The Role of Plant Functional Diversity in Regulating Soil Organic Carbon Stocks under Different Grazing Intensities in Temperate Grassland, China

Zhilu Sheng, Jiaqiang Du, Bingqing Sun, Jialin Mao, Yangchengsi Zhang, Jing Zhang and Zhaoyan Diao
Additional contact information
Zhilu Sheng: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Jiaqiang Du: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Bingqing Sun: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Jialin Mao: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Yangchengsi Zhang: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Jing Zhang: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
Zhaoyan Diao: Institute of Ecology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: Grazing is very common in the grassland ecosystem, and it has a significant impact on the C stocks and cycle. One of the most important drivers of soil C stocks is functional diversity. However, limited studies have attempted to explore the effects of functional diversity on soil C stocks associated with grazing disturbance. This study was carried out in Hulunbeier grassland, Inner Mongolia, and four grazing intensities (no grazing (NG), light grazing (LG), moderate grazing (MG), and heavy grazing (HG)) were identified. The plant functional traits and important soil properties under different grazing intensities were measured. Functional identity and diversity were calculated based on the measured functional traits. The impacts of functional identity and diversity on soil organic carbon stocks (SOC stocks ) were analyzed using a multi-model inference (MMI) approach. Our study showed that the functional diversity effect on soil C stocks varies depending on grazing intensity. We identified that functional richness has a significant impact on SOC stocks in NG. The community weighted mean of leaf area became the best predictor of SOC stocks in LG. As grazing intensified, functional divergence best explained SOC stocks in moderate and heavy grazing sites, and their relationship was positive. The major outcomes of this research could shed light on the mechanics of soil carbon storage.

Keywords: soil carbon stocks; grazing disturbance; functional traits; functional diversity; Hulunbeier grassland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4376/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/8/4376/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:8:p:4376-:d:788382

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().