Please wait a minute...
Journal of Arid Land  2021, Vol. 13 Issue (1): 88-97    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-020-0078-6
Research article     
How precipitation and grazing influence the ecological functions of drought-prone grasslands on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, China?
HUANG Xiaotao1,2,3,4, LUO Geping3,4,*(), CHEN Chunbo3,4, PENG Jian5,*(), ZHANG Chujie5, ZHOU Huakun1,2,4, YAO Buqing1,2,4, MA Zhen1,2,4, XI Xiaoyan6
1Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Restoration Ecology for Cold Regions, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
2Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
3State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China
4University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
5Xinjiang Grassland Technical Popularization Station, Urumqi 830049, China
6Qinghai Environmental Sciences Research and Design Institute Co. Ltd., Xining 810007, China
Download: HTML     PDF(654KB)
Export: BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      

Abstract  

Drought-prone grasslands provide a critical resource for the millions of people who are dependent on livestock for food security. However, this ecosystem is potentially vulnerable to climate change (e.g., precipitation) and human activity (e.g., grazing). Despite this, the influences of precipitation and grazing on ecological functions of drought-prone grasslands in the Tianshan Mountains remain relatively unexplored. Therefore, we conducted a systematic field investigation and a clipping experiment (simulating different intensities of grazing) in a drought-prone grassland on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains in China to examine the influences of precipitation and grazing on aboveground biomass (AGB), soil volumetric water content (SVWC), and precipitation use efficiency (PUE) during the period of 2014-2017. We obtained the meteorological and SVWC data using an HL20 Bowen ratio system and a PR2 soil profile hydrometer, respectively. We found that AGB was clearly affected by both the amount and seasonal pattern of precipitation, and that PUE may be relatively low in years with either low or excessive precipitation. The PUE values were generally higher in the rapid growing season (April-July) than in the entire growing season (April-October). Overall, moderate grazing can promote plant growth under water stress conditions. The SVWC value was higher in the clipped plots than in the unclipped plots in the rapid growing season (April-July), but it was lower in the clipped plots than in the unclipped plots in the slow growing season (August-October). Our findings can enhance the understanding of the ecological effects of precipitation and grazing in drought-prone grasslands and provide data that will support the effective local grassland management.



Key wordsclimate change      human activity      aboveground biomass      precipitation use efficiency      soil volumetric water content      water stress     
Received: 29 April 2019      Published: 10 January 2021
Corresponding Authors:
About author: PENG Jian (E-mail: pengjian1213@163.com)
*LUO Geping (E-mail: luogp@ms.xjb.ac.cn);
Cite this article:

HUANG Xiaotao, LUO Geping, CHEN Chunbo, PENG Jian, ZHANG Chujie, ZHOU Huakun, YAO Buqing, MA Zhen, XI Xiaoyan. How precipitation and grazing influence the ecological functions of drought-prone grasslands on the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, China?. Journal of Arid Land, 2021, 13(1): 88-97.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-020-0078-6     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2021/V13/I1/88

Fig. 1 Location of the study site (a) and demostration of the field experiments (b and c)
Fig. 2 Experimental layout

2014 2015 2016 2017
Apr-Jul Apr-Oct Apr-Jul Apr-Oct Apr-Jul Apr-Oct Apr-Jul Apr-Oct
P (mm) 162.0 212.8 221.8 402.8 195.8 206.0 160.0 206.0
AGB (g C/m2) 114.1 132.1 118.4 151.2 216.7 241.0 118.9 119.1
PUE (g C/(m2·mm)) 0.32 0.28 0.24 0.17 0.50 0.53 0.33 0.26
Table 1 Precipitation (P), aboveground biomass (AGB), and precipitation use efficiency (PUE) in the rapid (April to July) and entire (April to October) growing seasons during the period of 2014-2017
Fig. 3 Aboveground biomass (AGB) values in plots with different stubble heights (0, 3, 5, and 8 cm, and unclipped) in the study site during the period of 2014-2017. The error bar represents the fluctuation range of the observed value.
Fig. 4 Soil volumetric water content (SVWC) values in the clipped and unclipped plots at different soil depths (0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm) in the study site in the entire growing season during the period of 2014-2017. The error bar represents the fluctuation range of the observed value.
[1]   Bai Y F, Wu J G, Clark C M, et al. 2012. Grazing alters ecosystem functioning and C:N:P stoichiometry of grasslands along a regional precipitation gradient. Journal of Applied Ecology, 49(6): 1204-1215.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02205.x
[2]   Derner J D, Boutton T W, Briske D D. 2006. Grazing and ecosystem carbon storage in the North American Great Plains. Plant and Soil, 280: 77-90.
doi: 10.1007/s11104-005-2554-3
[3]   Gherardi L A, Sala O E. 2019. Effect of interannual precipitation variability on dryland productivity: A global synthesis. Global Change Biology, 25(1): 269-276.
doi: 10.1111/gcb.14480 pmid: 30338886
[4]   Guo T, Weise H, Fiedler S, et al. 2018. The role of landscape heterogeneity in regulating plant functional diversity under different precipitation and grazing regimes in semi-arid savannas. Ecological Modelling, 379: 1-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.04.009
[5]   Heisler-White J L, Knapp A K, Kelly E F. 2008. Increasing precipitation event size increases aboveground net primary productivity in a semi-arid grassland. Oecologia, 158(1): 129-140.
doi: 10.1007/s00442-008-1116-9 pmid: 18670792
[6]   Hu Z M, Yu G R, Zhou Y L, et al. 2009. Partitioning of evapotranspiration and its controls in four grassland ecosystems: application of a two-source model. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 149(9): 1410-1420.
doi: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2009.03.014
[7]   Huang X T, Luo G P, He H L, et al. 2017a. Ecological effects of grazing in the northern Tianshan Mountains. Water, 9(12): 932, doi: 10.3390/w9120932.
doi: 10.3390/w9120932
[8]   Huang X T, Luo G P, Wang X X. 2017b. Land-atmosphere exchange of water and heat in the arid mountainous grasslands of Central Asia during the growing season. Water, 9(10): 727, doi: 10.3390/w9100727.
doi: 10.3390/w9100727
[9]   Huang X T, Luo G P, Han Q F. 2018. Temporospatial patterns of human appropriation of net primary production in Central Asia grasslands. Ecological Indicators, 91: 555-561.
doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.04.045
[10]   Huang Z, Miao H T, Liu Y, et al. 2018. Soil water content and temporal stability in an arid area with natural and planted grasslands. Hydrological Processes, 32(25): 3784-3792.
doi: 10.1002/hyp.v32.25
[11]   Jiang Y B, Zhang Y J, Zhu J T, et al. 2017. Effects of community structure on precipitation-use efficiency of grasslands in northern Tibet. Journal of Vegetation Science, 28(2): 281-290.
doi: 10.1111/jvs.2017.28.issue-2
[12]   Leroy G, Hoffmann I, From T, et al. 2018. Perception of livestock ecosystem services in grazing areas. Animal, 12(12): 2627-2638.
doi: 10.1017/S1751731118001027 pmid: 29757124
[13]   Liu H, Zang R, Chen H Y H. 2016. Effects of grazing on photosynthetic features and soil respiration of rangelands in the Tianshan Mountains of Northwest China. Scientific Reports, 6: 30087, doi: 10.1038/srep30087.
doi: 10.1038/srep30087 pmid: 27452980
[14]   Luo G P, Han Q F, Zhou D C, et al. 2012. Moderate grazing can promote aboveground primary production of grassland under water stress. Ecological Complexity, 11: 126-136.
doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2012.04.004
[15]   Marshall M, Tu K, Brown J. 2018. Optimizing a remote sensing production efficiency model for macro-scale GPP and yield estimation in agroecosystems. Remote Sensing of Environment, 217: 258-271.
doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2018.08.001
[16]   Martínez-García E, Rubio E, García-Morote F A, et al. 2017. Net ecosystem production in a Spanish black pine forest after a low burn-severity fire: Significance of different modelling approaches for estimating gross primary production. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 246: 178-193.
[17]   Milchunas D G, Lauenroth W K. 1993. Quantitative effects of grazing on vegetation and soils over a global range of environments. Ecological Monographs, 63(4): 327-366.
[18]   Ming G H, Hu H C, Tian F Q, et al. 2018. Precipitation alters plastic film mulching impacts on soil respiration in an arid area of Northwest China. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 22(5): 3075-3086.
[19]   Moreno-de las Heras M, Bochet E, Monleón V, et al. 2018. Aridity induces nonlinear effects of human disturbance on precipitation-use efficiency of Iberian woodlands. Ecosystems, 21: 1295-1305.
[20]   Mueller K E, Blumenthal D M, Pendall E, et al. 2016. Impacts of warming and elevated CO2 on a semi-arid grassland are non-additive, shift with precipitation, and reverse over time. Ecology Letters, 19(8): 956-966.
pmid: 27339693
[21]   Ojeda J J, Caviglia O P, Irisarri J G N, et al. 2018. Modelling inter-annual variation in dry matter yield and precipitation use efficiency of perennial pastures and annual forage crops sequences. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 259: 1-10.
[22]   Paruelo J M, Lauenroth W K, Burke I C, et al. 1999. Grassland precipitation-use efficiency varies across a resource gradient. Ecosystems, 2: 64-68.
[23]   Peng S S, Piao S L, Shen Z H, et al. 2013. Precipitation amount, seasonality and frequency regulate carbon cycling of a semi-arid grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China: A modeling analysis. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 178-179: 46-55.
[24]   Pickering C M, Growcock A J. 2009. Impacts of experimental trampling on tall alpine herbfields and subalpine grasslands in the Australian Alps. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(2): 532-540.
doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.09.022 pmid: 19854561
[25]   Ren H R, Zhou G S, Zhang F. 2018. Using negative soil adjustment factor in soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) for aboveground living biomass estimation in arid grasslands. Remote Sensing of Environment, 209: 439-445.
[26]   Ren H Y, Eviner V T, Gui W Y, et al. 2018. Livestock grazing regulates ecosystem multifunctionality in semi-arid grassland. Functional Ecology, 32(12): 2790-2800.
[27]   Ren W B, Hu N N, Hou X Y, et al. 2017. Long-term overgrazing-induced memory decreases photosynthesis of clonal offspring in a perennial grassland plant. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8: 419, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00419.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00419 pmid: 28484469
[28]   Shi G X, Yao B Q, Liu Y J, et al. 2017. The phylogenetic structure of AMF communities shifts in response to gradient warming with and without winter grazing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Applied Soil Ecology, 121: 31-40.
[29]   Striker G G, Mollard F P O, Grimoldi A A, et al. 2011. Trampling enhances the dominance of graminoids over forbs in flooded grassland mesocosms. Applied Vegetation Science, 14(1): 95-106.
[30]   Stuart-Haëntjens E, de Boeck H J, Lemoine N P, et al. 2018. Mean annual precipitation predicts primary production resistance and resilience to extreme drought. Science of the Total Environment, 636: 360-366.
[31]   Sun J, Du W P. 2017. Effects of precipitation and temperature on net primary productivity and precipitation use efficiency across China’s grasslands. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 54(6): 881-897.
[32]   White S R, Bork E W, Cahill Jr. J F. 2014. Direct and indirect drivers of plant diversity responses to climate and clipping across northern temperate grassland. Ecology, 95(11): 3093-3103.
doi: 10.1890/14-0144.1
[33]   Wittmer M H O M, Auerswald K, Schönbach P, et al. 2010. Do grazer hair and faeces reflect the carbon isotope composition of semi-arid C3/C4 grassland? Basic and Applied Ecology, 11(1): 83-92.
doi: 10.1016/j.baae.2009.10.007
[34]   Xu M, Wu H, Kang S C. 2018. Impacts of climate change on the discharge and glacier mass balance of the different glacierized watersheds in the Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia. Hydrological Processes, 32(1): 126-145.
[35]   Xu X, Sherry R A, Niu S L, et al. 2013. Net primary productivity and rain-use efficiency as affected by warming, altered precipitation, and clipping in a mixed-grass prairie. Global Change Biology, 19(9): 2753-2764.
pmid: 23649795
[36]   Yang S L, Hao Q, Liu H Y, et al. 2019. Impact of grassland degradation on the distribution and bioavailability of soil silicon: Implications for the Si cycle in grasslands. Science of the Total Environment, 657: 811-818.
[37]   Zhang D B, Yao P W, Na Z, et al. 2016. Soil water balance and water use efficiency of dryland wheat in different precipitation years in response to green manure approach. Scientific Reports, 6: 26856, doi: 10.1038/srep26856.
doi: 10.1038/srep26856 pmid: 27225842
[38]   Zhang G L, Biradar C M, Xiao X M, et al. 2018. Exacerbated grassland degradation and desertification in Central Asia during 2000-2014. Ecological Applications, 28(2): 442-456.
doi: 10.1002/eap.1660 pmid: 29205627
[39]   Zhang H F, Sun Y, Chang L, et al. 2018. Estimation of grassland canopy height and aboveground biomass at the quadrat scale using unmanned aerial vehicle. Remote Sensing, 10(6): 851, doi: 10.3390/rs10060851.
[40]   Zhang R P, Liang T G, Guo J, et al. 2018. Grassland dynamics in response to climate change and human activities in Xinjiang from 2000 to 2014. Scientific Reports, 8: 2888, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21089-3.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21089-3 pmid: 29440664
[41]   Zhou G Y, Luo Q, Chen Y J, et al. 2018. Effects of livestock grazing on grassland carbon storage and release override impacts associated with global climate change. Global Change Biology, 25(3): 1119-1132.
doi: 10.1111/gcb.14533 pmid: 30466147
[1] ZHAO Xuqin, LUO Min, MENG Fanhao, SA Chula, BAO Shanhu, BAO Yuhai. Spatiotemporal changes of gross primary productivity and its response to drought in the Mongolian Plateau under climate change[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(1): 46-70.
[2] Mitiku A WORKU, Gudina L FEYISA, Kassahun T BEKETIE, Emmanuel GARBOLINO. Projecting future precipitation change across the semi-arid Borana lowland, southern Ethiopia[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(9): 1023-1036.
[3] QIN Guoqiang, WU Bin, DONG Xinguang, DU Mingliang, WANG Bo. Evolution of groundwater recharge-discharge balance in the Turpan Basin of China during 1959-2021[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(9): 1037-1051.
[4] MA Jinpeng, PANG Danbo, HE Wenqiang, ZHANG Yaqi, WU Mengyao, LI Xuebin, CHEN Lin. Response of soil respiration to short-term changes in precipitation and nitrogen addition in a desert steppe[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(9): 1084-1106.
[5] Teame G KEBEDE, Emiru BIRHANE, Kiros-Meles AYIMUT, Yemane G EGZIABHER. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve biomass, photosynthesis, and water use efficiency of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller under different water levels[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(8): 975-988.
[6] ZHANG Hui, Giri R KATTEL, WANG Guojie, CHUAI Xiaowei, ZHANG Yuyang, MIAO Lijuan. Enhanced soil moisture improves vegetation growth in an arid grassland of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(7): 871-885.
[7] ZHANG Zhen, XU Yangyang, LIU Shiyin, DING Jing, ZHAO Jinbiao. Seasonal variations in glacier velocity in the High Mountain Asia region during 2015-2020[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(6): 637-648.
[8] GAO Xiang, WEN Ruiyang, Kevin LO, LI Jie, YAN An. Heterogeneity and non-linearity of ecosystem responses to climate change in the Qilian Mountains National Park, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(5): 508-522.
[9] Reza DEIHIMFARD, Sajjad RAHIMI-MOGHADDAM, Farshid JAVANSHIR, Alireza PAZOKI. Quantifying major sources of uncertainty in projecting the impact of climate change on wheat grain yield in dryland environments[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(5): 545-561.
[10] Khouloud ZAGOUB, Khouloud KRICHEN, Mohamed CHAIEB, Lobna F MNIF. Morphological and physiological responses to drought stress of carob trees in Mediterranean ecosystems[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(5): 562-577.
[11] Sakine KOOHI, Hadi RAMEZANI ETEDALI. Future meteorological drought conditions in southwestern Iran based on the NEX-GDDP climate dataset[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(4): 377-392.
[12] Mehri SHAMS GHAHFAROKHI, Sogol MORADIAN. Investigating the causes of Lake Urmia shrinkage: climate change or anthropogenic factors?[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(4): 424-438.
[13] ZHANG Yixin, LI Peng, XU Guoce, MIN Zhiqiang, LI Qingshun, LI Zhanbin, WANG Bin, CHEN Yiting. Temporal and spatial variation characteristics of extreme precipitation on the Loess Plateau of China facing the precipitation process[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(4): 439-459.
[14] Adnan ABBAS, Asher S BHATTI, Safi ULLAH, Waheed ULLAH, Muhammad WASEEM, ZHAO Chengyi, DOU Xin, Gohar ALI. Projection of precipitation extremes over South Asia from CMIP6 GCMs[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(3): 274-296.
[15] ZHAO Lili, LI Lusheng, LI Yanbin, ZHONG Huayu, ZHANG Fang, ZHU Junzhen, DING Yibo. Monitoring vegetation drought in the nine major river basins of China based on a new developed Vegetation Drought Condition Index[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(12): 1421-1438.