How Seasonal Grazing Exclusion Affects Grassland Productivity and Plant Community Diversity
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Site Description
2.2. Experimental Design
2.3. Sampling and Measurements
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Total Aboveground Biomass
3.2. Species Diversity and Composition
3.3. Properties of Functional Groups and Dominant Species
4. Discussion
4.1. Effects of Grazing Management and Grazing Intensity on Total Aboveground Biomass
4.2. Effects of Grazing Management and Years on Plant Community Diversity and Composition
4.3. Effects of Grazing Management and Grazing Intensity on the Properties of Functional Groups and Dominant Species
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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GM | Grazing Exclusion Period | Grazing Period |
---|---|---|
CK | 5.15–9.25 | |
Spr-GE | 5.15–6.24 | 6.25–9.25 |
Sum-GE | 6.25–8.4 | 5.15–6.24 8.5–9.25 |
Aut-GE | 8.5–9.25 | 5.15–8.4 |
G | 5.15–9.25 |
Effects | Y | GM | GI | Y × GM | Y × GI | GM × GI | Y × GM × GI | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plant diversity | Margalef’s index | 0.696 | <0.001 *** | 0.073 | 0.045 * | 0.901 | 0.353 | 0.697 |
Simpson diversity | 0.816 | 0.021 * | 0.866 | 0.220 | 0.929 | 0.247 | 0.994 | |
Shannon-Wiener- Index | 0.654 | 0.175 | 0.158 | 0.959 | 0.162 | 0.397 | 0.546 | |
Pielou’s index | 0.895 | 0.001 ** | 0.034 * | 0.212 | 0.899 | 0.772 | 0.962 | |
Plant β diversity | Bray-Curtis | <0.001 *** | <0.001 *** | 0.783 | 0.001 *** | 0.328 | 0.362 | 0.223 |
Species number | Species number (taxaS) | 0.530 | <0.001 *** | 0.207 | 0.035 * | 0.955 | 0.423 | 0.686 |
Total ABG | Total ABG | 0.524 | 0.027 * | 0.927 | 0.267 | 0.973 | 0.031 * | 0.157 |
Functional group cover | ABH cover | 0.930 | 0.455 | 0.607 | 0.459 | 0.694 | 0.050 * | 0.057 |
PG cover | 0.8967 | <0.001 *** | 0.500 | 0.146 | 0.686 | 0.031* | 0.281 | |
PS cover | 0.990 | 0.427 | 0.438 | 0.693 | 0.702 | 0.960 | 0.951 | |
PF cover | 0.884 | 0.078 | 0.082 | 0.523 | 0.776 | 0.202 | 0.516 | |
Functional group AGB | ABH AGB | 0.691 | 0.278 | 0.284 | 0.997 | 0.716 | 0.346 | 0.521 |
PG AGB | 0.948 | 0.075 | 0.105 | 0.811 | 0.856 | 0.250 | 0.356 | |
PS AGB | 1.000 | 0.454 | 0.372 | 0.678 | 0.761 | 0.329 | 0.547 | |
PF AGB | 0.653 | 0.325 | 0.039 * | 0.557 | 0.425 | 0.062 | 0.427 | |
Functional group density | ABH density | 0.998 | 0.601 | 0.536 | 0.799 | 0.481 | 0.679 | 0.554 |
PG density | 0.981 | 0.091 | 0.749 | 0.270 | 0.998 | 0.180 | 0.284 | |
PS density | 0.814 | 0.182 | 0.142 | 0.510 | 0.287 | 0.927 | 0.971 | |
PF density | 0.824 | 0.011 * | 0.260 | 0.226 | 0.234 | 0.249 | 0.337 | |
Functional group height | ABH height | 0.922 | 0.038 * | 0.079 | 0.144 | 0.805 | 0.282 | 0.387 |
PG height | 0.489 | <0.001 *** | 0.005 ** | 0.167 | 0.204 | 0.404 | 0.3867 | |
PS height | 0.920 | 0.035 * | 0.320 | 0.269 | 0.408 | 0.635 | 0.736 | |
PF height | 0.765 | <0.001 *** | 0.002* | 0.094 | 0.164 | 0.404 | 0.781 | |
Dominant species cover | D.angustifolia cover | 0.909 | 0.821 | 0.672 | 0.975 | 0.815 | 0.436 | 0.591 |
S. brachyotus cover | 0.796 | 0.004 ** | 0.015 * | 0.516 | 0.406 | 0.320 | 0.703 | |
T. ohwianum cover | 0.891 | 0.037 * | 0.023 * | 0.611 | 0.665 | 0.123 | 0.403 | |
S. radians cover | 0.992 | <0.001 *** | 0.022 * | 0.119 | 0.320 | 0.109 | 0.114 | |
Dominant species AGB | D. angustifolia AGB | 0.927 | 0.146 | 0.092 | 0.892 | 0.861 | 0.207 | 0.306 |
S. brachyotus AGB | 0.523 | 0.175 | 0.328 | 0.884 | 0.521 | 0.162 | 0.253 | |
T. ohwianum AGB | 0.803 | 0.583 | 0.441 | 0.660 | 0.776 | 0.340 | 0.590 | |
S. radians AGB | 0.996 | <0.001 *** | <0.001 *** | 0.375 | 0.087 | <0.001 *** | 0.109 | |
Dominant species density | D. angustifolia density | 0.762 | 0.523 | 0.964 | 0.648 | 0.965 | 0.110 | 0.455 |
S. brachyotus density | 0.758 | 0.006 ** | 0.035 * | 0.434 | 0.452 | 0.303 | 0.803 | |
T. ohwianum density | 0.904 | 0.003 ** | 0.232 | 0.173 | 0.957 | 0.494 | 0.518 | |
S. radians density | 0.798 | 0.063 | 0.075 | 0.230 | 0.409 | 0.012 * | 0.074 | |
Dominant species height | D. angustifolia height | 0.914 | 0.213 | 0.141 | 0.652 | 0.316 | 0.063 | 0.245 |
S. brachyotus height | 0.484 | 0.181 | 0.163 | 0.361 | 0.685 | 0.477 | 0.714 | |
T. ohwianum height | 0.459 | 0.029 * | 0.224 | 0.064 | 0.939 | 0.651 | 0.798 | |
S. radians height | 0.864 | <0.001 *** | <0.001 *** | 0.248 | 0.123 | 0.002 ** | 0.033 * |
Plant species | Function Groups | Plant Species | Function Groups | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dominant species | Deyeuxia angustifolia Kom. | PG | Taraxacum ohwianum Kitam. | PF |
Sonchus brachyotus DC. | PF | Stellaria radians Linn. | PF | |
Subordinate species | Cirsium setosum (Willd.) Bieb. | PF | Carex tristachya | PS |
Artemisia selengensis Turcz. ex Bess. | PF | Geum aleppicum Jacq. | PF | |
Inula japonica Thunb. | PF | Lathyrus quinquenervius (Miq.) Litv. | PF | |
Deyeuxia langsdorffii (Link) Trin. | PG | Stachys baicalensis Fisch. ex Benth. | PF | |
Plantago asiatica L. | PF | Geranium wilfordii Maxim. | PF | |
Inula japonica Thunb. | PF | Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et Kit. | ABH | |
Cirsium pendulum Fisch.ex DC. | PF | Digitaria sanguinalis (L.) Scop. | ABH | |
Lagedium sibiricum (L.) Sojak. | PF | Geranium sibiricum L. | ABH | |
Chenopodium album L. | ABH | Carduus nutans L. | PF | |
Artemisia argyi Levl. et Van. | PF | Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv. | ABH | |
Erigeron canadensis L. | ABH | Polygonum lapathifolium L. | ABH | |
Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv. | ABH | Sium suave Walt. | PF | |
Sphallerocarpus gracilis (Bess.) K.-Pol. | PF | Viola yedpensis Makino | PF | |
Arctium lappa L. | ABH | Amaranthus retroflexus L. | ABH | |
Ixeridium sonchifolium (Maxim.) Shih. | ABH | Poa annua L. | PG | |
Polygonum aviculare L. | ABH | Picris hieracioides L. | ABH | |
Rorippa islandica (Oed.) Borb. | ABH | Stachys chinensis Bunge ex Benth. | ABH | |
Epilobium fastigiatoramosum Nakai | ABH | Thalictrum petaloideum L. | PF | |
Potentilla chinensis Ser. | PF | Equisetum arvense L. | ABH | |
Achillea millefolium L. | PF | Galeopsis bifida Boenn. | ABH | |
Spodiopogon sibiricus Trin. | PG | Roegneria kamoji Ohwi | PF |
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Bai, Z.; Jia, A.; Liu, D.; Zhang, C.; Wang, M. How Seasonal Grazing Exclusion Affects Grassland Productivity and Plant Community Diversity. Grasses 2022, 1, 12-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses1010002
Bai Z, Jia A, Liu D, Zhang C, Wang M. How Seasonal Grazing Exclusion Affects Grassland Productivity and Plant Community Diversity. Grasses. 2022; 1(1):12-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses1010002
Chicago/Turabian StyleBai, Zhenyin, Aomei Jia, Dongwei Liu, Chengyu Zhang, and Mingjun Wang. 2022. "How Seasonal Grazing Exclusion Affects Grassland Productivity and Plant Community Diversity" Grasses 1, no. 1: 12-29. https://doi.org/10.3390/grasses1010002