) generally increased after four years of restoration. Likewise, soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (N), available N, total phosphorus (P), and available P exhibited the same trend. The activities of selected enzymes decreased with soil depth (P < 0.05) and increased during the successional process associated with restoration. Soil enzyme activities were related to the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil and plant primary production. After four years of restoration, the plants and soils were resilient to the grassland restoration process. The results of the present study suggest a significant positive impact of artificial grassland establishment on soil quality. Artificial grassland establishment was an effective measure for restoring heavily degraded alpine meadows in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau region. The rapid establishment of vegetative cover and plant functional group composition after artificial grassland construction are fundamental for limiting soil erosion and restoring the initial ecosystem function. As soil is a fundamental component of every terrestrial ecosystem, soil restoration is a vital process during ecological restoration. Thus, an increase in the nutrient status of the soil is important for the sustainable development of alpine meadows. The long-term accumulation of SOM, the retention of nutrients, and the buildup of microbial biomass are ultimately attributed to labile carbon input from plant primary production.
关键词	Soil Organic Carbon Plant Community Alpine Meadow Enzyme Activity Microbial Biomass
WOS标题词	Science & Technology ; Life Sciences & Biomedicine
DOI	10.1080/15659801.2013.863669
关键词[WOS]	TIBETAN PLATEAU ; MICROBIAL BIOMASS ; COMMUNITY COMPOSITION ; PLANT-COMMUNITIES ; ENZYME-ACTIVITIES ; LAND MANAGEMENT ; 3 RIVERS ; RESTORATION ; FERTILIZATION ; CHINA
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
项目资助者	National Natural Science Foundation of China(31370542 ; Southwest University for Nationalities(2011XWD-S071012) ; 40925002)
WOS研究方向	Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Evolutionary Biology
WOS类目	Ecology ; Evolutionary Biology
WOS记录号	WOS:000333932000003
引用统计	被引频次：15[WOS] [WOS记录] [WOS相关记录]
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://210.75.249.4/handle/363003/6679
专题	中国科学院西北高原生物研究所
作者单位	1.Southwest Univ Nationalities, Coll Life Sci & Technol, Chengdu 610041, Peoples R China 2.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Mt Hazards & Environm, Chengdu 610041, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Northwest Plateau Inst Biol, Xining 810008, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Wang, Chang Ting,Wang, Gen Xu,Liu, Wei,et al. Effects of establishing an artificial grassland on vegetation characteristics and soil quality in a degraded meadow[J]. ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,2013,59(3):141-153.
APA	Wang, Chang Ting,Wang, Gen Xu,Liu, Wei,Wang, Yong,Hu, Lei,&Ma, Li.(2013).Effects of establishing an artificial grassland on vegetation characteristics and soil quality in a degraded meadow.ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION,59(3),141-153.
MLA	Wang, Chang Ting,et al."Effects of establishing an artificial grassland on vegetation characteristics and soil quality in a degraded meadow".ISRAEL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION 59.3(2013):141-153.