title: Effects of grazing on spatiotemporal variations in community structure and ecosystem function on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China.
abstract: Grasslands worldwide are suffering from overgrazing, which greatly alters plant community structure and ecosystem functioning. However, the general effects of grazing on community structure and ecosystem function at spatial and temporal scales has rarely been examined synchronously in the same grassland. Here, during 2011-2013, we investigated community structure (cover, height, and species richness) and aboveground biomass (AGB) using 250 paired field sites (grazed vs. fenced) across three vegetation types (meadow, typical, and desert steppes) on the Inner Mongolian Plateau. Grazing, vegetation type, and year all had significant effects on cover, height, species richness, and AGB, although the primary factor influencing variations in these variables was vegetation type. Spatially, grazing significantly reduced the measured variables in meadow and typical steppes, whereas no changes were observed in desert steppe. Temporally, both linear and quadratic relationships were detected between growing season precipitation and cover, height, richness, or AGB, although specific relationships varied among observation years and grazing treatments. In each vegetation type, the observed community properties were significantly correlated with each other, and the shape of the relationship was unaffected by grazing treatment. These findings indicate that vegetation type is the most important factor to be considered in grazing management for this semi-arid grassland.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of Education, Forest College, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China.
authors.forename: Rina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: College of Grassland and Environmental Science, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Urumqi, 830052, China.
authors.forename: Junhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Dima
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
authors.forename: Yongfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Grassland Surveying and Planning, Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, 010051, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Grassland Surveying and Planning, Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, 010051, China.
authors.forename: Lumengqiqige
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Grassland Surveying and Planning, Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, 010051, China.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Silviculture and Conservation of Ministry of Education, Forest College, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China. lijunqing8100@163.com.
authors.forename: Junqing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D002681:China; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D065948:Grassland; D060434:Herbivory; D058751:Livestock; D019684:Magnoliopsida; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis