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Gao X, Zhang H, Huang L, Fan J, Liu X, Cao W, Liu H, Liu G. Where, When, and How Much Should We Pay for Wind Erosion Prevention Services of the Largest Chinese Grassland Reserve? ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:2615-2626. [PMID: 38291963 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c03327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
The large-scale and cross-regional payment for ecosystem services (PES) contributes positively to ecology-economy balance and thus helps prevent environmental challenges such as "sand storm". However, existing PES programs often overlook the connection between service-providing areas (SPAs) and service-benefiting areas (SBAs). Here, we developed an interregional PES framework based on the theory of ecosystem services flow and applied it to the largest Chinese grassland nature reserve, Xilingol Prairie, to quantitatively identify SPAs, SBAs, and flow paths of the ecosystem wind erosion prevention service (WEPS). We showed that, from 2000 to 2020, the grassland ecosystem of Xilingol Prairie had brought an annual WEPS benefit of 1.21 × 108 t/a and economic value of 12.44 × 108 CNY/a, accounting for approximately 107.71% of the GDP in the same area and year and with a slightly increasing trend in most areas. We reveal obvious seasonal (over half in the spring) and interannual variations in the benefit and that Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Northeast China are the most important beneficiaries of WEPS, rather than Beijing and Tianjin as traditionally thought. Our results warn that the WEPS supply capacity will not last long and call for finer spatial (e.g., among cities) and temporal (e.g., focus on the spring) resolution for PES policy design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiongwei Gao
- Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Haiyan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Lin Huang
- Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Jiangwen Fan
- Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiaojie Liu
- Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Wei Cao
- Key Laboratory of Natural Resource Coupling Process and Effects, Ministry of Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Huiming Liu
- Satellite Environment Center, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Beijing 100094, China
| | - Gang Liu
- College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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Wang X, Wang Z, Miao H, Zhang C, Zou H, Yang Y, Zhang Z, Liu J. Appropriate livestock grazing alleviates the loss of plant diversity and maintains community resistance in alpine meadows. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 351:119850. [PMID: 38141346 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2023] [Revised: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/25/2023]
Abstract
Alpine meadows constitute one of the major ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, with livestock grazing exerting a considerable impact on their biodiversity. However, the degree to which plant diversity influences community stability under different grazing intensities remains unclear in this region. This study conducted controlled grazing experiments across four levels of grazing intensity (no-, low-, medium-, and high-grazing) based on herbage utilization rate to assess the influence of grazing intensities on plant community structure and diversity-stability relationships. We discovered that high-grazing reduced plant diversity and attenuated the temporal stability and resistance of above-ground biomass. No- and low-grazing could alleviate plant biomass loss, with community resistance being optimal under low-grazing. The direct effects of livestock grazing on temporal stability were found to be negligible. Plant characteristics and diversity accounted for a substantial proportion of livestock grazing effects on community resistance (R2 = 0.46), as revealed by piecewise structural equation model analysis. The presence of plant diversity enhances the resistance of alpine meadows against disturbance and accelerates the recovery after grazing. Our results suggest that low-grazing intensity may represent a judicious option for preserving species diversity and community stability on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofang Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China
| | - Zaiwei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China
| | - Haitao Miao
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China
| | - Chunping Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China
| | - Hao Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China
| | - Yunfeng Yang
- State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
| | - Zhenghua Zhang
- Qinghai Haibei National Field Research Station of Alpine Grassland Ecosystem and Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China
| | - Jie Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Center for Grassland Microbiome, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, China.
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Niu F, Pierce NA, Okin GS, Archer SR, Fischella MR, Nadoum S. Sandblasting promotes shrub encroachment in arid grasslands. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 240:1817-1829. [PMID: 37658674 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
Shrub encroachment is a common ecological state transition in global drylands and has myriad adverse effects on grasslands and the services they provide. This physiognomic shift is often ascribed to changes in climate (e.g. precipitation) and disturbance regimes (e.g. grazing and fire), but this remains debated. Aeolian processes are known to impact resource distribution in drylands, but their potential role in grassland-to-shrubland state changes has received little attention. We quantified the effects of 'sandblasting' (abrasive damage by wind-blown soil) on the ecophysiology of dryland grass vs shrub functional types using a portable wind tunnel to test the hypothesis that grasses would be more susceptible to sandblasting than shrubs and, thus, reinforce transitions to shrub dominance in wind-erodible grasslands when climate- or disturbance-induced reductions in ground cover occur. Grasses and shrubs responded differently to sandblasting, wherein water-use efficiency declined substantially in grasses, but only slightly in shrubs, owing to grasses having greater increases in day/nighttime leaf conductance and transpiration. The differential ecophysiological response to sandblasting exhibited by grass and shrub functional types could consequently alter the vegetation dynamics in dryland grasslands in favour of the xerophytic shrubs. Sandblasting could thus be an overlooked driver of shrub encroachment in wind-erodible grasslands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Furong Niu
- College of Forestry, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730070, China
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Nathan A Pierce
- USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Southwest Watershed Research Center, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
| | - Gregory S Okin
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Steven R Archer
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Michael R Fischella
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Shereen Nadoum
- Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
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Zhang Y, Gao X, Yuan Y, Hou L, Dang Z, Ma L. Plant and Soil Microbial Diversity Co-Regulate Ecosystem Multifunctionality during Desertification in a Temperate Grassland. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:3743. [PMID: 37960099 PMCID: PMC10649343 DOI: 10.3390/plants12213743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
Biodiversity plays a crucial role in driving multiple ecosystem functions in temperate grasslands. However, our understanding of how biodiversity regulates the impacts of desertification processes on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) remains limited. In this study, we investigate plant diversity, soil microbial diversity (fungal, bacterial, archaeal, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) diversity), soil properties (soil water content, pH, and soil clay content), and multiple ecosystem functions (soil N mineralization, soil phosphatase activity, AMF infection rate, microbial biomass, plant biomass, and soil C and nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Fe, Na, Cu, Mg, and Mn)) at six different grassland desertification intensities. The random forest model was conducted to assess the importance of soil properties, plant diversity, and soil microbial diversity in driving EMF. Furthermore, a structural equation model (SEM) was employed to analyze the indirect and direct impacts of these predictors on EMF. Our study showed that plant, soil bacterial, fungal, and archaeal diversity gradually decreased with increasing desertification intensity. However, only AMF diversity was found to be less sensitive to desertification. Similarly, EMF also showed a significant decline with increasing desertification. Importantly, both plant and soil microbial diversity were positively associated with EMF during desertification processes. The random forest model and SEM revealed that both plant and soil microbial diversity were identified as important and direct predictors of EMF during desertification processes. This highlights the primary influence of above- and below-ground biodiversity in co-regulating the response of EMF to grassland desertification. These findings have important implications for planned ecosystem restoration and sustainable grassland management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeming Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolian Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China;
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
| | - Xiuli Gao
- Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China;
| | - Ye Yuan
- School of Urban Planning and Design, Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China;
| | - Lei Hou
- Beijing Municipal Pollution Source Management Center, Beijing 100089, China;
| | - Zhenhua Dang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolian Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China;
| | - Linna Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
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Zhang M, Delgado-Baquerizo M, Li G, Isbell F, Wang Y, Hautier Y, Wang Y, Xiao Y, Cai J, Pan X, Wang L. Experimental impacts of grazing on grassland biodiversity and function are explained by aridity. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5040. [PMID: 37598205 PMCID: PMC10439935 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40809-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Grazing by domestic herbivores is the most widespread land use on the planet, and also a major global change driver in grasslands. Yet, experimental evidence on the long-term impacts of livestock grazing on biodiversity and function is largely lacking. Here, we report results from a network of 10 experimental sites from paired grazed and ungrazed grasslands across an aridity gradient, including some of the largest remaining native grasslands on the planet. We show that aridity partly explains the responses of biodiversity and multifunctionality to long-term livestock grazing. Grazing greatly reduced biodiversity and multifunctionality in steppes with higher aridity, while had no effects in steppes with relatively lower aridity. Moreover, we found that long-term grazing further changed the capacity of above- and below-ground biodiversity to explain multifunctionality. Thus, while plant diversity was positively correlated with multifunctionality across grasslands with excluded livestock, soil biodiversity was positively correlated with multifunctionality across grazed grasslands. Together, our cross-site experiment reveals that the impacts of long-term grazing on biodiversity and function depend on aridity levels, with the more arid sites experiencing more negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. We also highlight the fundamental importance of conserving soil biodiversity for protecting multifunctionality in widespread grazed grasslands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minna Zhang
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Laboratorio de Biodiversidad y Funcionamiento Ecosistémico. Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS), CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
- Unidad Asociada CSIC-UPO (BioFun). Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Guangyin Li
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
- Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Heilongjiang Xingkai Lake Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Forest Isbell
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - Yue Wang
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Yann Hautier
- Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Yao Wang
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Yingli Xiao
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Jinting Cai
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Xiaobin Pan
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Ling Wang
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
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Dong L, Wang J, Li J, Wu Y, Zheng Y, Zhang J, Li Z, Yin R, Liang C. Assessing the Impact of Grazing Management on Wind Erosion Risk in Grasslands: A Case Study on How Grazing Affects Aboveground Biomass and Soil Particle Composition in Inner Mongolia. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
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Effects of Grazing on Water Erosion, Compaction and Infiltration on Grasslands. HYDROLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/hydrology9020034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Seventy-seven percent of all agricultural land is related to livestock, meat and dairy, including grazing land and arable fields used for animal feed production. The effect of livestock on the natural environment is well documented. Many types of research describe these effects on biodiversity. The surface runoff and soil erosion on grasslands and pastures are investigated with smaller intensity since grasslands are one of the two major land uses that are considered as natural or at least semi-natural lands. Still, mainly due to overuse, grazing on sloping pasture lands can cause severe soil damage, the trampling can cause compaction, compaction decrease infiltration and thus increase runoff and, consequently, soil loss. There are several consequences of the grazing pressure that cause water erosion and surface runoff above the acceptable limit, such as a dramatic decrease in grass densities and/or above-ground bio-mass, compaction, animal tracks, etc. Related research started as early as 1911 and continues until today. There are several methods to analyse the consequences of grazing pressure, e.g., in situ rainfall simulations, infiltration and soil resilience measurements, modelling of runoff, soil loss and infiltration, calculation of ecological costs, etc. Furthermore, most importantly, scientists are investigating the possibilities for improvement of the achieved unstable grazing system due to bad management. Numerous publications have been publishing results on positive changes with the removal of grazing livestock from the grasslands. However, since the socio-economic situation is changing on Earth, more people requiring the products of the pastures, an optimal grazing solution is greatly needed. One of the solutions can be the planning of the optimal animal unit per area, based on the expected grass yields. However, due to the big differences in yields, caused by the greatly unreliable weather, the solution for the future must be a multifunctional agriculture and a flexible land use.
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Song J, Xia J, Hui D, Zheng M, Wang J, Ru J, Wang H, Zhang Q, Yang C, Wan S. Plant functional types regulate non‐additive responses of soil respiration to 5‐year warming and nitrogen addition in a semi‐arid grassland. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jian Song
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
| | - Jianyang Xia
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station Shanghai Key Lab for Urban Ecological Processes and Eco‐Restoration School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University Shanghai China
- Research Center for Global Change and Ecological Forecasting East China Normal University Shanghai China
| | - Dafeng Hui
- Department of Biological Sciences Tennessee State University Nashville TN USA
| | - Mengmei Zheng
- College of Life Sciences Henan Normal University Xinxiang China
| | - Jing Wang
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
| | - Jingyi Ru
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
| | - Haidao Wang
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
| | - Qingshan Zhang
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
| | - Chao Yang
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
| | - Shiqiang Wan
- School of Life Sciences Institute of Life Science and Green Development Hebei University Baoding China
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