Changes in wet meadow vegetation after 20 years of different management in a field experiment (North-West Germany)

Conservation and restoration of semi-natural wet grasslands often suffer from poor knowledge on successional pathways of respective habitats under different mowing treatments to derive profound management concepts. In this study, we present the results of a 20-year experiment in six semi-natural wet grassland sites in NW Germany including mowing with and without fertilizer addition and fallow. Succession was recorded by permanent plots. The studied wet grassland communities responded quite similar under equal management. Fallow resulted in the most significant changes in floristic and functional composition facilitating highly competitive rushes and tall forbs. The changes were more pronounced the more the experimental management treatment differed from the former use. For all mowing treatments without fertilizer application, we still observed directed changes in the floristic composition even after 20 years. In particular mowing twice led to a shift in floristic composition towards stress-tolerant plants with low nutrient demands, which was paralleled by decreasing productivity and strongly diminishing Ellenberg nutrient values. Our results documented that restoration of low-yielding target communities by regular mowing is possible – even in an area with high atmospheric nitrogen inputs. However, our results also show that succession did not come to an end even after 20 years, most obviously due to the continuous but very slow immigration and spread of new species.     

Positive long-term effect of mulching on species and functional trait diversity in a nutrient-poor mountain meadow in Central Europe

Oligotrophic mountain meadows are threatened biodiversity hotspots throughout Europe. The traditional summer hay-making followed by autumn grazing is no longer economic and question is whether alternative managements can maintain both plant species and functional diversity typical of these habitats. In the Bohemian Forest Mts., we applied three treatments (mowing once a year - i.e., cutting and removing the biomass, mulching once a year - cutting and leaving the crushed biomass to decompose in situ, fallowing - no cutting) in order to assess temporal changes in meadow vegetation, plant trait composition and biomass production in a 13-year experiment. We recorded for each species twenty-five traits as to be most informative of plant strategies related to growth, resource acquisition and carbon-water economy. We compared different components of trait composition (community averages that mostly reflect traits of dominant species vs. the Rao index of functional diversity that reflects trait dissimilarity among species) and their impact on biomass production. We show that mulching promotes species and functional diversity by facilitating heliophilous forbs and legumes with more acquisitive strategies in resource use and release, e.g., higher foliar N and P content. This occurs at the expense of tall grasses (with resource-retentive strategies, e.g., high leaf dry matter content) which dominate the mown and fallow plots. The divergence in most quantitative traits indicates that niche complementarity is the dominant assembly process in mulched plots, which can prevent competitive exclusion and enable species coexistence. The divergent development was detected only after 5-6 years. This slow floristic and functional response is caused by acidity of soil and severe mountain climate that preclude rapid responses of vegetation to land-use changes. We conclude that mulching represents a good compromise maintaining both plant species and functional diversity as well as a relatively high biomass production. Mowing without grazing leads to gradual nutrient loss and thus reduces the productivity and diversity in these oligotrophic ecosystems. Fallowing causes gradual loss in diversity by increased grass competition and litter accumulation.     

Pasture management under goat grazing on Canary Islands

Tenerife pastures in the Teno plateau are under a goat grazing management system, and the number of goats has increased by 70% in the past 10 years. This plant community was sampled during 4 years (1992, 1993, 1994 and 1999) over a 10-year period, using ten 0.25 m² plots to reveal changes in species composition, soil nutrient content, and biomass nutrient content over time and relate these variables to changes in management and understand aspects of the dynamics of these pastures.The results revealed no changes in biomass nutrient composition over the sampling period; however, biomass protein content was related to changes in species composition. Soil phosphorus content increased in the last sampling year and was related to an average species richness decrease in the plots. Results suggest that the increase in soil phosphorus and the decrease in species richness are related to the increase in goat grazing intensity. At the end of the studied period, species with a higher protein content increased in importance in the species composition. The restoration of pastures degraded by agriculture or overgrazing is required to provide a larger area for grazing and to ensure sustainable management of these protected areas.     

Subhumid pasture plant communities entrained by management

Many annual cropping lands are being converted to perennial pasture in humid and subhumid areas of the USA as the economic, social, and environmental benefits of managed grazing become evident. Recent evidence about the positive effects of plant diversity on productivity is driving farmers towards management for more complex species mixes than were promoted historically for grazed pastures, but this emphasis has highlighted a lack of understanding about plant community management in pastures. To better understand this system we examined sources of variability in the plant community of a subhumid grassland that was subjected to combinations of disturbance (graze or burn), and amendment (nitrogen, carbon, or ambient), and native grass seeding treatments over 3 years (2004 to 2006). We estimated species cover five times during the study period and ordinated these data with nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS). The ordination explained 80% of the variation in the plant community data set. Variance in ordination site scores was ascribed to management (disturbance, soil amendment, and native grass seeding time), the environment (year, season within year, and block), or unexplained (residual) realms with a linear mixed-effects model. The overwhelming source of variability in the plant community (62–99%) was attributed to management. Ordination results illustrated that plant groups sorted out along management gradients: burned plots were shifted towards grasses while forbs and clovers were associated with grazed plots. We demonstrate how a community-level approach can be used to evaluate management regimes in agroecosystems. Our results indicate that disturbance and soil amendments can be used to shape plant communities in subhumid grasslands for specific agronomic and conservation goals.     

Meadow management and occurrence of corncrake Crex crex

The aim of this study was to analyse the occurrence of corncrakes in two Swedish meadow sites managed by mowing and grazing, but also with abandoned meadows. Most corncrakes (58%) on meadows were found in unmanaged areas without subsidies to the farmers (i.e. areas with tall vegetation). Several corncrakes (62%) were found in restored areas, managed for less than 10 of the last 40 years, fewer (38%) in areas under continuous management. Vegetation height was negatively associated with number of years of management the last 40 years, and the continuously managed areas were avoided by corncrakes. Sites where corncrake territories occur regularly should be managed to maintain tall vegetation suitable for the species, which requires increased use of mowing. However, the results from our study also suggest that yearly mowing might result in a vegetation structure that is avoided by corncrakes. To achieve a balance between tall grassy vegetation and prevention of succession to scrub a possible management regime would therefore be mowing at intervals of a few years.     

How does agricultural intensification modulate changes in plant community composition?

Agricultural intensification, at local and landscape scales, has caused a decrease in plant diversity and changes in species composition in cereal fields. To better understand the role of landscape complexity and farming systems in shaping plant assemblages, it is of interest to focus on functional traits rather than on floristic composition, which may help to highlight trends in vegetation patterns. We analysed the relative abundance of various functional attributes (different life forms, growth forms, wind-pollinated species and wind-dispersed species) at three contrasted field positions (boundary, edge and centre) of 29 organic and 29 conventional cereal fields distributed in 15 agrarian localities of NE Spain. Agricultural intensification affected the biological attributes of the vegetation in dryland Mediterranean cereal fields; local factors (farming system and position) had a more prominent role in affecting plant functional composition than the surrounding landscape. Local factors were important for life form distribution, growth form and pollination type, whereas landscape complexity mainly affected the proportion of wind-dispersed species. Therefore, depending on the objective of the study, it is important to select functional attributes sensitive to the different scales of agricultural intensification, especially because landscape complexity and land-use intensity are commonly related.     

Comparison of riparian plant communities under four land management systems in southwestern Wisconsin

Riparian plant community composition is influenced by moisture, erosion, original native plant communities, and current and past land use. This study compared riparian plant communities under four types of management: woody buffer strip, grassy buffer strip, rotational grazing, and continuous grazing. Study sites were located along spring-fed streams in the unglaciated region of southwestern Wisconsin, USA. At each site, plant community surveys were conducted using a point transect method. Among the treatments, woody buffer strips, rotationally grazed and continuously grazed riparian areas had greater plant species richness than grassy buffer strips, and woody buffer strips had the greatest native plant species richness. Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) was prevalent in grassy buffer strips (44% of all observations), common in woody buffer strips (15%), and rare in sites that were rotationally or continuously grazed (3 and 5%, respectively). Pasture sites had greater proportions of native grasses and grass relatives and moderate levels of overall native species richness. Considered a water quality best management practice, well-managed rotational grazing may be a reasonable alternative to buffer strips which can contribute to protection and enhancement of native vegetation biodiversity.     

A forest pathogen drives change in plant functional trait composition in the Southwest Australian Floristic Region

Plant functional traits weighted by cover-abundance have been used to measure change across a wide range of temperature, moisture and grazing gradients. We use this approach along a chronosequence of disease infestation (Phytophthora cinnamomi) in the species-diverse Banksia woodlands of the Southwest Australian Floristic Region (SWAFR). We compare the use of absolute (community-weighted totals-CWT) and relative cover data (community-weighted means-CWM) to demonstrate the importance of total cover change in reference to the Mass Ratio Hypothesis.Plant species cover-abundance was recorded along a space-for-time disease chronosequence, and functional trait data collected for the 48 dominant species from healthy vegetation. Six traits with deduced links to key ecosystem functions were measured for each species and values for two indices (CWT and CWM) compared along the disease chronosequence. Trait data was collected on plant height, growth form, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, root pattern and carbohydrate storage.Despite substantial shifts in individual species cover and a reduction in total species cover, the majority of CWM values did not change significantly following disease infestation. The use of relative cover-abundance data disregards important changes in total species cover, apparent from our comparative analysis. In contrast to CWMs, all CWT values were reduced following disease infestation, suggesting a potential reduction in productivity, reduced capacity as a carbon sink and altered site water balance. Verification of these potential changes in ecosystem functions is required using fine-scale quantitative techniques. The CWT index is complementary to traditional CWMs and useful when analysing changes in plant trait data where total species cover changes have been detected. In relation to P. cinnamomi infestation, shifts in CWT trait values indicate the ability of an introduced plant pathogen to have substantial indirect impacts beyond substantial floristic change.     

Impact of seed mixture and mowing on food abundance for farmland birds in set-asides

We studied the impact of seed mixtures (grass-clover, less competitive grass vs. meadow plant mixture) and mowing (annual mowing vs. no mowing) on the abundance of seed and insect food for farmland birds in set-aside in a long-term field experiment. In general, seed food was less affected by the treatments than insect food. The impact of seed mixture on the abundance of seed food was dependent on the study year: the highest level recorded in the first year, followed by a substantial decline in the following years. Mowing increased the biomass of seed food. The impact of treatments on insect food abundance differed between the total amount of insect food, and had significant interactions with year. Different insect groups dominated in each year as well as their response to the treatments. For the total amount, the meadow plant seed mixture appeared to be the most beneficial and a slight positive impact of mowing appeared in the last two years of the experiment. The results suggest that the value of set-asides in providing food differs according to food components and declines with increasing age of the set-aside.     

Effect of dung deposition on small-scale patch structure and seasonal vegetation dynamics in mountain pastures

Cattle activity greatly influences plant species composition and biomass production of grassland ecosystems. Dung deposition by cattle together with grazing and trampling can be considered as one of the important factors driving vegetation dynamics in pastures. The objective of this study was to investigate at 10-cm and 1-month resolution the plant community dynamics induced by dung deposition in two plant communities (a mesotrophic and an oligotrophic grassland) in a pasture of the Swiss Jura Mountains. Vegetation was sampled four or three times during the vegetation period in contiguous 10 cm × 10 cm quadrats from the centre of the dung pat to a distance of 60 cm. A lower grazing intensity near the dung pat was recorded for all observation periods. In the mesotrophic grassland the canopy was higher near the dung pat already one week after dung deposition. Vegetation around dung pats was submitted to two opposite fertilizing and grazing gradients, which induced changes in vegetation texture and structure at fine scale and short term. We observed a positive rank correlation between species turnover and distance to the dung for both communities, suggesting a seasonal stabilizing effect of dung on the plant composition of their direct surroundings (0–10 cm) likely due to cattle avoidance. Since dung pats are dropped every year in different locations, they create in the pasture a shifting mosaic of nutrient availability and grazing intensity inducing at seasonal scale micro-successions in plant communities.     

Impact on sward composition and stock performance of grazing Molinia-dominant grassland

A comparative experiment was conducted to test the extent to which grazing of rank Molinia caerulea-dominated grassland increases botanical diversity and improves animal performance. The study was carried out on an area of under-grazed Molinia-dominant pasture that had not been stocked for 20 years. Three treatments were compared from 2001 until 2008: (1) no grazing, (2) grazing by Welsh Mountain sheep and (3) grazing by Welsh Black heifers. Patterns of change in sward surface composition across the grazing season were consistent with greater consumption of Molinia by the cattle, but there was little evidence of management regime influencing changes in sward composition year-on-year. There was a significant effect of year on animal performance (P < 0.001). Although the growth rates of the heifers improved over the course of the first three years of the experiment, this performance was not sustained. In contrast, any weight changes for the sheep were positive. The results highlight the slow pace of change within upland swards, and the need to develop site-specific grazing guidelines.     

A decision tree approach modelling functional group abundance in a pasture ecosystem

Decision tree, one of the data mining approaches, was used to model the relative abundance of five functional groups of plant species, namely high fertility response grasses (HFRG), low fertility tolerance grasses (LFTG), legume, moss and flatweeds in a New Zealand hill-pasture ecosystem using aboveground biomass. The model outputs were integrated with a geographic information system (GIS) to map and validate the predictions on a pasture. The decision tree models clearly revealed the interactions between the functional groups and environmental and management factors, and also indicated the relative importance of these factors in influencing the functional group abundance. Soil Olsen P was the most significant factor influencing the abundance of LFTG and moss, while soil bulk density, slope and annual P fertiliser input were the most significant factors influencing the abundance of legume, HFRG and flatweeds, respectively. Generally, slope and soil Olsen P were the two key factors underlying the patterns of abundance for these five functional groups. For the five functional groups studied, there was an overall predictive accuracy of 75%. Modelling functional group abundance simplified the investigation of the complex interrelationship between species and environment in a pasture ecosystem. The integration of the decision tree with GIS in this study provides a platform to investigate community structure and functional composition for a pasture over space, and thus can be applied as a tool in pasture management.     

The role of plant leaf attributes in linking land use to ecosystem function in temperate grassy vegetation

We tested predictions of the relative changes in plant leaf traits in response to land uses in Australian eucalypt grassy ecosystems. Predictions were determined from responses observed in European landscapes in relation to disturbances associated with agricultural land uses. We measured specific leaf area (SLA) and leaf dry matter content (LDMC) across five land uses: reference sites (closest to pre-European state), native pastures (unfertilized), fertilized pastures, sown pastures (cultivated and fertilized) and enriched grassland (previously fertilized, no longer grazed). Leaves were expected to have higher SLA and lower LMDC at sites with increasing fertility and/or disturbance.The predictions were confirmed, with SLA increasing progressively in land uses associated with (1) grazing; (2) grazing and fertilization; (3) grazing, fertilization and cultivation. Values for LDMC were closely (but inversely) correlated with those of SLA. For both traits, there were relationships with available soil phosphorus but not with soil total nitrogen. The positive correlation of SLA with phosphorus was not evident above 30 mg kg⁻¹, the recommended level of phosphorus for improved pastures.Results confirm patterns of leaf-trait response to disturbance that reflect fundamental constraints to plant survival in habitats with different levels of resources and disturbances. A conservative strategy for low productivity undisturbed habitats is associated with low SLA and high dry matter content in contrast to fertile disturbed habitats which select for high SLA and low dry matter content. The changes in leaf traits across land uses resulted from species substitution rather than variation within species across sites, and most notably the replacement of native by annual exotic species as land use intensifies.Recommended fertilization rates for pasture production convert the ground layer to plants with soft, digestible leaves, that are responsive to fertilizer and desirable for livestock production. However, fertilization also drastically reduces the diversity of native plants and annual plants tend to dominate. The trade-off associated with high production includes increased vulnerability to soil erosion, due to reduced plant cover and low persistence of cover. If alternative ecosystem values such as erosion control, water quality, salinity control and biodiversity persistence are required, incentives may be needed to offset the loss of production that can be gained from fertilizer application.     

Plant leaf economics and reproductive investment are responsive to gradients of land use intensity

Relationships between functional leaf traits across large sets of plant species emphasized the existence of a major axis describing a trade-off between rapid acquisition and conservation of resources forming the so-called “leaf economics spectrum”. It is uncertain which environmental factors determine the economics spectrum and whether traits associated with reproduction co-vary with the economics spectrum. To determine these trait-environment relationships for agricultural ecosystems, this study was conducted at field, pasture, and heathland sites forming a strong land use gradient in Northwest Germany. The abundance of 49 species was recorded in 85 plots together with their traits (canopy height, specific leaf area, leaf N, leaf N:P, leaf and stem dry matter content, life cycle, reproductive investment (RI) in seed mass and seed number), as well as parameters describing soil resources and land use disturbances. RLQ multivariate analysis of the data set related an environmental table to a species trait table using a species abundance table to extract the joint structure between them. Thereafter, we clustered the species on the RLQ axis to extract functional groups. Traits associated with the leaf economics spectrum were strongly related to soil resources that co-varied with disturbance intensity. A division of the whole land use gradient into agricultural and heathland sites showed that RI was not decoupled from trait-environment relationships although the direction of the RI-environment relationship was opposite in the two subsets. Species were clumped rather than linearly arranged in the trait-environment space and the functional groups broadly corresponded to weed communities, pastures with differing intensities, and heathlands. The trade-off in plant economics responding to soil resources supports predictions of previous theoretical and empirical work. Different RI-environment relationships in agricultural sites and heathlands emphasize the relevance of local scales in trait-environment studies. In general, the results point to some of the biological mechanisms controlling functions and services of agricultural ecosystems.     

不同干扰类型对呼伦贝尔草甸草原群落结构及物种多样性影响的比较

采用样方法,对比研究了2009—2011年刈割和围封干扰对呼伦贝尔草甸草原植物群落结构和物种多样性的影响. 结果表明:2009—2011年,围封干扰下建群种种群相对重要值分别为15.67%、17.73%、17.60%;而刈割干扰下建群种种群相对重要值分别为16.86%、14.84%、12.36%,呈明显下降趋势;表明围封干扰可促进建群种种群生长,而刈割则有一定的抑制作用. 2种干扰类型导致的植物群落生态类型变化趋势差异尚不显著. 2009—2011年,刈割干扰下,Margalef物种丰富度指数分别为6.05、4.58、4.27,Shannon-Wiener多样性指数分别为3.13、2.89、2.79,Pielou均匀度指数分别为0.90、0.91、0.90;围封干扰下,Margalef物种丰富度指数分别为6.46、6.03、5.32,Shannon-Wiener多样性指数分别为3.26、3.18、2.98,Pielou均匀度指数分别为0.87、0.87、0.85. 可见,在相同年份,刈割干扰下Margalef物种丰富度指数和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数均低于围封干扰,Pielou均匀度指数均高于围封干扰. 说明围封干扰有利于植物物种多样性的维持,而适度的刈割干扰则有利于植物群落的均一化.      

Conserving the species-rich meadows of Europe

Owing to changes in agricultural practices throughout Europe, with greater emphasis on intensification, traditionally managed hay meadows have become scarce. Their loss has also meant the loss of species diversity. One of the few areas of Europe where traditional management is still practised is in Northern Spain.The hay meadows of Northern Spain can be defined as semi-natural, species-rich communities that are maintained by one or more factors which are under the direct control of man. The traditional management to which they are subjected has led to a high species diversity. For centuries the meadows have been important to man in supporting cattle during the winter. There is now little need for further increase of production. However, the importance of the need for conservation of species diversity and protection of ecologically sensitive areas is now recognised. Although the biological richness of the hay meadows is well known, few studies have been made of the effects of different traditional management regimes on the diversity and floristic composition of these grasslands.A survey was carried out to examine the effects of traditional management on the floristic composition, diversity and production of these meadows. The area studied is situated in the Valdeón valley, northwestern Spain (Cantabrian Mountains) and consists of a deep valley in which arboreal vegetation is represented by beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests. The survival of semi-natural habitats and traditional forms of management and also the low use of chemical fertilisers compared with Northern Europe are the most important reasons for the richness of these habitats. In this study, cutting for hay once per year, non-irrigation non-manuring and grazing in autumn was correlated with high species diversity. The future conservation of these habitats will depend on the formulation of support to continue with traditional management practices.     

Patterns of plant trait-environment relationships along a forest succession chronosequence

Land-use change due to socioeconomic factors leads to the abandonment of traditional intensive coppice management in large areas of the mountainous landscapes of the Apennines (Italy). In this study we explored the multivariate relationship between plant species traits, stage of forest succession and environmental gradients. We focused on community-level patterns in plant traits of the vegetation of beech forest understory along the regeneration chronosequence initiated after cessation of coppicing. We hypothesized that the correlations between the traits and environmental factors should increase with succession age due to the decreasing role of chance.Landscape-level heterogeneity, i.e. changing elevation, slope, exposition, bedrock and forest stand age was assessed using a stratified random sampling design. Sixty sites were sampled for stand structure and species composition. We focused on 14 plant traits related to persistence, growth and dispersal. The recently developed data-analytical method, Model-Based Recursive Partitioning, was used to disentangle the relationships between patterns of plant traits and environmental gradients.About half (seven) of the studied plant traits showed significant correlations with succession stand age, elevation, inclination, heat index and bedrock. Contrary to the low number of trait-environment correlations in early succession, eight traits showed significant relationships with one or more abiotic factors in older stages of the post-coppice development. Stand age had the highest independent explanatory power, explaining 40% of variance of SLA, more than 17% of variance of short-distance seed dispersal and more than 15% of variance of both long-term connection and extensive perennial root. Among the other abiotic factors, elevation explained 27% of variance of SLA, inclination explained 6-8% of variance of long-term connection, extensive perennial root, thickening and large bud bank.The observed trait-environmental relationship is assumed to be driven by various environmental factors operating at various levels of complexity. While forest succession in relatively homogeneous landscapes might be driven mainly by environmental factors related to forest succession itself and associated abiotic changes (such as changes in light and soil moisture patterns), in heterogeneous landscapes the succession pathways may be structured by landscape-level environmental factors such as inclination. However, in the present study, forest stand age had the highest explanatory power for most of the investigated traits, supporting the assumption of the overall strong impact of succession-driven environmental factors in trait-environment relationships.     

山地河流水电开发对河岸带植物群落特征的影响

为充分了解水电开发对山地河流河岸带植物群落特征的影响,于2014年采用植被常规调查方法,在九龙江源头河流地村溪依次设置RS(源头)、PL(皮寮)、HKU和HKD(环坑水坝上游和下游)、GXU和GXD(高厦水坝上游和下游)6个样地,分析其物种多样性、相似性等的变化特征. 结果表明:①水坝建成后,水坝上游和下游流速、水位及河宽存在显著差异(P<0.05). ②沿河流纵向的自由流动河段,Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数均随与源头距离的增加而增大,分别由0.30±0.24、0.22±0.17增至0.87±0.20、0.38±0.03;Simpson优势度指数随与源头距离的增加而减小,HKU样地Simpson优势度最低,仅为0.20±0.10;受水电开发影响河段,水坝上游样地的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数均高于水坝下游样地,而Simpson优势度低于水坝下游样地. ③沿河流横向,河岸带不同断面植物群落多样性都符合中度干扰假说,水坝建设对河流横向物种多样性的影响不显著;Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数变化总体上变化趋势一致,均表现为先升后降. ④相似性分析表明,沿河流纵向,水坝上、下游样地间物种相似性相对较高,不同组样地之间高地物种相似性最高的是HKU-HKD(0.270 3),河岸带物种相似性最高的是RS-PL(0.612 2);沿河流横向,HKU(0.392 9)、HKD(0.372 5)和GXD(0.348 8)样地的高地-河岸带物种相似性相对较高,GXU(0.173 9)样地的高地-河岸带物种相似性最低,表明水电开发导致水坝下游河岸带植物主要来源于本地种子库而非区域种子库. 结果显示,水电开发是造成河岸带植物群落发生变化的主导因子,导致水坝下游河岸带和高地物种组成趋向同质化,土地利用格局、河岸带及周围的人类干扰同样会影响河岸带植物群落的多样性和相似性.      

长期开垦与放牧对内蒙古典型草原地下碳截存的影响

以围封26 a草地(E26)为对照,研究了内蒙古典型草原区长期开垦与放牧对土壤-植物根系系统碳截存的影响.结果表明,0～40 cm土壤和根系中的C贮量, E26(7 307.59和950.32 g·m-2)≈连续放牧草地(LG)(7834.01和843.43 g·m-2)>开垦35 a耕地(LC)(4537.04和277.35 g·m-2). E26、LG和LC中,0～40 cm土壤贮存的C分别占各自土壤-根系系统C总贮量的88.49%、90.28%和94.24%.长期开垦完全破坏了草地原生的植被-土壤系统,造成严重的土壤风蚀:相对于E26,比中O～10 cm和10～20 cm砂粒含量分别增加了81%和39%,0～40 cm土层中根系生物量减少了71%;长期开垦导致草地土壤及根系碳截存分别降低了37.9%和70.8%.因此,在草原地区,若将长期开垦的耕地恢复为天然草地,土壤和植物根系将会有较大的固碳潜力.放牧对该区土壤有机碳含量及根系生长的影响较小;但长期放牧样地土壤表层容重显著增加,预示目前放牧压力已达到或接近草地的承载阈值,应及时减小放牧压力以避免草地的进一步退化.