Reasonable grazing may balance the conflict between grassland utilization and soil conservation in the semi-arid hilly areas, China

doi:10.1007/s40333-024-0025-z

Journal of Arid Land

2024, Vol. 16

Issue (8): 1130-1146 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-024-0025-z

Research article

Reasonable grazing may balance the conflict between grassland utilization and soil conservation in the semi-arid hilly areas, China

SUN Hui¹, ZHAO Yunge², GAO Liqian², XU Mingxiang²^,^*(

)

¹College of Forestry, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
²College of Soil and Water Conservation Science and Engineering, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

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Abstract

Soil erosion caused by unsustainable grazing is a major driver of grassland ecosystem degradation in many semi-arid hilly areas in China. Thus, grazing exclusion is considered as an effective method for solving this issue in such areas. However, some ecological and economic problems, such as slow grassland rejuvenation and limited economic conditions, have become obstacles for the sustainable utilization of grassland ecosystem. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the conflict between grassland use and soil conservation may be balanced by a reasonable grazing intensity. In this study, a two-year grazing fence experiment with five grazing intensity gradients was conducted in a typical grassland of the Loess Plateau in China to evaluate the responses of vegetation characteristics and soil and water losses to grazing intensity. The five grazing intensity gradients were 2.2, 3.0, 4.2, 6.7, and 16.7 goats/hm², which were represented by G1-G5, respectively, and no grazing was used as control. The results showed that a reasonable grazing intensity was conducive to the sustainable utilization of grassland resources. Vegetation biomass under G1-G4 grazing intensity significantly increased by 51.9%, 42.1%, 36.9%, and 36.7%, respectively, compared with control. In addition, vegetation coverage increased by 19.6% under G1 grazing intensity. Species diversity showed a single peak trend with increasing grazing intensity. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index under G1-G4 grazing intensities significantly increased by 22.8%, 22.5%, 13.3%, and 8.3%, respectively, compared with control. Furthermore, grazing increased the risk of soil erosion. Compared with control, runoff yields under G1-G5 grazing intensities increased by 1.4, 2.6, 2.8, 4.3, and 3.9 times, respectively, and sediment yields under G1-G5 grazing intensities were 3.0, 13.0, 20.8, 34.3, and 37.7 times greater, respectively, than those under control. This result was mainly attributed to a visible decrease in litter biomass after grazing, which decreased by 50.5%, 72.6%, 79.0%, 80.0%, and 76.9%, respectively, under G1-G5 grazing intensities. By weighing the grassland productivity and soil conservation function, we found that both two aims were achieved at a low grazing intensity of less than 3.5 goats/hm². Therefore, it is recommended that grassland should be moderately utilized with grazing intensity below 3.5 goats/hm² in semi-arid hilly areas to achieve the dual goals of ecological and economic benefits. The results provide a scientific basis for grassland utilization and health management in semi-arid hilly areas from the perspective of determining reasonable grazing intensity to maintain both grassland production and soil conservation functions.

Key words： fence-controlled grazing rehabilitated grassland vegetation community characteristics soil erosion sediment biocrusts Loess Plateau

Received: 22 March 2024 Published: 31 August 2024

Corresponding Authors: *XU Mingxiang (E-mail: xumx@nwsuaf.edu.cn)

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Cite this article:

SUN Hui, ZHAO Yunge, GAO Liqian, XU Mingxiang. Reasonable grazing may balance the conflict between grassland utilization and soil conservation in the semi-arid hilly areas, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2024, 16(8): 1130-1146.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-024-0025-z OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2024/V16/I8/1130

Fig. 1 Vegetation community characteristics of the grasslands along different grazing intensities. (a), G0, 0.0 goats/hm²grazing; (b), G1, 2.2 goats/hm²grazing; (c), G2, 3.0 goats/hm²grazing; (d), G3, 4.2 goats/hm²grazing; (e), G4, 6.7 goats/hm²grazing; (f), G5, 16.7 goats/hm²grazing. The abbreviations are the same in the following figures.

Fig. 2 Effects of grazing on vegetation coverage (a), height (b), and biomass (c). D value means the difference between before grazing and after two years of grazing at the same grazing intensity. Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences among different grazing intensities before grazing or after two years of grazing at P<0.050 level, and different uppercase letters indicate significant differences between before and after two years of grazing at the same grazing intensity at P<0.050 level. The meanings of lowercase and uppercase letters are the same in the following figures.

Fig. 3 Effects of grazing on litter coverage (a) and biomass (b)

Fig. 4 Effect of grazing on biocrust coverage

Fig. 5 Effect of grazing on the Shannon-Wiener index of vegetation community

Table 1 Rainfall characteristics

Fig. 6 Cluster analysis of rainfall. R1, R2, and R3 are three patterns of rainfall.

Fig. 7 Changes of runoff depth under different grazing intensities (a) and rainfall patterns (b). Different lowercase letters indicate significant differences among different grazing intensities or different rainfall patterns at P<0.050 level. R1, R2, and R3 are three patterns of rainfall with low, moderate, and high rainfall erosivities, respectively. The meanings of lowercase letters and abbreviations are the same in the following figure.

Fig. 8 Changes of sediment yield under different grazing intensities (a) and rainfall patterns (b)

Fig. 9 A structural equation model (SEM) demonstrating the effects of grazing and land surface coverage on soil loss. Black solid arrows indicate positive effects, and blue dashed lines indicate negative effects. *, P<0.050 level; **, P<0.010 level; ***, P<0.001 level; df, degree freedom; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; GFI, goodness of fit index.

Fig. 10 Relationship of grassland multifunctional and soil conservation indices with grazing intensity


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