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1
Liu, Yu, Fuping Tian, Pengyan Jia, Jingge Zhang, Fujiang Hou, and Gaolin Wu. "Leguminous species sequester more carbon than gramineous species in cultivated grasslands of a semi-arid area." Solid Earth 8, no. 1 (January 23, 2017): 83–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/se-8-83-2017.
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Abstract. The establishment of grasslands on abandoned cropland has been proposed as an effective method to mitigate climate change. In this study, five cultivated grasslands (three leguminous species and two gramineous species), one abandoned cropland, and one natural grassland were studied to examine how soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration rate and sequestration efficiency change in a semi-arid area in China. Our results showed that leguminous grasslands had greater total biomass (above- and belowground biomass), SOC storage, SOC sequestration rate, and efficiency than gramineous grasslands, abandoned cropland, and natural grassland during the experimental period. The largest soil carbon (C) accumulation in leguminous grassland was mainly attributed to the capacity to incorporate C and the higher biomass production. Leguminous grasslands accumulated more SOC than gramineous grasslands by 0.64 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. The average SOC sequestration efficiency in leguminous grassland (1.00) was about 2 times greater than gramineous grassland (0.34). The results indicate that cultivated leguminous grassland sequestered more SOC with higher SOC sequestration efficiency than cultivated gramineous grassland in arid and semi-arid areas. Our results provide a reference for ecological management in arid and semi-arid areas.
2
Guo, Zheng Gang, Tian Gang Liang, Xing Yuan Liu, and Fu Jun Niu. "A new approach to grassland management for the arid Aletai region in Northern China." Rangeland Journal 28, no. 2 (2006): 97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj05018.
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Land degradation in the arid Aletai Region in northern China is not only detrimental to animal production, but also reduces the ability to conserve water resources by destabilising the catchments of rivers which affects runoff, thus, threatening the sustainable use of these grasslands. A new approach to grassland management based on carrying capacity and ecological services value of grassland types, using an index of classification management (ICG), was designed to ensure the sustainability of grassland ecosystems. In this approach, grassland is classified into 3 management sectors. The first is conservation grassland, which is mainly devoted to ecological and social values; the second is the moderately productive grassland, dedicated to multiple benefits by rational use; and the third is intensively productive grassland, focusing on maximum economic effect. For the arid Aletai region, no intensively productive grassland was available. Conservation grassland occupied 2.5 million ha, accounted for 25.4% of grassland area, and included alpine meadow, mountain meadow, mountain meadow steppe, mountain steppe and flat meadow. In these grasslands, grazing should be eliminated to allow restoration of degenerated areas, protect grasslands with important ecological values from destruction, and to further improve the environment. Moderately productive grassland covered 7.3 million ha, and the grassland types were alpine steppe, mountain desert steppe, plain desert steppe, steppe desert, and plain desert. Agricultural measures, such as fertiliser and irrigation application, should be used to enhance the productivity of these grasslands.
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Li, Qiang, Junyin Yang, Wenhao Guan, Zhigang Liu, Guoxing He, Degang Zhang, and Xiaoni Liu. "Soil fertility evaluation and spatial distribution of grasslands in Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve of eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau." PeerJ 9 (April 23, 2021): e10986. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10986.
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The study assessed the overall soil characteristics of grasslands on Qilian Mountains and rated the soil nutrient status with classification standard of the second national soil survey of China. Nemerow index method was used to evaluate the soil fertility of different grassland types. GIS was used to analyze the spatial distribution of the soil nutrients and provided a database for the grassland’s ecological protection and restoration. The study graded the soil organic matter (SOM), total N, and available K at level 2 (high) or above for most regions, available soil-P at level 4, while the soil bulk density, total porosity and pH were 0.77–1.32 g cm−3, 35.36–58.83% and 7.63–8.54, respectively. The rank of comprehensive soil fertility index was temperate steppe (TS) > alpine meadow (AM) > alpine steppe (AS) >upland meadow (UM) >alpine desert (AD)> lowland meadow (LM)> temperate desert steppe (TDS)> temperate desert (TD). The areas with high, medium and low soil fertility accounted for 63.19%, 34.24% and 2.57% of the total grassland area. Soil fertility of different grassland types had different main limiting factors, for instance, the pH, total N and SOM were the main factors limiting soil fertility in LM, while pH and available P were the main factors limiting soil fertility in UM, AM, TS and AS. In summary, the grassland soil fertility was generally at the mid-upper level, and the main limiting factors were found in the different types of the grasslands and their spatial distributions were figured out. Our findings also indicated that the typical grasslands and meadows may require phosphorus application, while for desert grasslands, both nitrogen and phosphorus were required to improve their comprehensive soil fertility and grassland productivity.
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Reinermann, Sophie, Sarah Asam, and Claudia Kuenzer. "Remote Sensing of Grassland Production and Management—A Review." Remote Sensing 12, no. 12 (June 17, 2020): 1949. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12121949.
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Grasslands cover one third of the earth’s terrestrial surface and are mainly used for livestock production. The usage type, use intensity and condition of grasslands are often unclear. Remote sensing enables the analysis of grassland production and management on large spatial scales and with high temporal resolution. Despite growing numbers of studies in the field, remote sensing applications in grassland biomes are underrepresented in literature and less streamlined compared to other vegetation types. By reviewing articles within research on satellite-based remote sensing of grassland production traits and management, we describe and evaluate methods and results and reveal spatial and temporal patterns of existing work. In addition, we highlight research gaps and suggest research opportunities. The focus is on managed grasslands and pastures and special emphasize is given to the assessment of studies on grazing intensity and mowing detection based on earth observation data. Grazing and mowing highly influence the production and ecology of grassland and are major grassland management types. In total, 253 research articles were reviewed. The majority of these studies focused on grassland production traits and only 80 articles were about grassland management and use intensity. While the remote sensing-based analysis of grassland production heavily relied on empirical relationships between ground-truth and satellite data or radiation transfer models, the used methods to detect and investigate grassland management differed. In addition, this review identified that studies on grassland production traits with satellite data often lacked including spatial management information into the analyses. Studies focusing on grassland management and use intensity mostly investigated rather small study areas with homogeneous intensity levels among the grassland parcels. Combining grassland production estimations with management information, while accounting for the variability among grasslands, is recommended to facilitate the development of large-scale continuous monitoring and remote sensing grassland products, which have been rare thus far.
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Chang, Shenghua, Kaili Xie, Wucheng Du, Qianmin Jia, Tianhan Yan, Hao Yang, and Fujiang Hou. "Effects of Mowing Times on Nutrient Composition and In Vitro Digestibility of Forage in Three Sown Pastures of China Loess Plateau." Animals 12, no. 20 (October 17, 2022): 2807. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12202807.
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Mowing, Mowing, which affects the nutritional levels of grasslands, is the main utilization of sown pasture. We sowed alfalfa monoculture grassland, tall fescue monoculture grassland and tall fescue + alfalfa mixed grassland in typical steppe of the Loess Plateau to investigate the nutrient compositions and in vitro degradability of those three grasslands under different mowing stubble times and to provide reference for nutrient management of sown pastures. The results showed that the stubble time significantly affected (P < 0.05) the nutrient compositions and mineral elements of forages in alfalfa monoculture grassland, whereas had no effects on the nutrient compositions and dry matter digestibility of forages in tall fescue monoculture grassland and alfalfa + tall fescue mixed grassland. The relative feeding value of mixed grassland of alfalfa and tall fescue was increased by 2.6-22.4% as compared to monoculture grasslands. The model constructed based on forage nutrient content could accurately predict the forage dry matter degradability of alfalfa monoculture, tall fescue monoculture and mixed alfalfa and tall fescue, respectively.
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Qian, Shuan, Feifei Pan, Menxin Wu, and Yinglong Sun. "Appropriated protection time and region for Qinghai–Tibet Plateau grassland." Open Geosciences 14, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): 706–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/geo-2022-0383.
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Abstract Grassland accounts for 67% of the land area in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) to sensitive to climate. This article carried out extensive temporal–spatial variations of grassland water deficit/surplus (GWDS) and net primary productivity (NPP) of QTP grassland using meteorological data of 1981–2018. The results indicate that precipitation’s temporal variations are not related to potential evapotranspiration (PET). The maximum monthly precipitation occurs in July, while the maximum monthly PET appears in June. Precipitation is the second highest in spring when PET is the highest. The water deficit (PET-precipitation) from March to June takes up 51.4% of the total year. Therefore, droughts are more likely to happen in spring and June. This is the most important period for grassland protection. Water deficit is higher in the central and west and the highest in the northwest of QTP grasslands. This indicates the place where the droughts are more likely to occur. The grassland’s annual NPP is high in the southeastern part of QTP and low in the west. This shows the central and western parts of QTP grassland should receive more attention. The specific time and region obtained in this study are important for environmental protection policy-making and reducing grassland degradation in QTP.
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Xue, Zhichao, Martin Kappas, and Daniel Wyss. "Spatio-Temporal Grassland Development in Inner Mongolia after Implementation of the First Comprehensive Nation-Wide Grassland Conservation Program." Land 10, no. 1 (January 5, 2021): 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land10010038.
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Protection of the grassland’s ecological environment and improvement of people’s livelihoods are major tasks for the management of pastoral areas in Inner Mongolia. The comprehensive program for grassland conservation in China, the Subsidy and Incentive System for Grassland Conservation (SISGC), was launched in 2011. To comprehend the effects of this major step towards sustainable grassland development, this study focuses on the spatio-temporal development of grasslands in Inner Mongolia since 2011. Through the combination of MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) satellite data with up to date meteorological data, we used the indicators of Fractional Vegetation Cover (FVC) and Net Primary Productivity (NPP) to analyze qualitative and quantitative grassland changes. A classification system on the pixel level, reflecting change trends and fluctuations of both FVC and NPP, was applied to monitor and analyze the grassland development from 2011 to 2019. In particular, the spatial transfer matrix of the recent two years (2018 to 2019) was analyzed to reveal the latest potential issues and random impact factors. The results show a positive overall but spatially unbalanced effect of SISGC, with a prominent positive impact in the semi-desert grassland area. The potential threats from both social and natural aspects as well as the importance of a forecast system for local stakeholders in the pastoral area are discussed.
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Tóth, Csilla, Géza Nagy, and Antónia Nyakas. "The Evaluation of Grazed Grasslands on the Hortobágy." Acta Agraria Debreceniensis, no. 10 (May 11, 2003): 50–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.34101/actaagrar/10/3463.
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The sward composition of different grasslands on Puszta Hortobágy has been developed according to prevailing abiotic and biotic factors. The abiotic conditions have been more or less constans for long periods of time, and the abiotic factors are determined by ecological conditions (climate, soil, topography). Among biotic factors grazing of herbivores was important in the development of Hortobágy grasslands for centuries (Sipos and Varga, 1993). Result of three-year investigations on the sward composition of grasslands utilised in different ways are presented. Data on ground cover, number of plant species, representation of different plant groups (grasses, sedge and bent-grass, herbs, legumes) and weeds are reported from six different grazed grassland types from Puszta Hortobágy.In 1999-2001 a sward composition survey was conducted. Sample areas of 2x2 m2 were marked out in three replicates: on temporarily waterlogged grassland grazed by cattle (A), on dry grassland grazed by cattle (B), on dry grassland grazed by sheep (C), on dry grassland grazed by buffaloes (D), on dry grassland grazed by buffaloes and geese (E), on dry grassland cut for hay in May then grazed by geese (F). On the sample areas sward composition of grasslands was estimated according to Balázs (1949).The average ground cover of different grasslands ranged between 60 and 100% (Table 2). The lowest value was found for grasslands C and E, which are grazed by sheep (C) and buffaloes and geese alternately (E). In these grasslands were some open spaces, on the other grasslands completely closed swards covers were observed.The species diversity of these natural grasslands are high (Table 2). The grassland F, which were cut for hay in May had the lowest diversity (17-21). The highest number of species was found on grassland A and B (32-51), on other grazed grasslands (C, D, E) had 29-48 species.The different plant groups had different representation in the total ground cover (Table 3). The number of herbs was always higher then that of grasses, but the cover of herbs was lower then that of grasses. The legumes and the sedge and bent grasses were present in high abundance in grassland A, but in the other grasslands were not.The composition of herbs should be a warning for future utilisation systems on some grasslands of Hortobágy. Some species of herbs, e.g. Achillea millefolium, Artemisia vulgaris, Carduus acanthoides, Cirsium arvense, Cirsium vulgare Eryngium campestre, Galium mollugo, Galium verum, Ononis spinosa, Rumex crispus, Verbascum phlomoideus, Phragmites australis can be invasive on short grasslands.
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Wang, Xianguo, Jianguo Han, and Yongping Dong. "Recent Grassland Policies in China." Outlook on Agriculture 34, no. 2 (June 2005): 105–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.5367/0000000054224319.
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This paper provides a basis for understanding recent grassland polices in China and their backgrounds. First, the characteristics and importance of China's grasslands are described briefly. Next, the trends and causes of grassland degradation and desertification are presented. In the main part of the paper, recent key grassland policies and practices adopted by the Chinese government to overcome the environmental crisis are summarized. In conclusion, grassland construction and protection will become the main element of grassland practices over the long term, and grasslands will increasingly be managed more for environmental and ecological services rather than for livestock production.
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Riah-Anglet, Wassila, Elodie Cusset, Rémi Chaussod, Stéven Criquet, Marie-Paule Norini, Nathalie Cheviron, Christian Mougin, et al. "Introducing Grasslands into Crop Rotations, a Way to Restore Microbiodiversity and Soil Functions." Agriculture 11, no. 10 (September 23, 2021): 909. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11100909.
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The aims of this study were to investigate (i) the influence of aging grassland in the recovery of soil state by the comparison of permanent grassland, two restored grasslands, two temporary grasslands, and a continuous crop in the same pedoclimatic conditions, (ii) the extent and the persistence of the potential changes following a grassland/or cropland phase. We hypothesized that the level of microbial communities and enzyme activities could achieve a profile close to that of permanent grassland after the introduction of grassland for a few years in crop rotations. Soil biophysicochemical properties were studied. Our results indicated that the abundance of microbial communities and enzyme activities were positively correlated to soil C and N contents and negatively correlated to soil pH. The changes in microbial abundance level were strongly linked to the changes in functional level when grasslands are introduced into crop rotations. We also showed that a continuous crop regime had a stronger legacy on the soil biota and functions. By contrast, the legacy of a grassland regime changed quickly when the grassland regime is interrupted by recent culture events. A grassland regime enabled the restoration of functions after more than five cumulative years in the grassland regime.
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Schellenberger, Judit, Péter Csontos, Ádám Csorba, Attila Lengyel, Gábor Málnási Csizmadia, Orsolya Szirmai, Károly Penksza, and Szilárd Czóbel. "Soil Seed Banks of Continental Grasslands with Different Water Regimes–A Comparative Study from the Aspect of Recovery Potential." Agronomy 12, no. 11 (November 12, 2022): 2830. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12112830.
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Due to the threats posed by climate change and landscape alteration, there is an increasing need to better understand using seed banks of continental grasslands as a possible aid to conservation and restoration. Here, the soil seed bank of a wet grassland type, an ecotone and a semi-dry grassland type, all formed along a slope in NE Hungary, were compared from the aspect of recovery potential. For this, a vegetation survey and a seedling emergence examination were performed. The seed banks of the three grassland types differed significantly in terms of density. It was significantly higher in both the wet and the ecotone grassland types than in the semi-dry one. The seed banks of the three grassland types proved to be very similar in terms of diversity. The floristic similarity between the vegetation and the seed banks was much higher in both the wet and the ecotone grassland types than in the semi-dry one. Most of the abundant species of the vegetation had transient seed banks, but more of the characteristic species of the wet and the ecotone grassland types maintained dense and/or persistent seed banks than those of the semi-dry one. In the case of degradation, a complete recovery is not ensured by the seed bank of either studied grassland type; however, compared to that of the semi-dry grassland, the wet grassland’s seed bank better supports an increase in diversity within a limited period. In the case of restoration, within five years after destruction, it could be more rewarding to deal with wet grassland types prior to dry ones.
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Bu, Lingxin, Quan Lai, Song Qing, Yuhai Bao, Xinyi Liu, Qin Na, and Yuan Li. "Grassland Biomass Inversion Based on a Random Forest Algorithm and Drought Risk Assessment." Remote Sensing 14, no. 22 (November 13, 2022): 5745. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14225745.
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Xilin Gol is a typical kind of grassland in arid and semi-arid regions. Under climate warming, the droughts faced by various grassland types tend to expand in scope and intensity, and increase in frequency. Therefore, the quantitative analysis of drought risk in different grassland types becomes particularly important. Based on multi-source data, a random forest regression algorithm was used to construct a grassland biomass estimation model, which was then used to analyze the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of grassland biomass. A quantitative assessment of drought risk (DR) in different grassland types was applied based on the theory of risk formation, and a structural equation model (SEM) was used to analyze the drivers of drought risk in different grassland types. The results show that among the eight selected variables that affect grassland biomass, the model had the highest accuracy (R = 0.90) when the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), precipitation (Prcp), soil moisture (SM) and longitude (Lon) were combined as input variables. The grassland biomass showed a spatial distribution that was high in the east and low in the west, gradually decreasing from northeast to southwest. Among the grasslands, desert grassland (DRS) had the highest drought risk (DR = 0.30), while meadow grassland (MEG) had the lowest risk (DR = 0.02). The analysis of the drivers of drought risk in grassland biomass shows that meteorological elements mainly drive typical grasslands (TYG) and other grasslands (OTH). SM greatly impacted MEG, and ET had a relatively high contribution to DRS. This study provides a basis for managing different grassland types in large areas and developing corresponding drought adaptation programs.
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Valkó, Orsolya, Rocco Labadessa, Salza Palpurina, Sabina Burrascano, Atushi Ushimaru, and Stephen Venn. "Conservation and diversity of Palaearctic grasslands – Editorial to the 5th EDGG special issue in Hacquetia." Hacquetia 18, no. 2 (December 1, 2019): 143–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/hacq-2019-0011.
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Abstract Palaearctic grasslands are diverse and dynamic ecosystems that are in the focus of ecology, conservation biology and agronomy. This special issue is dedicated to the biodiversity and conservation issues of Palaearctic grasslands and was initiated by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group members attending the 14th Eurasian Dry Grassland Conference (EDGC) at Sulmona, Italy in 2018. The papers in this special issue cover a wide range of grassland ecosystems from mountain dry grasslands to lowland loess grasslands, feathergrass steppes and wet grasslands, and focus on the biodiversity values and conservation issues of Palaearctic grasslands. We believe that this compilation will contribute to a better understanding of the ecology of grasslands and support their more effective conservation.
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Koyama, Asuka, Tomoyo F. Koyanagi, Munemitsu Akasaka, Yoshinobu Kusumoto, Syuntaro Hiradate, Masayuki Takada, and Kimiko Okabe. "Partitioning the plant diversity of semi-natural grasslands across Japan." Oryx 52, no. 3 (February 20, 2017): 471–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605316001526.
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AbstractEffective conservation of global species diversity requires a clear understanding of spatial scales that support overall diversity across broad scales. Abandonment of semi-natural grasslands has increased their fragmentation and decreased their areal extent. We quantified diversity patterns of plant communities in Japan across hierarchical scales to facilitate the development of an effective nationwide strategy for conserving species diversity in remnant semi-natural grasslands. We applied additive partitioning of plant species diversity, using a nested hierarchical design at three spatial scales (quadrat, grassland, and western and eastern regions of Japan) for three groups of plant species (all species, grassland species and national Red Listed species). We consistently found lower proportions of among-quadrats diversity, and higher proportions of among-grasslands diversity and between-regions diversity in the overall diversity of the entire species complement than would be expected by chance. The high contribution of among-grasslands diversity to overall diversity suggests that each grassland had a unique species content. The second-ranking contributor to overall diversity differed between grassland species and Red Listed species: the second-ranking contributor for grassland species was diversity at the among-quadrats scale but the second-ranking contributor for all species and for Red Listed species was diversity at the between-regions scale. Thus, effective conservation of diversity of the entire species complement in remnant semi-natural grasslands requires preservation of beta diversity in individual grasslands. Our findings highlight the importance of strengthening local preservation and restoration activities within each grassland, and of nationwide strategies for conserving Red Listed species in remnant semi-natural grassland communities.
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Zhang, Yanzhen, Qian Wang, Zhaoqi Wang, Jianlong Li, and Zengrang Xu. "Dynamics and Drivers of Grasslands in the Eurasian Steppe during 2000–2014." Sustainability 13, no. 11 (May 24, 2021): 5887. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su13115887.
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The Eurasian steppe (EAS) is the largest contiguous grassland worldwide. Quantitative evaluations of the relative impacts of climate change and human activities on grasslands are significant for understanding grassland degradation mechanisms and controlling degraded grasslands. In this study, we analyzed the grassland productivity based on multiple forms of net primary productivity (NPP), including climate NPP (CNPP), actual NPP (ANPP), and human-caused NPP (HNPP) during 2000–2014. The results demonstrate that the average value of annual ANPP in the EAS was 47.36 gC/(m2·year), with a weak decrease (−0.02 gC/(m2·year)) during the study period. The area of grassland degradation account for 48.52% of the total grassland area in EAS, while the area of grassland recovery account for 51.48%. Restorative grassland was mainly distributed in Mongolia and China, while worse grassland was mainly distributed in the Kazakh steppe regions. Grassland degradation in China was mainly caused by climate change, whereas it was mainly caused by human activities in Mongolia. Grassland recovery in Kazakh steppe regions was mainly caused by human activities, but in Mongolia, it was mainly caused by climate change. Compared with temperature, precipitation played a more significant role on grassland productivity.
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Fensham, RJ. "Native Grasslands of the Central Highlands, Queensland, Australia. Floristics, Regional Context and Conservation." Rangeland Journal 21, no. 1 (1999): 82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj9990082.
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A floristic classification of grassland and related woodland vegetation from the Central Highlands of Queensland suggests four broad types: Mountain coolibah (Eucalyptus orgadophila) woodland on basalt, Mitchell grassland (dominated by Astrebla lappacea) on alluvia and two closely related groups dominated by Dichanthium sericeum, Blue grassland on basalt and Blue grassland on sediment. An analysis including floristic data from grassland and woodland on vertosols from throughout southern, central and western Queensland revealed that the Blue grasslands of the Central Highlands are highly dissimilar from other grasslands in Queensland. Mountain coolibah woodland on basalt is represented within four reserves, but the other more arable grassland types are either not represented or only barely represented within the reserve system. The most immediate threatening process to these communities is conversion to crops and this process is exacerbated by the difficulties of managing the grasslands as native pasture. Large areas of grasslands are degraded, having been converted from dominance by native perennial grasses to the unpalatable, annual, exotic herb Partheniunz hysterophorus. Once this shift has occurred a long period with little or no production benefits is required to recover a sward of native perennial grasses and the cropping alternative becomes particularly favourable. The long-term security of the native grasslands of the Central Highlands will require an enhanced reserve system and incentives designed to retain appropriately managed native pasture. Key words: grassland, grazing, reserves, woodland. Queensland, exotics, Parthenium
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Hubert-Moy, Laurence, Jeanne Thibault, Elodie Fabre, Clémence Rozo, Damien Arvor, Thomas Corpetti, and Sébastien Rapinel. "Mapping Grassland Frequency Using Decadal MODIS 250 m Time-Series: Towards a National Inventory of Semi-Natural Grasslands." Remote Sensing 11, no. 24 (December 17, 2019): 3041. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11243041.
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Semi-natural grasslands are perennial ecosystems and an important part of agricultural landscapes that are threatened by urbanization and agricultural intensification. However, implementing national grassland conservation policies remains challenging because their inventory, based on short-term observation, rarely discriminate semi-natural permanent from temporary grasslands. This study aims to map grassland frequency at a national scale over a long period using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 250 m satellite time-series. A three-step method was applied to the entire area of metropolitan France (543,940 km²). First, land-use and land-cover maps—including grasslands—were produced for each year from 2006–2017 using the random forest classification of MOD13Q1 and MYD13Q1 products, which were calibrated and validated using field observations. Second, grassland frequency from 2006–2017 was calculated by combining the 12 annual maps. Third, sub-pixel analysis was performed using a reference layer with 20 m spatial resolution to quantify percentages of land-use and land-cover classes within MODIS pixels classified as grassland. Results indicate that grasslands were accurately modeled from 2006–2017 (F1-score 0.89–0.93). Nonetheless, modeling accuracy varied among biogeographical regions, with F1-score values that were very high for Continental (0.94 ± 0.01) and Atlantic (0.90 ± 0.02) regions, high for Alpine regions (0.86 ± 0.04) but moderate for Mediterranean regions (0.62 ± 0.10). The grassland frequency map for 2006–2017 at 250 m spatial resolution provides an unprecedented view of stable grassland patterns in agricultural areas compared to existing national and European GIS layers. Sub-pixel analysis showed that areas modeled as grasslands corresponded to grassland-dominant areas (60%–94%). This unique long-term and national monitoring of grasslands generates new opportunities for semi-natural grassland inventorying and agro-ecological management.
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Manlike, Asiya, Rukeya Sawut, Fengling Zheng, Xuesen Li, and Rena Abudukelimu. "Monitoring and analysing grassland ecosystem service values in response to grassland area changes – an example from northwest China." Rangeland Journal 42, no. 3 (2020): 179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj20014.
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Using remote sensing technology, this study evaluates changes in mountain grassland ecosystem service values (ESVs) and the factors driving them. Degraded grasslands in Urumqi city, northwest China, reached 1.22×105 ha in 2000. However, the grassland degradation rate decreased by 387ha annually from 2000 to 2015. Total grassland ESVs decreased unpredictably with an annual reduction of USD$1.64×107. Ecological losses were mainly caused by degradation of mountain desert grassland, mountain desert steppe-type rangeland, and mountain meadow and mountain steppe-type rangeland. Among individual ESVs, grasslands contributed more to regulating and supporting services, while grassland provisioning and cultural services were relatively low, comprising 0. 7 and 0.5% of the total ESV respectively. The mean Moran’s I value was 0.869 for grassland ESVs (from 1994 to 2015), and exhibited high spatial autocorrelation. A driving factor analysis indicated that grassland degradation is continuing as a consequence of meteorological factors and overgrazing. Controlling grazing intensity has a positive impact on growth of grassland ESVs.
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Wang, Bei, Xin Li, Gaofeng Zhu, Chunlin Huang, Chunfeng Ma, Meibao Tan, and Juntao Zhong. "Evaluating the Impact of Dynamic Changes in Grasslands on the Critical Ecosystem Service Value of Yanchi County in China from 2000 to 2015." Sustainability 14, no. 19 (September 20, 2022): 11762. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su141911762.
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Grasslands are the basis for sustainable development in the northern farming-pastoral transition zone of China, with functions of human production, living, and ecology. Large-scale human activities inevitably lead to significant changes in grasslands, resulting in significant impacts on ecosystem services. To this end, we quantitatively estimated the ecosystem services value in each positive succession process (the improvement in the coverage or area of grasslands) and negative succession process (the degradation in the coverage or area of grasslands). The results indicated that (1) grasslands showed an improving trend from 2000 to 2015. The grassland improvement from low to high coverage dominated the positive succession process. Grassland degradation from high to low coverage dominated the negative succession process. (2) The total ecosystem services value increased by 25,294.87 × 104 yuan from 2000 to 2015. The grassland improvement from low to high coverage was the most important process that led to the increase in ecosystem service value. The degradation between grasslands and non-grasslands was the key process that led to the decrement in ecosystem services value. (3) The impact of grassland dynamics on the regional ecosystem service value showed significant spatial heterogeneity at the town scale. The results will provide some implications for the sustainable development of grassland ecosystem services to improve human well-being.
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Valkó, Orsolya, Rocco Labadessa, and Stephen Venn. "Conservation, restoration and biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands – Editorial to the 6th EDGG special issue in Hacquetia." Hacquetia 20, no. 1 (March 1, 2021): 167–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/hacq-2021-0008.
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Abstract This special issue is a collection of articles about the conservation, restoration and biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands and was initiated by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group at the 15th Eurasian Dry Grassland Conference (EDGC), held at Graz, Austria in 2019. The papers in this special issue cover a range of grassland habitats from montane dry grasslands to lowland sandy grasslands, feathergrass steppes and meadow steppes, and focus on the biodiversity values, conservation issues and restoration prospects of Palaearctic grasslands. We hope that the articles in this special issue will contribute to a better understanding of the ecology of grasslands and support their more effective conservation.
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Ren, J. Z., Z. Z. Hu, J. Zhao, D. G. Zhang, F. J. Hou, H. L. Lin, and X. D. Mu. "A grassland classification system and its application in China." Rangeland Journal 30, no. 2 (2008): 199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj08002.
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China possesses vast grassland resources that include alpine meadow, tundra, steppe and desert. It is, therefore, desirable to establish a grassland classification system that involves the formative factors contributing to this diversity. This paper reports a grassland classification system called the Integrated Orderly Classification System of Grassland (IOCSG), which was formulated through grouping or clustering units with similar properties. The IOCSG involves a hierarchy of three classification levels. At the first level, grasslands are grouped into classes according to an index of moisture and temperature. At the second level, grasslands are differentiated as subclasses by the edaphic conditions. At the third level, grassland types within a subclass are distinguished by vegetation types. Under the IOCSG, seven thermal zones and six humidity zones have been identified and used to differentiate grassland classes. The IOCSG recognises 42 grassland Classes, of which 41 are present in China.
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Feng, Jiguang, Jingsheng Wang, Yanjun Song, and Biao Zhu. "Patterns of soil respiration and its temperature sensitivity in grassland ecosystems across China." Biogeosciences 15, no. 17 (September 3, 2018): 5329–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-15-5329-2018.
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Abstract. Soil respiration (Rs), a key process in the terrestrial carbon cycle, is very sensitive to climate change. In this study, we synthesized 54 measurements of annual Rs and 171 estimates of Q10 value (the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration) in grasslands across China. We quantitatively analyzed their spatial patterns and controlling factors in five grassland types, including temperate typical steppe, temperate meadow steppe, temperate desert steppe, alpine grassland, and warm, tropical grassland. Results showed that the mean (±SE) annual Rs was 582.0±57.9 g C m−2 yr−1 across Chinese grasslands. Annual Rs significantly differed among grassland types, and was positively correlated with mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil organic carbon content, and aboveground biomass, but negatively correlated with soil pH (p<0.05). Among these factors, mean annual precipitation was the primary factor controlling the variation of annual Rs among grassland types. Based on the overall data across Chinese grasslands, the Q10 values ranged from 1.03 to 8.13, with a mean (±SE) of 2.60±0.08. Moreover, the Q10 values varied largely within and among grassland types and soil temperature measurement depths. Among grassland types, the highest Q10 derived by soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm occurred in alpine grasslands. In addition, the seasonal variation of soil respiration in Chinese grasslands generally cannot be explained well by soil temperature using the van't Hoff equation. Overall, our findings suggest that the combined factors of soil temperature and moisture would better predict soil respiration in arid and semi-arid regions, highlight the importance of precipitation in controlling soil respiration in grasslands, and imply that alpine grasslands in China might release more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere under climate warming.
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Li, Meng, Xianzhou Zhang, Yongtao He, Ben Niu, and Jianshuang Wu. "Assessment of the vulnerability of alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau." PeerJ 8 (February 6, 2020): e8513. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8513.
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Assessing ecosystem vulnerability to climate change is critical for sustainable and adaptive ecosystem management. Alpine grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau are considered to be vulnerable to climate change, yet the ecosystem tends to maintain stability by increasing resilience and decreasing sensitivity. To date, the spatial pattern of grassland vulnerability to climate change and the mechanisms that vegetation applies to mitigate the impacts of climate change on grasslands by altering relevant ecosystem characteristics, especially sensitivity and resilience, remain unknown. In this study, we first assessed the spatial pattern of grassland vulnerability to climate change by integrating exposure, sensitivity, and resilience simultaneously, and then identified its driving forces. The results show that grasslands with high vulnerability were mainly located on the edges of the plateau, whereas alpine grasslands in the hinterlands of the plateau showed a low vulnerability. This spatial pattern of alpine grassland vulnerability was controlled by climatic exposure, and grassland sensitivity and resilience to climate change might also exacerbate or alleviate the degree of vulnerability. Climate change had variable impacts on different grassland types. Desert steppes were more vulnerable to climate change than alpine meadows and alpine steppes because of the high variability in environmental factors and their low ability to recover from perturbations. Our findings also confirm that grazing intensity, a quantitative index of the most important human disturbance on alpine grasslands in this plateau, was significantly correlated with ecosystem vulnerability. Moderate grazing intensity was of benefit for increasing grassland resilience and then subsequently reducing grassland vulnerability. Thus, this study suggests that future assessments of ecosystem vulnerability should not ignore anthropogenic disturbances, which might benefit environmental protection and sustainable management of grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
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Li, Jie, Hua Chai, Shiwen Ding, Jinsong Wang, Xincheng Li, Yinong Li, Tianyun Li, et al. "Species-specific herbivore grazing of type-specific grassland can assist with promotion of shallow layer of soil carbon sequestration." Environmental Research Letters 16, no. 11 (November 1, 2021): 114033. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac302f.
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Abstract Grassland soils represent a significant potential pool for the sequestering of atmospheric CO2; however, the magnitude of this pool depends to a certain extent on the grazing management of the grassland. Whether different herbivore species and combinations (herbivore assemblage) influence the soil organic carbon (SOC) in various grasslands remains unclear. Here we have investigated the impacts of herbivore assemblages (NG, no grazing; SG, sheep grazing; CG, cattle grazing; and MG, mixed grazing of sheep and cattle) under moderate grazing intensity on a shallow layer of SOC storage across the three different grassland types (meadow steppe, typical steppe, and desert steppe) in the temperate steppes of Eastern Eurasia. We found that herbivore-species-specific effects on SOC storage depended on the grassland type. In mesic grasslands (i.e. meadow steppe and typical steppe), CG enhanced SOC storage, but there were no effects from SG. In contrast, SG in the xeric grassland (i.e. desert steppe) dramatically increased SOC storage while no effects were observed for CG. Importantly, MG of sheep and cattle consistently increased SOC storage across all grassland types. We suggest that adopting herbivore-type-specific stewardship in different grasslands could assist with the enhancement of ecosystem C functionality and services; large herbivores and small herbivores are suitable for grazing in mesic grasslands and xeric grasslands, respectively. Moreover, MG with diverse herbivores may be the optimal moderate grazing mode for soil C sequestration in most grasslands of northern China.
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Guo, Xiaowei, Licong Dai, Qian Li, Dawen Qian, Guangmin Cao, Huakun Zhou, and Yangong Du. "Light Grazing Significantly Reduces Soil Water Storage in Alpine Grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau." Sustainability 12, no. 6 (March 23, 2020): 2523. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12062523.
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The degradation of alpine grasslands directly affects their ability to conserve water, but changes in soil water storage in grassland under different degrees of degradation are poorly understood. Here, we selected four grassland plots along a degradation gradient: no-degradation grassland (NG), lightly degraded grassland (LG), moderately degraded grassland (MG) and severely degraded grassland (SG). We then applied an automatic soil moisture monitoring system to study changes in soil water storage processes. Results revealed significant (p < 0.05) differences in soil water storage among NG, LG, MG and SG. Specifically, LG lost 35.9 mm of soil water storage compared with NG, while soil water storage in LG, MG and SG decreased by 24.5%, 32.1% and 36.7%, respectively. The shallow groundwater table, air temperature and grass litter were the key controlling factors of soil water storage in the grassland. Grazing and future global warming will significantly reduce soil water storage in alpine grasslands.
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Yang, Yanlin, Jinliang Wang, Yun Chen, Feng Cheng, Guangjie Liu, and Zenghong He. "Remote-Sensing Monitoring of Grassland Degradation Based on the GDI in Shangri-La, China." Remote Sensing 11, no. 24 (December 16, 2019): 3030. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11243030.
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Grassland resources are important land resources. However, grassland degradation has become evident in recent years, which has reduced the function of soil and water conservation and restricted the development of animal husbandry. Timely and accurate monitoring of grassland changes and understanding the degree of degradation are the foundation for the scientific use of grasslands. The grassland degradation index of ground comprehensive evaluation (grassland degradation index, GDIg) is a digital expression of grassland growth that can accurately indicate the degradation of grasslands. In this research, the accuracy of GDIg in evaluating grassland degradation is discussed; the typical areas of grassland degradation in Shangri-La City, i.e., the towns of Jiantang and Xiaozhongdian, are selected as the research area. Through a field survey and spectroscopy combined with Huanjing-1 (HJ-1) satellite image data, grassland degradation was monitored in the study area from 2008 to 2017. The results show that: (1) GDIg based on six indicators, namely, above-ground biomass, cover level, height, biomass of edible herbage, biomass of toxic weeds, and species richness, can effectively indicate grassland degradation, with the accuracy of the degradation grade assessment reaching 98.6%. (2) The correlation between the GDIg and the grey values of 4 wavebands and 7 types of vegetation indexes derived from the HJ-1 is analysed, and the degraded grassland inversion model was built and revised based on HJ-1 data. The grassland degradation evaluation index of remote sensing (GDIrs) model indicates that grassland degradation is proportional to the ratio vegetation index (RVI). (3) The grassland area was 405.40 km2 in the initial monitoring period, accounting for 17.26% of the study area, while at the end of the monitoring period, the area was 338.87 km2, with a loss of 66.53 km2. From 2008 to 2017, the area of non-degraded and slightly degraded grassland in the study area presented a downward trend, with decreases of 59.87 km2 and 49.93 km2, respectively. In contrast, the area of moderately degraded grassland increased by 41.17 km2 from 91.58 km2 in 2008 to 132.74 km2 in 2017, accounting for 39.17% of the grassland. The area of severely degraded grassland was 78.32 km2, accounting for 23.11% of the grassland in 2017. (4) The degraded grasslands in the study area mainly transformed into the degradation-enhanced (deterioration) type. As the transformation rate gradually slows down, the current situation of grassland degradation is not hopeful.
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Stevens, Toni A., Murray C. Evans, William S. Osborne, and Stephen D. Sarre. "Home ranges of, and habitat use by, the grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla) in remnant native grasslands near Canberra." Australian Journal of Zoology 58, no. 2 (2010): 76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/zo09076.
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The grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla) is a habitat specialist restricted to the highly fragmented native temperate grasslands of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and nearby New South Wales (NSW). These grasslands, which are listed as an endangered ecological community, continue to be affected by a range of processes including development and overgrazing. Although changes to its habitat present a significant threat to the grassland earless dragon, little is known about its spatial and habitat requirements. We used radio-tracking to study the home-range areas and habitat requirements of 10 adult lizards in native grassland adjacent to Canberra, ACT. We found that burrows excavated by arthropods are an important resource for grassland earless dragons, with individuals having one or two home burrows around which they maintained home ranges of between 925 m2 and 4768 m2. Fidelity to these burrows increased with the onset of winter, indicating their importance as over-winter refuge sites. Within the native grasslands, grassland earless dragons were found to use a broad range of grassland structure as habitat. This result contrasts with the prevailing view that these dragons are confined to well drained, minimally disturbed areas, which include large patches of short grass dominated by Austrodanthonia. We conclude that habitat management (i.e. grazing, mowing, burning) for this species should aim to retain structural heterogeneity of native grasslands rather than impose a uniform structure.
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Iepema, Goaitske, Joachim G. C. Deru, Jaap Bloem, Nyncke Hoekstra, Ron de Goede, Lijbert Brussaard, and Nick van Eekeren. "Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison." Sustainability 12, no. 7 (March 25, 2020): 2600. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12072600.
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Renewing agricultural grasslands for improved yields and forage quality generally involves eliminating standing vegetation with herbicides, ploughing and reseeding. However, grassland renewal may negatively affect soil quality and related ecosystem services. On clay soil in the north of the Netherlands, we measured grass productivity and soil chemical parameters of ‘young’ (5–15 years since last grassland renewal) and ‘old’ (>20 years since last grassland renewal) permanent grasslands, located as pairs at 10 different dairy farms. We found no significant difference with old permanent grassland in herbage dry matter yield and fertilizer nitrogen (N) response, whereas herbage N yield was lower in young permanent grassland. Moreover, the young grassland soil contained less soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (C) and soil organic N compared to the old grassland soil. Grass productivity was positively correlated with SOM and related parameters such as soil organic C, soil organic N and potentially mineralizable N. We conclude that on clay soils with 70% desirable grasses (i.e., Lolium perenne and Phleum pratense) or more, the presumed yield benefit of grassland renewal is offset by a loss of soil quality (SOM and N-total). The current practice of renewing grassland after 10 years without considering the botanical composition, is counter-productive and not sustainable.
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Zhao, Xu Dong, De Gang Zhang, Li Na Shi, and Yong Shun Yang. "Effects of Ecological Projects on Grassland Soil Physicochemical Properties in Three-River Headwater." Advanced Materials Research 807-809 (September 2013): 843–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.807-809.843.
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The depth variations of soil physicochemical properties in the degraded native grasslands and the artificially restored grasslands were studied in the Three-river headwater areas of Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, China. The results showed: (1) With the increase of the gradient of restoration years, soil water content, total chemical properties, total potassium, phosphorus, available phosphorus and potassium were increased thereafter in the artificial grasslands. (2) With the increase of grassland degradation gradient, soil water content was gradually reduced, and the total N, K, the organic matter didnt gradually reduced also. (3) Both restoration years and degradation degree didnt influence the nutrient distribution in soil. (4) The organic matter, total N and K of degraded grassland were increased by artificial grassland construction. Therefore, artificial grassland construction canbe used as an effective measure of ecological projects in the Three-river headwater area.
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Draskovic, Branislav, Sladjana Petronic, Marko Gutalj, and Natasa Maric. "Horizontal and vertical spatial distribution and loss of grassland in Bosnia and Herzegovina." Journal of the Geographical Institute Jovan Cvijic, SASA 72, no. 2 (2022): 159–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.2298/ijgi2202159d.
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Two databases related to grassland in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) have been used in this research-the Copernicus Grassland (GRA) and CORINE Land Cover (CLC). The data have been processed by using GIS tools, and the spatial distribution of grass vegetation in relation to three biogeographical and four elevation zones has been determined. By using the Copernicus Water and Wetness (WaW) database, an insight into the coverage of grass vegetation in wetlands has been obtained. In addition, the analysis of changes in databases determined the total amount and location of the largest grassland losses. Based on GRA database, B&H is one of the richest countries, with 22.4% of its territory covered by grassland. According to the CLC database, pastures occupy 6.3% and natural grasslands 5.6% of the territory of B&H. However, grassland is exposed to various anthropogenic and natural processes that affect its distribution, quality, functions, etc. The CLC database has been processed by extracting the grasslands (pastures and natural grasslands) and calculating their spatial coverage and changes which happened during the three six-year periods from 2000 to 2018. The trend of decreasing pasture areas and increasing natural grasslands has been noticed. The pastures are most endangered by the processes of conversion to other types of agricultural land, while natural grassland increased spatial coverage during the period 2012-2018 mostly due to the revitalization and grazing of burned areas in the region of Herzegovina. Grasslands have been particularly targeted for afforestation and cropland conversion at present.
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Schwarz, A. G., and Ross W. Wein. "Dry grasslands in Wood Buffalo National Park: reply." Canadian Journal of Botany 77, no. 7 (November 5, 1999): 918–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b99-121.
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In examining dry grassland areas of Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP), we used vascular plant indicators commonly found in the grassland landscapes in the southern and central parts of the Prairie Provinces. With distance northward the landscapes become increasingly tree-dominated and the dry grasslands have fewer dry grassland indicator species (about 40 in the area of WBNP) and become smaller in size (about 1 ha in WBNP). Key species are Stipa comata Trin & Rupr., Stipa curtiseta (A.S. Hitchc.) Barkworth, and Stipa columbiana Macoun on the drier sites. Paleontological records and historical documents suggest that these remnant dry grasslands must expand during decades of drought and must contract during decades of higher summer rainfall. We hypothesize that fires might enhance dry grassland expansion by stressing and killing trees and shrubs. Southern dry grassland vascular plant species represent over 7% of the total in WBNP. It is reasonable to hypothesize that these represent special ecotypes that deserve special protection through prescribed burning.Key words: remnant grasslands, Stipa spp., climate change.
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Zhang, Hui, Juan Fan, Di Gao, Yulin Liu, and Huishi Du. "Effect of Decreasing the Interception of Solar Illuminance by Vegetation on Ground Temperature in Degraded Grasslands." Sustainability 14, no. 8 (April 9, 2022): 4488. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su14084488.
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Reduced vegetation cover caused by grassland degradation results in the interception of solar illuminance significantly decreasing, then leading to an increase in ground temperature, which has a significant impact on biological growth and regional climate. Based on the field experiment, we explore the interception of solar illuminance by grasslands with three degrees of degradation and its effect on the soil temperature. Solar illuminance at various heights and times was measured to obtain the interception by vegetation, which included reduction by physical shielding and consumption by the plants’ life activities. Solar illuminance in the subareas sprayed with herbicide was merely reduced by physical shielding, and the difference in solar illuminance interception between normally growing grasslands and fatal grasslands was used for the plants’ life activities. This method described above was almost the first to be used for the exploration of the functional allocation of solar illuminance interception. The percentage of solar illuminance interception was largest in the non-degraded grassland (80–95% at different times), including a 50–60% reduction on account of physical shielding and a 20–45% consumption by the grass’s life activities. Light interception by grassland vegetation directly reduced the grassland temperature. The increment of ground temperature reaches 4–13 °C when a non-degraded grassland turns into a severely degraded grassland.
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Tiscornia, Guadalupe, Martín Jaurena, and Walter Baethgen. "Drivers, Process, and Consequences of Native Grassland Degradation: Insights from a Literature Review and a Survey in Río de la Plata Grasslands." Agronomy 9, no. 5 (May 10, 2019): 239. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9050239.
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Natural grasslands are being progressively degraded around the world due to human-induced action (e.g., overgrazing), but there is neither a widely accepted conceptual framework to approach degradation studies nor a clear definition of what “grassland degradation” is. Most of the drivers, processes, and consequences related to grassland degradation are widespread and are usually separately quoted in the literature. In this paper, we propose a comprehensive framework with different conceptual categories, for monitoring grassland degradation, and a new definition based on current ones. We provide a conceptual update of grassland degradation based on a literature review and an expert survey, focused on the Río de la Plata grasslands (RPG). We identified “drivers” as external forces or changes that cause degradation; “processes” as measurable changes in grasslands conditions that can be evaluated using indicators; and “consequences” as the impacts or results of the process of grassland degradation. We expect that this conceptual framework will contribute to monitoring programs, to support management decisions, to design conservation measures, and to communicate the importance of grasslands conservation and the different concepts involved. Particularly for RPG, we expect that this paper will contribute to promote sustainable management practices in this important and often neglected ecosystem.
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Shi, Hang, Hao Shen, Shikui Dong, Jiannan Xiao, Zhiyuan Mu, Ran Zhang, Xinghai Hao, Ziying Wang, and Hui Zuo. "Six Years of Grassland Cultivation Promotes CO2, N2O Emissions and CH4 Uptake with Increasing N Deposition on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau." Sustainability 14, no. 18 (September 12, 2022): 11434. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su141811434.
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Nitrogen (N) deposition has become an important factor of vital changes in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), one of the key eco-regions in the world. To investigate how N deposition affects the fluxes of GHGs (CH4, CO2, N2O) in the alpine grassland ecosystem, the dominant ecosystems on QTP, we conducted control experiments in three types of alpine grasslands, including the alpine meadow (AM), alpine steppe (AS), and cultivated grassland (CG) on the QTP. In this study, four N addition gradients (0 kg Nha−1yr−1, 8 kg Nha−1yr−1, 24 kg Nha−1yr−1, and 40 kg Nha−1yr−1) were set up using ammonium nitrate from 2015 to 2020 in order to simulate N deposition at different levels, and after 6 years of continuous N application, greenhouse gases were collected from sampling plots. The results showed that simulated N deposition had no significant effect on soil GHG fluxes, while the grassland type had an extremely significant effect on soil GHG fluxes. Under the same N deposition conditions, the CH4 absorption in the cultivated grassland was higher than that in the other two types of grasslands. At low N deposition levels (CK, N1), the CO2 emission in the cultivated grassland was higher than that in the other two types of grasslands. At high N deposition levels (N2 and N3), the N2O emission in the cultivated grassland increased more significantly than it did in the other two types of grasslands. Control of grassland cultivation should be proposed as a reliable form of land-use management to reduce GHG emissions on the QTP in the era of increasing N deposition.
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Deák, Balázs, Orsolya Valkó, Csaba Albert Tóth, Ágnes Botos, and Tibor József Novák. "Legacies of past land use challenge grassland recovery – An example from dry grasslands on ancient burial mounds." Nature Conservation 39 (June 4, 2020): 113–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.39.52798.
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Due to large-scale agricultural intensification, grasslands are often restricted to habitat islands in human-transformed landscapes. There are approximately half a million ancient burial mounds built by nomadic steppic tribes in the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe zones, which act as habitat islands for dry grassland vegetation. Land use intensification, such as arable farming and afforestation by non-native woody species are amongst the major threats for Eurasian dry grasslands, including grasslands on mounds. After the launch of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition framework of the European Union, in Hungary there is a tendency for ceasing crop production and cutting non-native woody plantations, in order to conserve these unique landmarks and restore the historical grassland vegetation on the mounds. In this study, restoration prospects of dry grassland habitats were studied on kurgans formerly covered by croplands and Robinia pseudoacacia plantations. Soil and vegetation characteristics were studied in thespontaneously recovering grasslands. The following questions were addressed: 1; How does site history affect the spontaneous grassland recovery? 2; Do residual soil nutrients play a role in grassland recovery? In former croplands, excess phosphorus, while in former Robinia plantations, excess nitrogen was present in the soil even four years after the land use change and grassland vegetation was in an early or mid-successional stage both on the mounds. The results showed that, without proper management measures, recovery of grassland vegetation is slow on mounds formerly used as cropland or black locust plantation. However, restoration efforts, focused on the restoration of mounds formerly covered by croplands, can be more effective compared to the restoration of mounds formerly covered by forest plantations.
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Bai, Zhenyin, Aomei Jia, Dongwei Liu, Chengyu Zhang, and Mingjun Wang. "How Seasonal Grazing Exclusion Affects Grassland Productivity and Plant Community Diversity." Grasses 1, no. 1 (November 10, 2022): 12–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/grasses1010002.
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The Sanjiang Plain is famous for its concentrated distribution of natural wet grasslands. These wet grasslands are an important source of seasonal pasture or hay in the area. However, changes in community structure and ecosystem function have already occurred in wet grasslands because of overgrazing and climate change, resulting in severe grassland degradation. Exploring a reasonable grazing management strategy is crucial for improving grassland species diversity, increasing grassland productivity, and maintaining sustainable grassland utilization. We investigated the effects of five grazing management (GM) strategies (no grazing through the growing season (CK), spring grazing exclusion (Spr-GE), summer grazing exclusion (Sum-GE)), autumn grazing exclusion (Aut-GE), and grazing through the growing season (G)) on the productivity, community composition and structure of wet grasslands in the Sanjiang Plain under three grazing intensities (GI) (light (L), moderate (M), and heavy (H)). Results showed that Spr-GE and Sum-GE were beneficial in increasing total aboveground biomass (AGB), but decreased plant community diversity in Spr-GE due to increased intraspecies and interspecies competition. The exclusion of different seasonal grazings changed the composition of plant communities. At the level of functional groups and dominant species, Spr-GE had a significant effect on most functional groups and dominant species’ characteristics, while Aut-GE had little effect on most functional groups and dominant species’ characteristics. However, different functional groups and dominant species had different responses to seasonal grazing exclusion. In addition, under M, there were significantly improved grassland total AGB and PF AGB. The results indicated that Spr-GE with M may be an effective livestock-management strategy to protect grassland vegetation and community diversity, as well as to restore degraded grassland.
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McGufficke, B. "Native grassland management: a botanical study of two native grassland management options on a commercial cattle property." Rangeland Journal 25, no. 1 (2003): 37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/rj03004.
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Variations in the botanical composition of two native grasslands, each managed differently, were investigated on a commercial cattle property in northern NSW. One grassland had not been fertilised, whilst fertiliser and subterranean clover had been applied by aerial application to the other grassland. Soils in both treatments had the same Bray 1 phosphorus level when the study was conducted. The fertilised grassland was stocked at triple the rate of the other grassland. Although more native species were recorded in the fertilised grassland many species had a lower frequency than in the unfertilised grassland; and introduced species tended to have a higher frequency in the fertilised grassland. ground cover was significantly higher in the fertilised grassland in spite of the greatly increased stocking rate.
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Cheng, Xinmeng, Wendou Liu, Junhong Zhou, Zizhi Wang, Shuqiao Zhang, and Shengxi Liao. "Extraction of Mountain Grasslands in Yunnan, China, from Sentinel-2 Data during the Optimal Phenological Period Using Feature Optimization." Agronomy 12, no. 8 (August 18, 2022): 1948. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081948.
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The timely and accurate mapping of the spatial distribution of grasslands is crucial for maintaining grassland habitats and ensuring the sustainable utilization of resources. We used Google Earth Engine (GEE) and Sentinel-2 data for mountain grassland extraction in Yunnan, China. The differences in the normalized vegetation index in the time-series data of different ground objects were compared. February to March, during grassland senescence, was the optimum phenological stage for grassland extraction. The spectral, textural of Sentinel-2, and topographic features of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) were used for the classification. The features were optimized using the recursive feature elimination (RFE) feature importance selection algorithm. The overall accuracy of the random forest (RF) classification algorithm was 91.2%, the producer’s accuracy of grassland was 96.7%, and the user’s accuracy of grassland was 89.4%, exceeding that of the cart classification (Cart), support vector machine (SVM), and minimum distance classification (MDC). The SWIR1 and elevation were the most important features. The results show that Yunnan has abundant grassland resources, accounting for 18.99% of the land area; most grasslands are located in the northwest at altitudes above 3200 m and in the Yuanjiang River regions. This study provides a new approach for feature optimization and grassland extraction in mountainous areas, as well as essential data for the further investigation, evaluation, protection, and utilization of grassland resources.
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Lin, Huilong, Yuting Zhao, and Ghulam Mujtaba Kalhoro. "Ecological Response of the Subsidy and Incentive System for Grassland Conservation in China." Land 11, no. 3 (February 28, 2022): 358. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land11030358.
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The overexploitation of Grasslands without any return-back and compensation is the major cause of degradation and deterioration of the grassland ecosystem. The Subsidy and Incentive System for Grassland Conservation (SISGC) in China aimed to restore grassland ecology by the reduction of overgrazing, promoting carrying capacity, and increasing alternative employment of herders in non-husbandry sectors. However, the ecological response to the SISGC still remains unclear on the national scale. Here, we used systematic sampling, and satellite image time series data revealed a widespread proliferation of major ecological indicators for grasslands, contrasting climate and actual net primary productivity (NPP) before (2004–2010) and after (2011–2017) the implementation of SISGC founded the contributions to policy, as simulated by the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford-Approach (CASA) model. On average, by two-phase comparison, the actual grassland NPP increased by 11.72%. The contribution of policy implementation and climate factors increased grassland NPP by up to 61.14% and 38.86%, respectively, but the response of the NPP growth of various grassland types exhibited divergence, mainly divided into policy-led (contribution rate of 52.28–97.02%) and climate-led (contribution rate of 57.56–96.00%). Hence, the SISGC policies should be renewed for different grassland types.
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Rosengren, Frida, Nils Cronberg, Triin Reitalu, and Honor C. Prentice. "Genetic variation in the moss Homalothecium lutescens in relation to habitat age and structure." Botany 91, no. 7 (July 2013): 431–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2012-0258.
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Relationships between genetic (allozyme) variation and landscape age and structure were investigated in 17 calcareous grassland demes of the moss Homalothecium lutescens (Hedw.) H. Rob. on the Baltic island of Öland. Mean within-deme gene diversity (HS = 0.152) was moderate compared with other bryophyte studies, and the between-deme proportion of the total diversity (GST = 0.100, Jost's D = 0.011) was low but significantly different from zero. Clonal mixing, measured as the proportion of two adjacent shoots having different haplotypes, was relatively high (mean 0.32 over all demes). HS was higher in old grassland fragments, but negatively related to vascular plant species richness. Allelic richness (A) was positively associated with the area of old (≥ 280 years) grassland in the surroundings: although demes in old grasslands are genetically more variable than those in younger grasslands, proximity to large areas of old grassland may promote genetic variability even in younger grassland demes. The importance of management continuity for species diversity has been stressed in many earlier grassland studies. Here, we conclude that grassland fragments with a long history of grazing continuity are also positively associated with variability at within-species level, as exemplified by the bryophyte H. lutescens.
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Zhao, Na, Yang Zhuang, Ling Jin, Qiqige Wuyun, and Ji Zhao. "Evaluation of Potential and Value on Grassland Carbon Sink - A Case Study in Xilinhot of Inner Mongolia, China." Advanced Materials Research 524-527 (May 2012): 2562–65. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.524-527.2562.
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Durban climate conference decided to continue the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol, and announced to start Green Climate Fund, which provided great opportunities for the rapid development of the carbon trading market. The problem of grassland carbon sink has already received more and more attention from the countries all over the world, and the grassland carbon sink potential and value also got more attention from people. Xilinhot has abundant grassland resources and it is one of the main grasslands in Inner Mongolia. The huge carbon sink has important ecological function and also contains huge economic benefits. Based on the principle of additionality, this paper proposed the method of calculating the carbon sink potential of grasslands, and calculated and analyzed the carbon sink potential of degraded grasslands in Xilinhot. The results indicated that the existing huge carbon sink potential of Xilinhot grasslands was 0.733-0.869Tg C/a. According to the carbon sequestration cost price of afforestation cost method (260.9 RMB yuan / ton C), we estimated the value of grassland carbon sink was 191.2 - 226.7 million RMB yuan / year in Xilinhot.
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Chen, Yusen, Shihang Zhang, Yongdong Wang, Talgat Abzhanov, Dani Sarsekova, and Zhazira Zhumabekova. "The Spatial Distribution of Soil Nitrogen Storage and the Factors That Influence It in Central Asia’s Typical Arid and Semiarid Grasslands." Diversity 14, no. 6 (June 8, 2022): 459. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14060459.
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Using a structural equation model (SEM), this paper investigates the response of soil nitrogen content of five typical grasslands in the middle line countries of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative to the changes of climate variables, soil pH value, and normalized vegetation index, and employs the principal component analysis method to determine the spatial variation characteristics and influencing factors of nitrogen reserves in different grasslands. Pontiac grassland (PS), Middle East grassland (MES), Kazakh grassland (KS), Kazakh forest grassland (KFS), and Kazakh semi-desert grassland (KFS) are the five grasslands in the research region (KSD). The results indicated that (1) the nitrogen reserves of the five grassland soils (0–100 cm) in the research area were 7.49 Pg, or approximately 5.7 percent of the total world nitrogen reserves. The sum of the five grasslands’ 0–30 cm and 0–50 cm N reserves accounted for 36.3 percent and 63.1 percent, respectively, of the total 0–100 cm N reserves. The density of nitrogen in the soil (0–100 cm) varied significantly between grasslands, ranging from 1.47 to 3.87 kg/m2, with an average of 3.10 kg/m2. (2) PCA analysis revealed a substantial positive correlation between soil N and MAP (p < 0.01), a negative correlation between soil N and Srad (p < 0.01), and a high degree of similarity between the three grassland samples, KFS, KS, and KSD. (3) The decision tree algorithm determined that MAP had the most relative importance for changes in soil nitrogen content in PS, MES, and KFS, whereas Srad had the greatest relative importance for changes in soil nitrogen content in KS and KSD. The pH showed the least proportional impact for variations in soil N concentration in all five grasslands. (4) Different factors influence the change in soil N content across diverse grasslands. The principal positive driving factor of soil N content in KS and KSD is Srad, with loads of −0.39 and −0.44, respectively. The principal negative driving factor of soil N content in PS and MES is Map, with loads of 0.38 and 0.2, respectively. In the SEM model of soil nitrogen content in KFS, no environmental variables had a significant effect on N content, and the model’s R2 value was 0.08, indicating an average fit.
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Nerlekar, Ashish N., and Joseph W. Veldman. "High plant diversity and slow assembly of old-growth grasslands." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, no. 31 (July 16, 2020): 18550–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1922266117.
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Earth’s ancient grasslands and savannas—hereafter old-growth grasslands—have long been viewed by scientists and environmental policymakers as early successional plant communities of low conservation value. Challenging this view, emerging research suggests that old-growth grasslands support substantial biodiversity and are slow to recover if destroyed by human land uses (e.g., tillage agriculture, plantation forestry). But despite growing interest in grassland conservation, there has been no global test of whether old-growth grasslands support greater plant species diversity than secondary grasslands (i.e., herbaceous communities that assemble after destruction of old-growth grasslands). Our synthesis of 31 studies, including 92 timepoints on six continents, found that secondary grasslands supported 37% fewer plant species than old-growth grasslands (log response ratio = −0.46) and that secondary grasslands typically require at least a century, and more often millennia (projected mean 1,400 y), to recover their former richness. Young (<29 y) secondary grasslands were composed of weedy species, and even as their richness increased over decades to centuries, secondary grasslands were still missing characteristic old-growth grassland species (e.g., long-lived perennials). In light of these results, the view that all grasslands are weedy communities, trapped by fire and large herbivores in a state of arrested succession, is untenable. Moving forward, we suggest that ecologists should explicitly consider grassland assembly time and endogenous disturbance regimes in studies of plant community structure and function. We encourage environmental policymakers to prioritize old-growth grassland conservation and work to elevate the status of old-growth grasslands, alongside old-growth forests, in the public consciousness.
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Cianciaruso, MV, and MA Batalha. "A year in a Cerrado wet grassland: a non-seasonal island in a seasonal savanna environment." Brazilian Journal of Biology 68, no. 3 (August 2008): 495–501. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s1519-69842008000300005.
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In some Cerrado regions where the water table is superficial and soils are hydromorphic, we may find wet grasslands. We studied temporal changes in some community descriptors, such as species density, plant density, basal area, and cylindrical volume in a Cerrado wet grassland in four different seasons of the year. We also compared the species richness and composition of the wet grassland with a hyperseasonal cerrado, and a seasonal cerrado. We found significant differences among the seasons only for species density. Chao-Sørensen similarity values varied from 0.86 to 0.99 and, in the wet grassland, were not different among the seasons. On the contrary, similarity values between the wet grassland and hyperseasonal and seasonal cerrados were low. Species richness was lower in the wet grassland and higher in the seasonal cerrado. As long as savannas are highly dynamic on all temporal and spatial scales, the wet grassland stability, at least in a short-term view, introduces an important heterogeneity in regional scale. Wet grasslands are also important in the Cerrado domain to increase b-diversity, since they are floristically dissimilar with cerrado vegetation.
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Dengler, Jürgen, Alla Aleksanyan, Didem Ambarlı, Idoia Biurrun, Iwona Dembicz, Anna Kuzemko, Péter Török, Stephen Venn, and Michael Vrahnakis. "The Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) in 2018–2019." Hacquetia 18, no. 2 (December 1, 2019): 147–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/hacq-2019-0010.
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Abstract This report summarises the activities and achievements of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) from January 2018 through July 2019. During the reported period, two Eurasian Grassland Conference (EGCs) took place: the 15th EGC in Sulmona, Italy, and the 16th EGC in Graz, Austria. The 11th and 12th EDGG Field Workshops studied vegetation diversity patterns in the inner alpine valleys of Austria and Switzerland, while the 13th Field Workshop was organised in Armenia. The formerly electronic newsletter of EDGG (Bulletin of the Eurasian Dry Grassland) was transformed into a peer-reviewed international journal, called Palaearctic Grasslands, which now is attracting both scientific and photographic contributions. Furthermore, the EDGG homepage was re-constructed with a new design and content management system. The EDGG has also finalised two grassland-related Special Features during the past 1.5 years in the international journals Tuexenia and Hacquetia, and contributed with eight chapters to the book Grasslands of the World: Diversity, Management and Conservation. The vegetation-plot database GrassPlot, containing standardised multi-scale data from Palaearctic grasslands and closely connected with EDGG, has developed well, as did some other regional and national grassland-focused databases.
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Kennedy, Stephanie M., Mark E. Burbach, and Maggi S. Sliwinski. "Sustainable Grassland Management: An Exploratory Study of Progressive Ranchers in Nebraska." Sustainable Agriculture Research 5, no. 2 (April 11, 2016): 103. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/sar.v5n2p103.
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Well-managed grasslands provide numerous ecosystem services. Ranchers who employ sustainable grazing practices limit grassland conversion and conserve critical habitats. This phenomenological study explored the grassland management decisions of progressive ranchers in Nebraska. Each individual interviewed for this study is proactive about the state of their grasslands, whether they are motivated by financial or conservation factors. Throughout the evolution of their businesses, these ranchers have taken steps to improve their management techniques and continue to employ new strategies while planning for the long-term productivity of their grasslands. For policy makers and educators seeking to improve grassland management decisions, demonstrating new methods to be economical, promoting stewardship, and allowing for flexible implementation may increase acceptance of recommendations. Because progressive ranchers’ livelihoods are connected to the land, and they are long-term goal oriented, they closely scrutinize, yet are open to advancing grassland management practices that benefit their cash flow, their pastures, their animals, and their families.
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Shen, Xiangjin, Binhui Liu, Guangdi Li, and Daowei Zhou. "Impact of Climate Change on Temperate and Alpine Grasslands in China during 1982–2006." Advances in Meteorology 2015 (2015): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/180614.
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Based on GIMMS NDVI and climate data from 1982 to 2006, this study analyzed the impact of climate change on grassland in China. During the growing season, there were significant effects of precipitation on the growth of all the grassland types (P<0.05), except for meadow vegetation. For the air temperatures, there existed asymmetrical effects of maximum temperature (Tmax) and minimum temperature (Tmin) on grassland vegetation, especially for the temperate grasslands and alpine steppe. The growing season NDVI correlated negatively withTmaxbut positively withTminfor temperate grasslands. Seasonally, these opposite effects were only observed in summer. For alpine steppe, the growing season NDVI correlated positively withTmaxbut negatively withTmin, and this pattern of asymmetrical responses was only obvious in spring and autumn. Under the background of global asymmetric warming, more attention should be paid to this asymmetric response of grassland vegetation to daytime and night-time warming, especially when we want to predict the productivity of China’s grasslands in the future.
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Li, Qiang, Junyin Yang, Guoxing He, Xiaoni Liu, and Degang Zhang. "Characteristics of soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activities in different grassland types in Qilian Mountain nature reserve-Tibetan Plateau." PLOS ONE 17, no. 7 (July 14, 2022): e0271399. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271399.
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This research was designed to explore the variation characteristics of soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activity in the Qilian Mountains different grassland types. Thus, 7 grassland types (Upland meadow: UM, Alpine meadow: AM, Temperate steppe: ST, Alpine steppe: AS, Temperate Desert Steppe: TDS, Temperate Desert: TD, Alpine desert: AD) of Qilian Natural Reserve were selected to analyze the variation characteristics of soil enzyme activities and stoichiometry of different grassland types and its relationship with environmental factors. The study indicated that the C/N, C/P, and N/P of different grasslands ranged from 5.08 to 17.35, 2.50 to 72.29, and 0.53 to 4.02.The ranking of different types grassland for the C/N was TS ≥ AM ≥ UM ≥ AS ≥ TDS > AD > TD, and the changing pattern of C/P and N/P is similar to that of C/N. The ranking of different types grassland for the urease enzyme activity was UM ≈AS > AD ≈TDS ≈TS ≈AM > TD, and TS ≈AM ≈UM ≈AS ≈AD > TDS > TD for alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity, and AS ≈AM ≈TS ≈TDS≥UM ≥TD ≈AD for catalase enzyme activity. Based on N/P ratio and RDA analysis, nitrogen was the main factor limiting the grassland productivity, and pH, TN, SOC, Richness index and Simpson diversity index were the main environmental factors affecting the soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activities. Cluster analysis showed that 7 grassland types were clustered into three categories. In conclusion, the stoichiometric characteristics and soil enzyme activities of different grasslands vary with grassland types. Nitrogen was the main factor limiting the grasslands productivity, and pH, TN, SOC, Richness index and Simpson diversity index were the main environmental factors affecting the soil C:N:P stoichiometry and enzyme activities, and the grassland Qilian Mountain can be managed in the ecological district according to the clustering results. The results of this study can provide data support and theoretical guidance for the scientific management and ecological protection of grassland in Qilian Mountains Reserve.
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Fensham, Roderick J., Donald W. Butler, Boris Laffineur, Harry J. MacDermott, John W. Morgan, and Jennifer L. Silcock. "Subtropical native grasslands may not require fire, mowing or grazing to maintain native-plant diversity." Australian Journal of Botany 65, no. 2 (2017): 95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt16170.
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The rarity of native grasslands in agricultural districts heightens the requirement for optimal management to maintain diversity. Previous studies have suggested that disturbance is required to maintain species diversity in temperate Australian grasslands, but grasslands in semiarid environments do not have the same disturbance requirement. The current study examines the short-term responses to disturbance of subtropical grassland of the Darling Downs, south-eastern Queensland. We also compare temperate and subtropical grasslands in terms of biomass and rainfall. A field experiment was established with treatments, including burning in 2013, burning in 2014, burning in both years, mowing in both years, mowing and raking in both years, and an undisturbed control. Treatments were replicated at each of seven sampling stations in similar environments. The initial sampling after 2013 followed a wet summer and the final sampling was in 2015 after a dry summer. Non-metric multi-dimensional scaling showed that environmental differences, including silt content, soil pH, waterlogging and rainfall history, had more effect on the variation in species composition than did the treatments. The treatments engendered no significant response in species diversity. Of 51 widespread species, only four had a significant change in abundance in response to treatment. Herbaceous biomass was higher in temperate than subtropical grassland after a dry period. The grassland sward may be more open in the subtropics than in temperate grassland because of higher decomposition rates. A comparison of rainfall distribution between subtropical grassland and temperate grassland indicated that droughts are much more frequent in the former environments. These occasional droughts may provide a stress that reduces perennial grass cover, supplanting the requirement for grazing or fire to maintain plant diversity in grasslands. The management of grassland remnants in the subtropics, therefore, seems straightforward because there is little response in species richness or composition to disturbance. However, soil disturbance should be avoided to ensure that exotic species do not proliferate.
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Butler, Don William, Russell James Fairfax, and Roderick John Fensham. "Impacts of tree invasion on floristic composition of subtropical grasslands on the Bunya Mountains, Australia." Australian Journal of Botany 54, no. 3 (2006): 261. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/bt05070.
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The effect of ongoing forest invasion on floristic composition of subtropical montane grasslands was considered by examining vascular plant species frequencies across 13 adjoining areas of grassland, invaded grassland (eucalypt forest <50 years old) and eucalypt forest (>50 years old) on the Bunya Mountains in subtropical eastern Australia. Tree invasion of grasslands over the last 50 years has had substantial facilitative or antagonistic net impacts on populations of many plant species. Increases in species frequency, indicating net facilitation, generally appear to occur earlier in forest development than do decreases in frequency, indicative of net antagonism. Although more than 20% of the flora showed substantial association with either grassland or forest, the dominant ground-stratum species in each habitat were quite similar and very few grassland species were not recorded in grassy forests. Forb species composition appears to change more rapidly after tree invasion than grass species composition. Relatively few forbs preferred forest to grassland, whereas shrubs, trees or lianes were substantially more frequent in forests. Replacement of grasslands by grassy forests would reduce landscape diversity and impact on other values in the Bunya Mountains. However, this study suggests that most, if not all, vascular plants that currently occur on the grasslands will persist in the area provided the grassy character of the eucalypt forests is maintained.