Understanding herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks to improve grazing management on Mediterranean mountain grasslands

IF 6 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment Pub Date : 2022-04-01 DOI:10.1016/j.agee.2021.107833

Miguel Castillo-Garcia , Concepción L. Alados , Javier Ramos , David Moret , Olivia Barrantes , Yolanda Pueyo

{"title":"Understanding herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks to improve grazing management on Mediterranean mountain grasslands","authors":"Miguel Castillo-Garcia , Concepción L. Alados , Javier Ramos , David Moret , Olivia Barrantes , Yolanda Pueyo","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2021.107833","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>The surface of many European mountain grasslands is decreasing due to global change and extensive grazing stands out as a key tool for their conservation. Sound knowledge of grassland ecosystem functioning and its feedback processes is required to implement sustainable grazing management. This study aimed to understand the effect of different grazing intensities on herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks in Mediterranean mountain grasslands. We estimated spatial distribution of sheep grazing intensity using GPS technology in order to assess the effect of grazing pressure on vegetation and soil properties measured throughout the study area. Our results showed that grazing intensity ranged from 0.06 to 2.85 livestock units / ha, corresponding to a gradient of pasture utilisation rates varying from 2.38% to 45.60% of annual productivity from pasture. Increasing grazing pressure was associated with smaller relative cover and species richness of non-leguminous forbs, while the opposite trends were observed for graminoids. Forage had a greater concentration of N and smaller C:N ratio in more heavily grazed areas. Increasing grazing intensity was also associated with higher values of total soil N, NO3-, NH4+, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass C and activity of β-glucosidase. Higher litter quality was the main factor explaining greater content of soil organic matter, which favoured both soil microbes and plant productivity. Grazing induced changes in the plant community triggered positive hervibore-plant-soil feedbacks, as they ultimately improved forage quality and productivity, which significantly influenced the pasture preference of free-ranging domestic grazers. Our work showed that grazing management aiming pasture utilisation rates of around 45% is critical in sustaining positive herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks and preserving or enhancing the whole ecosystem functioning in the Mediterranean mountain grasslands studied.</div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"327 ","pages":"Article 107833"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921005375/pdfft?md5=6057a078c2ae53d7b24f30ca6f26cda6&pid=1-s2.0-S0167880921005375-main.pdf","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921005375","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 6

Abstract

The surface of many European mountain grasslands is decreasing due to global change and extensive grazing stands out as a key tool for their conservation. Sound knowledge of grassland ecosystem functioning and its feedback processes is required to implement sustainable grazing management. This study aimed to understand the effect of different grazing intensities on herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks in Mediterranean mountain grasslands. We estimated spatial distribution of sheep grazing intensity using GPS technology in order to assess the effect of grazing pressure on vegetation and soil properties measured throughout the study area. Our results showed that grazing intensity ranged from 0.06 to 2.85 livestock units / ha, corresponding to a gradient of pasture utilisation rates varying from 2.38% to 45.60% of annual productivity from pasture. Increasing grazing pressure was associated with smaller relative cover and species richness of non-leguminous forbs, while the opposite trends were observed for graminoids. Forage had a greater concentration of N and smaller C:N ratio in more heavily grazed areas. Increasing grazing intensity was also associated with higher values of total soil N, NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass C and activity of β-glucosidase. Higher litter quality was the main factor explaining greater content of soil organic matter, which favoured both soil microbes and plant productivity. Grazing induced changes in the plant community triggered positive hervibore-plant-soil feedbacks, as they ultimately improved forage quality and productivity, which significantly influenced the pasture preference of free-ranging domestic grazers. Our work showed that grazing management aiming pasture utilisation rates of around 45% is critical in sustaining positive herbivore-plant-soil feedbacks and preserving or enhancing the whole ecosystem functioning in the Mediterranean mountain grasslands studied.

查看原文本刊更多论文

了解草食-植物-土壤反馈以改善地中海山地草原的放牧管理

由于全球变化，许多欧洲山地草原的表面正在减少，而广泛的放牧是保护它们的关键工具。实施可持续放牧管理需要对草地生态系统功能及其反馈过程有充分的了解。本研究旨在了解不同放牧强度对地中海山地草原草食-植物-土壤反馈的影响。为了评估放牧压力对研究区植被和土壤性质的影响，利用GPS技术估算了绵羊放牧强度的空间分布。结果表明:放牧强度在0.06 ~ 2.85家畜单位/ ha之间，相应的牧草利用率在2.38% ~ 45.60%之间。放牧压力的增加导致非豆科牧草的相对覆盖度和物种丰富度减小，而禾本科牧草则相反。牧草N浓度越高，C:N比值越小。随着放牧强度的增加，土壤总氮、硝态氮、氨态氮、土壤有机碳、微生物量C和β-葡萄糖苷酶活性均增加。凋落物质量高是土壤有机质含量高的主要原因，这对土壤微生物和植物生产力都有利。放牧引起的植物群落变化引发了牧草-植物-土壤正反馈，最终提高了牧草质量和生产力，显著影响了散养放牧动物的放牧偏好。我们的研究表明，以45%左右的牧场利用率为目标的放牧管理对于维持草食-植物-土壤的积极反馈和保护或增强所研究的地中海山地草原的整个生态系统功能至关重要。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

11.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

392

审稿时长

26 days

期刊介绍： Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment publishes scientific articles dealing with the interface between agroecosystems and the natural environment, specifically how agriculture influences the environment and how changes in that environment impact agroecosystems. Preference is given to papers from experimental and observational research at the field, system or landscape level, from studies that enhance our understanding of processes using data-based biophysical modelling, and papers that bridge scientific disciplines and integrate knowledge. All papers should be placed in an international or wide comparative context.