Journal article
Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta-analysis
Global Change Biology, Vol.23(3), pp.1167-1179
2017
Abstract
Livestock grazing activities potentially alter ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in grassland ecosystems. Despite the fact that numerous individual studies and a few meta-analyses had been conducted, how grazing, especially its intensity, affects belowground C and N cycling in grasslands remains unclear. In this study, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 115 published studies to examine the responses of 19 variables associated with belowground C and N cycling to livestock grazing in global grasslands. Our results showed that, on average, grazing significantly decreased belowground C and N pools in grassland ecosystems, with the largest decreases in microbial biomass C and N (21.62 and 24.40%, respectively). In contrast, belowground fluxes, including soil respiration, soil net N mineralization and soil N nitrification increased by 4.25%, 34.67 and 25.87%, respectively in grazed grasslands compared to ungrazed ones. More importantly, grazing intensity significantly affected the magnitude (even direction) of changes in the majority of the assessed belowground C and N pools and fluxes, and C:N ratio as well as soil moisture. Specifically，light grazing contributed to soil C and N sequestration whereas moderate and heavy grazing significantly increased C and N losses. In addition, soil depth, livestock type and climatic conditions influenced the responses of selected variables to livestock grazing to some degree. Our findings highlight the importance of the effects of grazing intensity on belowground C and N cycling, which may need to be incorporated into regional and global models for predicting effects of human disturbance on global grasslands and assessing the climate- biosphere feedbacks.
Details
- Title
- Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta-analysis
- Authors
- Guiyao Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaXuhui Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaYanghui He (Author) - Fudan University, ChinaJunjiong Shao (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaZhenhong Hu (Author) - Fudan University, ChinaRuiqiang Liu (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaHuimin Zhou (Author) - East China Normal University, ChinaShahla Hosseini Bai (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Publication details
- Global Change Biology, Vol.23(3), pp.1167-1179
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
- Date published
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1111/gcb.13431
- ISSN
- 1354-1013
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2017 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd. This is the accepted version of the following article: Zhou, G., Zhou, X., He, Y., Shao, J., Hu, Z., Liu, R., Zhou, H. and Hosseinibai, S. (2017), Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta-analysis. Glob Change Biol, 23: 1167-1179. doi:10.1111/gcb.13431, which has been published in final form at doi:10.1111/gcb.13431
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451288002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
615 File views/ downloads
1262 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
Highly Cited Paper
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Biodiversity Conservation
- Ecology
- Environmental Sciences
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites