Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China
Grazing plays a critical role in the sustainable development of grassland. It has been convinced that grazing affects grassland productivity, however, researches on the relationship between grazing intensity and grassland soil quality remain inadequate in the alpine environment. This study compared...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Ecological Indicators |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22005830 |
| _version_ | 1818474590082433024 |
|---|---|
| author | Likun Liu Guangju Zhao Zhengfeng An Xingmin Mu Juying Jiao Shaoshan An Peng Tian |
| author_facet | Likun Liu Guangju Zhao Zhengfeng An Xingmin Mu Juying Jiao Shaoshan An Peng Tian |
| author_sort | Likun Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Grazing plays a critical role in the sustainable development of grassland. It has been convinced that grazing affects grassland productivity, however, researches on the relationship between grazing intensity and grassland soil quality remain inadequate in the alpine environment. This study compared ten soil quality indexes (SQIs) to quantitative assess the effect of different grazing intensities [no grazing (NG); light grazing (LG); moderate grazing (MG); heavy grazing (HG)] on the soil quality of alpine meadow in the 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil layers. Principal component analysis (PCA) and minimum data set (MDS) were applied to indicator selection and weight assignment. The fitting relationship and correlation between SQI-TDS and SQI-MDSs and the sensitivity index (SI) of ten SQIs were used to select the optimal SQI method. Our results showed that compared with NG and LG, HG and MG significantly decreased soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) (p < 0.05), whereas increased bulk density (BD) and pH. Besides, TN, TP, TK, SOM, Sand content, soil phosphatase activity (PHO), soil sucrase activity (SUC), and soil catalase activity (CAT) could well replace the TDS method to evaluate soil quality. The SQI calculated by the MDS4 with the non-linear scoring method (SQI-NL-MDS4) had the best performance in soil quality evaluation among ten SQIs. Compared with NG and LG, HG had a stronger negative effect on alpine meadow soil quality, especially in the 0–10 cm soil layer, which potentially aggravated leading to aggravating grassland degradation. We propose that reasonable grazing intensity management should be advocated to maintain the sustainable development of alpine meadow productivity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:38:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ef9457cb01e454499e571705a639e2a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1470-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:38:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Indicators |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ef9457cb01e454499e571705a639e2a2022-12-22T02:11:46ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2022-08-01141109111Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, ChinaLikun Liu0Guangju Zhao1Zhengfeng An2Xingmin Mu3Juying Jiao4Shaoshan An5Peng Tian6State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Road 26, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China; Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China.Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, 442 Earth Science Building, Edmonton, Alberta, CanadaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Road 26, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Road 26, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, China; State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Xinong Road 26, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, ChinaCollege of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, 26 Xinong Road, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi Province, ChinaGrazing plays a critical role in the sustainable development of grassland. It has been convinced that grazing affects grassland productivity, however, researches on the relationship between grazing intensity and grassland soil quality remain inadequate in the alpine environment. This study compared ten soil quality indexes (SQIs) to quantitative assess the effect of different grazing intensities [no grazing (NG); light grazing (LG); moderate grazing (MG); heavy grazing (HG)] on the soil quality of alpine meadow in the 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil layers. Principal component analysis (PCA) and minimum data set (MDS) were applied to indicator selection and weight assignment. The fitting relationship and correlation between SQI-TDS and SQI-MDSs and the sensitivity index (SI) of ten SQIs were used to select the optimal SQI method. Our results showed that compared with NG and LG, HG and MG significantly decreased soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) (p < 0.05), whereas increased bulk density (BD) and pH. Besides, TN, TP, TK, SOM, Sand content, soil phosphatase activity (PHO), soil sucrase activity (SUC), and soil catalase activity (CAT) could well replace the TDS method to evaluate soil quality. The SQI calculated by the MDS4 with the non-linear scoring method (SQI-NL-MDS4) had the best performance in soil quality evaluation among ten SQIs. Compared with NG and LG, HG had a stronger negative effect on alpine meadow soil quality, especially in the 0–10 cm soil layer, which potentially aggravated leading to aggravating grassland degradation. We propose that reasonable grazing intensity management should be advocated to maintain the sustainable development of alpine meadow productivity.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22005830Grazing intensitySoil qualityPrincipal component analysisMinimum data setQinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Likun Liu Guangju Zhao Zhengfeng An Xingmin Mu Juying Jiao Shaoshan An Peng Tian Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China Ecological Indicators Grazing intensity Soil quality Principal component analysis Minimum data set Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| title | Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China |
| title_full | Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China |
| title_fullStr | Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China |
| title_short | Effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China |
| title_sort | effect of grazing intensity on alpine meadow soil quality in the eastern qinghai tibet plateau china |
| topic | Grazing intensity Soil quality Principal component analysis Minimum data set Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X22005830 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT likunliu effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina AT guangjuzhao effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina AT zhengfengan effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina AT xingminmu effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina AT juyingjiao effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina AT shaoshanan effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina AT pengtian effectofgrazingintensityonalpinemeadowsoilqualityintheeasternqinghaitibetplateauchina |