Effect of Grazing Types on Community-Weighted Mean Functional Traits and Ecosystem Functions on Inner Mongolian Steppe, China

Wen Wang, Huamin Liu, Jinghui Zhang, Zhiyong Li, Lixin Wang, Zheng Wang, Yantao Wu, Yang Wang and Cunzhu Liang
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Wen Wang: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Huamin Liu: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Jinghui Zhang: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Zhiyong Li: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Lixin Wang: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Zheng Wang: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Yantao Wu: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China
Yang Wang: College of Life Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022, China
Cunzhu Liang: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resource Use of the Mongolian Plateau & Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology, School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: The relationships between community-weighted mean (CWM) functional traits and ecosystem functions have been extensively studied. However, how CWM traits and ecosystem functions respond to grazing types and whether the relationships between CWM traits and ecosystem functions mediate the response of ecosystem functions to grazing types remains controversial. In the present study, we set up a seven-year grazing experiment with four grazing types: no grazing (NG), cattle grazing (CG), sheep grazing (SG), and mixed grazing by sheep and cattle (MG) on Inner Mongolia grassland. Nine functional traits of dominant species and five ecosystem functions under different grazing types were determined, and the relationships between CWM traits and ecosystem functions were analyzed. The results showed that the CWM height decreased after grazing, while the CWM nitrogen and phosphorus contents increased after CG. SG caused a greater decrease in aboveground biomass (AGB) and a greater increase in the net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE) of grassland ecosystems than did CG. This result may be partially because the CWM nutrient content and NEE were more negatively related after CG; and the increase in the CWM nitrogen and phosphorus contents suppressed NEE after CG. Therefore, to protect the sustainability of grassland ecosystem functions, SG should be reduced. Additionally, our work emphasizes that the relationships between plant functional traits and ecosystem functions may mediate the response of ecosystem functions to grazing types.

Keywords: functional traits; biomass; carbon sequestration capacity; grazing types (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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