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113 results for “grazing effects”

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Data for: Grazing effects of wintering geese on grassland yield: A long-term study from NW-Germany

Conflicts between grassland farming and wintering geese stimulated a long-term study on goose-dependent yield losses. In the period 1996-2018 the loss of dry biomass of the first harvest increased from ca. 15 % to 50 % which corresponds with changes in the number and migratory behaviour of the barnacle goose. In contrast we found no decline in grassland yields with increasing number of greater white-fronted geese. The second harvest was not affected by wintering geese. The present study forms the basis for a fair and comprehensible system of compensation payments fo affected farmers.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

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Drought neutralizes positive effects of long-term grazing on grassland productivity through altering plant-soil interactions

Livestock grazing is among the most intensive land-use activities in grasslands and can affect plant communities directly or indirectly via grazing-induced soil legacies. Under climate change, grasslands are threatened globally by recurrent drought. However, the extent to which drought influences grazing-induced soil legacy effects on plant biomass production and community composition remains largely unexplored. We grew five naturally co-occurring plant species (three dominants and two subordinates) in mixed communities in a glasshouse experiment in live and sterilized soil that had or had not been subjected to 19 years of grazing; these plant communities were then exposed to a subsequent drought. We tested the treatment effects on plant community biomass, proportional aboveground biomass of individual species, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal root colonization, and soil nutrient availability. Under drought-free conditions, soils from grazed plots produced significantly higher plant aboveground and total community biomass compared to soils from ungrazed plots. In contrast, plant aboveground and total community biomass were similar between grazed and ungrazed soils under drought conditions. Similarly, soils from grazed plots increased the proportional biomass of dominant species but decreased the proportion of subordinate species; however, the proportional biomass of dominant and subordinate species was similar between grazed and ungrazed soils under drought conditions. Soil NO3--N in grazed soil was significantly higher compared to ungrazed soil. Drought dramatically increased soil NO3--N in sterilized soil and had a more pronounced increase in grazed soil than in ungrazed soil. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal root colonization from grazed soil was lower compared to ungrazed soil. Drought significantly increased the soil available phosphorus concentration, as well as plant community AM fungal root colonization. Synthesis. Our study suggests that drought can neutralize positive grazing effects on plant community biomass production via altered plant-soil interactions. Also, we found that drought can alleviate the negative effects of grazing legacies on subordinate species by reducing the competitiveness of dominant species. Our study provides new insights for understanding the underlying mechanisms of grazing effects on grassland productivity under climate change.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

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Grazing animals have contrasting effects on foliar pathogens by changing plant community characteristics

Large herbivore grazing has substantial effects on plant community structure and ecosystem functioning, however, the impacts of grazing on plant diseases remain poorly understood. Here, we used a grazing experimentand a removal experiment manipulating plant density and litter biomass in northeast China to evaluate how large vertebrate herbivores (cattle and sheep) affect different foliar fungal diseases (biotrophs and necrotrophs). We found that cattle grazing significantly reduced pathogen load, of both biotrophs and necrotrophs, while sheep grazing increased biotrophic pathogen load, but did not affect necrotrophic pathogen load. Mechanistically, grazing effects were indirect and mediated by changing plant community characteristics. Moreover, litter biomass play an important role in affecting necrotrophs and by reducing litter build up the cattle reduced necrotrophic pathogen infection. Our results demonstrate that cattle and sheep grazing have contrasting impacts on pathogen load. This finding has important implications for improving disease management through grazing regimes in grassland systems.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

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Data from: Dominant species determine grazing effects on the stability of herbaceous community production at multiple scales in drylands

Sustainable provision of critical ecosystem services in drylands is reliant on their stability under anthropogenic disturbances. Livestock grazing and shrub encroachment are the primary drivers of disturbance that impact their biodiversity and production dynamics. However, the effects of grazing on the stability at multiple scales, particularly following the transition from grass-dominated to shrub-encroached drylands, is still largely unexplored. Here, we conducted comparable sheep-grazing experiments in two types of drylands (grass-dominated vs. shrub-encroached grasslands) on the Mongolia Plateau to explore the effects of grazing and shrub encroachment on biodiversity and stability at multiple scales. We examined how grazing affected the temporal stability of aboveground biomass in herbaceous communities in both grass-dominated and shrub-encroached grasslands, through two potential mechanisms: insurance effects and changes in the population-level stability of individual species. We found that an increase in sheep grazing intensity had significant and negative effects on insurance effects by decreasing both species asynchrony and spatial asynchrony but it had no effects on population stability, consequently leading to reductions in herbaceous community stability of the grasslands. However, grazing-increased insurance effects canceled out grazing-decreased population stability, contributing to no changes in the community stability of shrub-encroached grasslands. Likely, because grazing-induced reductions in the relative abundance of the dominant species were more noticeable in shrub-encroached grasslands than that of in grasslands. Moreover, the grazing-decreased abundance of dominant species was directly correlated to increases in insurance effects in shrub-encroached grasslands but not in grasslands, despite the positive relationships between population stability and the relative abundance of the dominant species in both grass-dominated and shrub-encroached drylands. Synthesis and applications. Our results indicate that grazing can decrease the stability of herbaceous production in drylands, but this negative effect is attenuated with the transition from grasslands to shrub-encroached grasslands, suggesting that grazing effects on herbaceous community stability can be altered by shrub encroachment in drylands. Furthermore, the stability of dominant grasses plays a crucial role in stabilizing herbaceous communities, and should be considered in promoting sustainable ecosystem functioning and services in drylands.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

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