Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"Mismatches between ammonium and nitrate losses at the field and watershed scales suggest contrasting controls in two agricultural watersheds","authors":"Anna E.S. Vincent ,&nbsp;Jennifer L. Tank ,&nbsp;Abagael N. Pruitt ,&nbsp;Shannon L. Speir ,&nbsp;Ursula H. Mahl ,&nbsp;Lienne R. Sethna ,&nbsp;Lindsey M. Rasnake ,&nbsp;Todd V. Royer","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109531","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109531","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nitrogen (N) fertilizer enhances crop production, but field runoff impacts water quality in adjacent freshwaters. Planting winter cover crops reduces nitrate-N losses during the fallow period, but less is known about impacts on ammonium-N. From 2016–2023, we sampled biweekly from the Shatto Ditch and Kirkpatrick Ditch Watersheds in Indiana (USA) to compare the impact of cover crops on dissolved inorganic nitrogen at the field-, edge-of-field, and watershed-scales. We measured soil ammonium-N and nitrate-N, biomass, and organic matter in fall and spring. Cover crops reduced soil ammonium-N at Shatto and soil nitrate-N in both watersheds. Tile losses and watershed yields of ammonium-N occurred on scales orders of magnitude lower than nitrate-N. Tile ammonium-N losses from cover cropped fields ranged from 97 % lower to 31 % higher at Shatto, and 45 % lower to 75 % higher at Kirkpatrick compared to those without. Cover crops reduced field-scale nitrate-N losses at Shatto by 58–87 %, but losses at Kirkpatrick ranged 99 % lower to 15 % higher. Tile flow explained interannual variation in nitrate-N losses, while field-scale ammonium-N losses were driven by soil and microbial interactions and mobilization during storms. Watershed-scale ammonium-N and nitrate-N yields correlated with runoff (Kendall τ=0.45 and 0.39, respectively). While nitrate-N yields mirrored runoff, ammonium-N yields exhibited a step-functional increase, pointing to the importance of storms as a driver of loss. As Midwest crop production adapts to fluctuating environmental conditions, we demonstrate how applying cover crops over a multi-year period can mitigate ammonium-N losses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109531"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143396026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pollination services to squash insufficient despite abundant specialist bees","authors":"Nicholas A. Ivers ,&nbsp;Hannah L. Gray ,&nbsp;Elizabeth Lopez ,&nbsp;Brad G. Peter ,&nbsp;John L. Neff ,&nbsp;Scott Longing ,&nbsp;Margarita M. López-Uribe ,&nbsp;Shalene Jha","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109543","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109543","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Animal-mediated pollination is a critical ecosystem service required by 75 % of crop species for optimal yield. Yet landscape-level pollination assessments for key crops remain limited as many studies focus only on pollinator visitation events, producing an incomplete understanding of the ecological factors that may be driving pollen deposition. In this study, we assess how pollinator visitation as well as local and landscape-level land management contribute to pollen deposition rates for squash (<em>Cucurbita pepo</em>) in one of the largest, yet most understudied squash production regions in the United States. We documented contrasting visitation patterns for generalist and specialist bees, where generalist honey bees exhibited a landscape dilution effect in response to natural habitat cover and specialist squash bees exhibited a resource concentration effect in response to male squash flower abundance. Despite relatively high crop visitation rates overall, we found that pollen deposition was insufficient for optimal crop yield across the study region. Further, our single-visit experiments revealed that most pollinator visits did not result in pollen deposition, suggesting that visitation rates alone may overestimate pollination. Specifically, we identified that specialist squash bee, <em>Xenoglossa strenua</em>, contributed the most to pollen deposition as they were the most frequent visitors, were more likely to deposit pollen on a visit, and deposited more pollen grains per visit than other bee species. Our results highlight the importance of quantifying pollination metrics across ecologically distinct taxa and multiple points in the ecosystem service cascade to more accurately characterize service provision.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109543"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143387495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Manure-nitrogen substitution for urea leads to higher yield but increases N2O emission in vegetable production on nitrate-rich soils","authors":"Shengrong Ju ,&nbsp;Ju Min ,&nbsp;Ziyan Li ,&nbsp;Yaqiong Hao ,&nbsp;Xingkui Wu ,&nbsp;Herbert J. Kronzucker ,&nbsp;Weiming Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109541","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109541","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Large amounts of organic manure are applied globally to maintain vegetable production, but this practice also leads to a high accumulation of nitrate in soils used in vegetable cultivation. It is unclear whether the increased carbon input from manure, applied with the goal of improving nitrogen (N) supply, might stimulate nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from such high-nitrate soils. We here conducted a two-year field experiment in a typical soil (classified as an Anthrosol) used for vegetable cultivation, with high nitrate residue, in China, to investigate the comprehensive effects of various proportions of manure N and urea N (0–100 % manure N) on yield, N₂O emission, and global warming potential (GWP). 25 % and 50 % manure-N substitutions increased the yield, over five vegetable-growing seasons, by 5–31 %, compared with 100 % urea-N. Cumulative N₂O emissions and the sum of GWP (mGWP) also increased with the ratio of manure N to urea N. Compared to 0 %M, cumulative N₂O emissions increased by −20–41 %, 20–98 %, 10–151 %, and 20–235 % in 25 %M, 50 %M, 75 %M, and 100 %M, respectively, and mGWP increased by 8 %, 19 %, 28 %, and 40 %, respectively. Moreover, the average yield-scaled GWP across five treatments ranged from 78 to 191 kg CO₂-eq Mg⁻¹ year⁻¹. The manure-N substitution affected the abundance of <em>nirK, nirS,</em> and <em>nosZ</em> genes, significantly increasing the value of (<em>nirK</em>+<em>nirS</em>)/<em>nosZ</em>, by 2.9, 10.3, 24.7, and 21.0 times, in 25 %M, 50 %M, 75 %M, and 100 %M, respectively, compared to 0 %M, which may explain the increase in cumulative N₂O emissions and the sum of GWP at higher manure percentages. Our study shows that higher relative manure-N quantities can be beneficial to yield but increase N₂O emission, and highlights the importance of carefully balancing manure substitution ratios in high-nitrate vegetable soils.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109541"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143387496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimal nitrogen distribution in maize canopy can synergistically improve maize yield and nitrogen utilization efficiency while reduce environmental risks","authors":"Xiaoxia Guo ,&nbsp;Wanmao Liu ,&nbsp;Yunshan Yang ,&nbsp;Guangzhou Liu ,&nbsp;Bo Ming ,&nbsp;Ruizhi Xie ,&nbsp;Keru Wang ,&nbsp;Shaokun Li ,&nbsp;Peng Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109540","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109540","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Under the premise of 0 increase in nitrogen input and environmental friendliness, optimizing planting density to improve canopy nitrogen distribution is conducive to balancing the contradiction between resource consumption and yield increase, and promoting a cleaner production model of high yield and high efficiency in maize. We studied the effects of nitrogen application on grain yield, grain nitrogen concentration, grain protein concentration, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and vegetative organ nitrogen uptake, distribution, remobilization, economic returns and environmental benefit of two high-yielding maize hybrids under different planting densities (7.5 ×10⁴ plant ha⁻¹ and 12.0 × 10⁴ plant ha⁻¹) and nitrogen applications (0, 180, 360, and 540 kg N ha⁻¹) during 2019–2020. The results showed that the maize yield, grain nitrogen concentration and grain protein concentration reached the maximum of 22.7 t ha⁻¹, 1.9 %, 12.7 % corresponding to planting density of 12.0 × 10⁴ plant ha⁻¹ and nitrogen application of 360 kg ha⁻¹. The economic returns were also maximized which was 5.4 × 10³ USD ha⁻¹. Nitrogen utilization efficiency decreased with increasing nitrogen application, while increased with increasing planting density. The nitrogen accumulation and remobilization of plants had a positive response to nitrogen application and planting density. Higher yields were obtained due to higher vegetative organs of pre-silking nitrogen accumulation and stalk nitrogen remobilization and high nitrogen accumulation in the middle leaf. Under this high-yielding condition, both reactive nitrogen losses and greenhouse gas emissions of the optimal combination were 6.1 % lower than the low-yielding combination. Therefore, under high planting density, selecting suitable hybrids, defining the appropriate nitrogen application and optimizing nitrogen distribution in maize canopy can achieve high-yield and efficient production of maize while reduce environmental risks. This study highlights the importance of optimizing canopy nitrogen distribution in maize, and likewise provides new insights into mitigating the negative environmental effects of agricultural production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109540"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143377005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamically managing soil phosphorus could halve phosphorus losses from cropland in lake basins","authors":"Pengqi Liu ,&nbsp;Qingwen Shi ,&nbsp;Zhuo Chen ,&nbsp;Mingyang Wang ,&nbsp;Feiyu Ying ,&nbsp;Xiaowen Gu ,&nbsp;Yuxiao Wu ,&nbsp;Zhi Yao ,&nbsp;Wen-Feng Cong ,&nbsp;Zhengxiong Zhao ,&nbsp;Hao Ying","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109532","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109532","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Excessive fertilization leads to the accumulation of phosphorus (P) in the soil, potentially leading to P pollution in water bodies. A key challenge is to provide long-term solutions for sustainable P management to meet environmentally safe levels, meanwhile maintaining high crop yields. Here, we developed a dynamic P management (DPM) strategy that utilizes a P cycling model integrated with machine learning to manage the long-term soil P status and reduce P losses from soil and fertilizers within the safe threshold. We used the Erhai Lake Basin as an example witnessed a substantial increase in P balance, from 20.8 kg ha⁻¹ to 43.6 kg ha⁻¹, with an increase in soil available P by 51 % and total P losses by 63 % between 2010 and 2020. We then estimated the soil P threshold as 34.0 mg kg⁻¹ and 18.9 mg kg⁻¹ on average for the water environmental and agronomic thresholds, respectively. Currently, 90 % of the townships exceed these soil P thresholds. Employing a DPM strategy could achieve an optimal steady-state level of soil P in the basin within 44 years, balancing agronomic and environmental needs and reducing P application and losses by 60 % and 56 %, respectively. This study provides long-term solutions for sustainable P management in lake basins.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109532"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143372131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil micro-structure drives trophic interactions within micro-food webs via bottom-up regulation under different planting patterns","authors":"Qiwen Xu ,&nbsp;Mengdie Feng ,&nbsp;Binghui He ,&nbsp;Tianyang Li ,&nbsp;Peng Tang ,&nbsp;Dengyu Zhang ,&nbsp;Yonghong Xie","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109539","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109539","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Agroforestry systems, a transformative planting pattern, have the potential to enhance soil health and maintain sustainable production. Planting patterns effects on soil micro-food webs, including organisms from multiple trophic levels, remain largely ambiguous. This study interpreted the effects of Sichuan pepper-bean agroforestry system (AF) on trophic interactions among the bacteria and fungi as prey and their predators protists in comparison to no-planting system (BK), bean monoculture system (A) and Sichuan pepper economic forest monoculture system (F) using high-throughput sequencing. Results showed that compared to BK, AF significantly increased the soil pH, total carbon and nitrogen, moisture content and capillary porosity (PorC), and enhanced the diversity of soil bacteria, fungi and protists (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). Random Forest analysis indicated the bacterial diversity was well predicted by soil biological and chemical factors (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05), but the diversity of fungi and protists was better explained by soil physical factors. Meanwhile, co-occurrence network analysis visualized the shift of soil micro-food webs with planting patterns, presenting a network complexity order AF &gt; A &gt; F &gt; BK. Mantel test revealed PorC significantly influence network structures by potentially altering the capabilities of soil organisms to disperse, forage, and predate. Partial least square path model demonstrated soil micro-aggregate had the greatest effect, i.e., marginal direct effect (5.85 %) and strong indirect effect (65.33 %), on protistan communities (71.18 %). These findings indicate soil micro-structure plays a vital role in shaping trophic interactions and affecting protistan community through bottom-up regulation, which provides important implications for leveraging soil properties as a catalyst to sustain agroecosystem functions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109539"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143372232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deep insights into the diversified cropping and their impact on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: A global meta-analysis","authors":"Shiqiang Ge ,&nbsp;Yongjian Chen ,&nbsp;Zixuan Wang ,&nbsp;Zixuan Li ,&nbsp;Chang Shen ,&nbsp;Tantan Zhang ,&nbsp;Jianwu Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109537","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109537","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play a pivotal role as essential symbionts in agricultural soils, forming mycorrhizal associations with a wide array of crops. Meanwhile, crop diversification is the cornerstone of sustainable agricultural practices. However, the complexity of cropping systems and the varying environmental conditions across different regions limit our full understanding of AMF in crop diversification. Herein, we conducted a global meta-analysis, integrating observational data from 82 publications and 86 field studies on diversified cropping systems, such as cover crops, intercropping and crop rotation. Our objective was to investigate the effects of different diversified cropping patterns on AMF abundance and diversity. Results indicate that compared with fallow, cover crops significantly enhanced the total colonization, spore abundance, hyphal length density and extraradical biomass of AMF, with increases of 34.42 %, 54.66 %, 47.50 % and 36.74 %, respectively. Intercropping significantly enhanced the total colonization and hyphal length density of AMF compared with mono-cropping, with increases of 19.76 % and 24.54 %, respectively. In contrast to continuous cropping, crop rotation had no effect on AMF abundance, but it reduced the AMF richness in crop roots by 42.52 %. Furthermore, the response of AMF abundance to different cropping systems was regulated by climate conditions, soil properties and agronomic practices. In summary, our findings highlight that optimizing AMF abundance and diversity in agro-ecosystems requires considering specific cropping practices and environmental factors when implementing diversified cropping systems. In particular, cover crops and intercropping significantly enhance the AMF abundance, offering valuable insights for the future optimization of agro-ecosystems and AMF management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109537"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143350287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Weed suppression and maize yield influenced by cover crop mixture diversity and tillage","authors":"Robert Leskovšek ,&nbsp;Klemen Eler ,&nbsp;Sergeja Adamič Zamljen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109530","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109530","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The integration of cover crops into cropping systems has demonstrated significant potential for enhancing weed suppression, improving soil health, and reducing dependence on chemical herbicides. A three-year field study conducted in Slovenia between 2020 and 2023 aimed to quantify the seasonal competitive relationships between cover crop and weeds while also evaluating potential yield benefits for the subsequent maize crop. A randomized complete block design accounted for variations in soil tillage (conventional and conservation) and cover crop type (single species: oilseed radish and berseem clover; a simple five-species cover crop mixture; and a functionally diverse seven-species cover crop mixture). Oilseed radish imposed the highest level of competition against weeds within the first four weeks post-sowing. The highest levels of weed suppression across years and tillage practices were observed with oilseed radish and the simple cover crop mixture (81–85 %). The functionally more diverse cover crop mixture was not more productive or weed suppressive than other cover crops neither did improve the level of weed control. The weed suppression level not closely linked to cover crop biomass production, suggests that rapid early growth may be more relevant functional trait for cover crop weed suppression capabilities. Maize yields were insignificantly improved with berseem clover and the most productive simple cover crop mixture by 0.7 t ha ⁻¹. The present study confirms the importance of cover crops as a key non-chemical weed management strategy for diversification. However, it also indicates the need for developing trait-based cover crop mixtures to further enhance cover crop-weed competition and main crop yield outcomes under specific resource availability, management practices, and desired ecosystem services.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109530"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143348022","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantifying nitrogen provisioning and release from cover crops in walnut orchards","authors":"Andrew J. Curtright ,&nbsp;Diana Zapata-Rojas ,&nbsp;William R. Horwath ,&nbsp;Xia Zhu-Barker","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Walnut orchards in Mediterranean climates are characterized by wet winters that can lead to nitrogen (N) leaching. Cover cropping can help alleviate N losses from leaching, but using cover crops as a N management strategy in orchards requires understanding and quantifying N mineralization and availability throughout the growing season. This study measured total N input, N derived from fixation, and N mineralization rates from cover crop residues across four cool-season cover crop treatments: a clover mixture, a clover-grass mixture, a multiplex mixture, and resident vegetation. We grew cover crops in two consecutive years in a California walnut orchard and measured changes in the N status of orchard soils. By using isotopically labeled cover crop residues, we were able to determine the mineralization rate of cover crop N. We found that the multiplex treatment consistently provided the greatest carbon and N inputs. Moreover, the multiplex treatment also had the most N inputs derived from fixation. Clover and multiplex aboveground residues had the largest N mineralization rates, and the decomposition of these residues on the soil surface appeared to prime N mineralization in the topsoil. In our study, the multiplex treatment offered the greatest overall N benefits, likely due to the overall success of this treatment in establishment and biomass production. Moreover, we found that the non-leguminous species in the multiplex treatment appeared to also utilize and sequester fixed N from the leguminous covers, demonstrating a relatively unexplored benefit of this multiplex cover crop mixture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109529"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143195675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Aboveground vegetation communities affect dung seedling richness and density based on the diet selection of large herbivores","authors":"Shulin Wang ,&nbsp;Fujiang Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109536","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2025.109536","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The function of the dung seed bank from large generalist herbivores in grassland ecosystems is often overlooked. The dung seed bank is the product of the canopy seed bank ingested by herbivores that then accumulates in their feces. However, the mechanisms by which aboveground vegetation composition and structure affect the dung seed bank remain unclear, especially when considering the forage preferences effects of large generalist herbivores. We conducted a 4-year (2019–2022) rotational grazing experiment with yaks in an alpine meadow during the warm season on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and investigated the aboveground vegetation community height, richness, and biomass; the forage preferences of the yaks; and the richness and density of dung seedlings. Aboveground vegetation community height, richness, and biomass showed fluctuations across the years and seasons. During the warm season, the dung seedling richness and density were 0.042 ± 0.013 species/g dung and 0.112 ± 0.043 seedlings/g dung, respectively. Among the 63 species of plants that were present as aboveground vegetation and that germinated from the dung samples, 65.08 % had a neutral preference for foraging by the yaks. Significant differences between yak dung seedlings and aboveground vegetation composition indicated the potential for dung seedlings to promote microhabitat patchiness around dung deposition sites. Aboveground vegetation community height had a negative effect on the dung seed bank, whereas richness and biomass had a positive effect. Our findings suggest that the aboveground vegetation community structure affects the size and composition of the dung seed bank through its effect on the diet selection of large generalist herbivores. We emphasize that the complementary roles of the herbivore dung seed bank and the soil seed bank should be considered when assessing the contribution of the soil seed bank to aboveground vegetation regeneration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"383 ","pages":"Article 109536"},"PeriodicalIF":6.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143195678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}