Paralleled grazing and mowing differentially affected plant community diversity and productivity in a semi-arid grassland  

作　　者：Nazim Hassan Zhengwen Wang 

机构地区：[1]Institute of Applied Ecology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Shenyang,China [2]Institute of Grassland Science,Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology,Northeast Normal University,Changchun,China

出　　处：《Ecological Processes》2024年第4期17-24,共8页生态过程(英文)

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.32061143027);the National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2022YFF1300600);the Program for Introducing Talents to Universities(B16011);the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province Science and Technology Department(20220101283JC);NSFC grant of China(42230515).

摘　　要：Background Numerous previous studies have investigated the efects of grazing or mowing on plant community diversity and productivity in grasslands;however,few have deliberately made sound comparison between the efects of paralleled grazing and mowing in terms of biomass removal on plant community diversity and productivity in semi-arid grasslands.Using a 4-year feld manipulative experiment,we investigated how moderate intensity of domestic cattle(Bos taurus)grazing and mowing can afect plant community diversity and productivity in the semiarid grassland in northeastern China,with the attempt to fnd a better management practice.Results Our results showed that grazing signifcantly increased plant species richness by 9%but did not change plant biomass,whereas mowing did not alter plant species richness but signifcantly reduced total plant biomass and root biomass by 18%and 12%,respectively,and signifcantly altered plant community composition,refected by 32%increase of grass to forb biomass ratio.Conclusions Cattle grazing exerted a neutral efect on plant biomass and a positive efect on plant species richness,suggesting that cattle grazing is a better management practice compared to the paralleled mowing,but longer-term experiments are needed to explore the lasting infuences of grazing vs.mowing on grassland productivity,plant diversity and the sustainability.

关 键 词：GRAZING MOWING GRASSLAND Plant community diversity Biomass 

分 类 号：S812[农业科学—草业科学]