The Joint Effect of Grazing Intensity and Soil Factors on Aboveground Net Primary Production in Hulunber Grasslands Meadow Steppe

Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed, Lulu Hou, Ruirui Yan, Xiaoping Xin and Yousif Mohamed Zainelabdeen
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Ahmed Ibrahim Ahmed: Laboratory of Grassland Science, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 12, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Lulu Hou: Laboratory of Grassland Science, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 12, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Ruirui Yan: Laboratory of Grassland Science, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 12, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Xiaoping Xin: Laboratory of Grassland Science, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 12, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China
Yousif Mohamed Zainelabdeen: Laboratory of Grassland Science, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No 12, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian District, Beijing 100081, China

Agriculture, 2020, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: The management practices required for grazing management will continue to increase, as necessitated by the reported rate of reduction in productivity, coupled with the degradation of Inner Mongolian steppe ecosystems. The current study was conducted to (i) examine the responses of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) to different grazing intensities and its relationship with soil factors and (ii) study the effects of grazing intensity on herbage growth and dry matter intake in Hulunber grasslands, Northeastern China. Six grazing rate treatments (G0.00, G0.23, G0.34, G0.46, G0.69, and G0.92 animal unit (AU ha −1 ) for zero, two, three, four, six, and eight young cows with ranging weight of 250–300 kg/plot), with three replications, were established during two consecutive growing seasons in 2017 and 2018. Our study concentrated on the grazing-induced degradation processes by different intensities of grazing. The highest decrease in aboveground biomass (AGB) was 64.1% and 59.3%, in 2017 and 2018, respectively, by the G0.92 treatment as compared with the G0.00 treatment. There was a positive relationship between yearly precipitation and ANPP. The grazing tolerance and growth rate of forage were higher in the wet year than in the dry year. Understanding the ecological consequences of grazing intensity provides useful information for assessing current grazing management scenarios and taking timely adaptation measures to maintain grassland capacity in a short and long-term system.

Keywords: aboveground biomass; herbage growth; aboveground net primary production; grazing experiment; grazing intensity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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