Effects of grazing and fencing on carbon and nitrogen reserves in plants and soils of alpine meadow in the three headwater resource regions

Knowledge about carbon and nitrogen in plants and soils and response to fence and graze in alpine ecosystems is still rudimentary because of extremely geographic situation. The purpose of this study was to compare the difference among carbon, nitrogen concentration, and content of unit area and dynamics of above- and below-ground biomass, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen between fencing and grazing alpine meadow. The results showed that total carbon and C: N radio in the aboveground tissue were significantly higher in fenced and ungrazing grassland (FU) than those in free grazing grassland (FG). In addition, the order of total carbon and nitrogen concentration of aboveground tissue of different function groups were not identical between them; The total carbon storage (TCS) per unit of aboveground tissue, roots and 0–30 cm soil layer increased after being fenced for 5 years from free grazing grassland (9255.17 g/m²) to fenced and ungrazing grassland (12637.10 g/m²) by 26.79%. The corresponding total nitrogen storage (TNS) increased by 751.42 g/m². Furthermore over 95% TCS (TNS) come from 0–30 cm soil layer. However there were no significant differences between fenced and ungrazing grasslands of 10 years and 5 years. Therefore fenced to exclude grazing by Tibetan sheep and yaks was an alternative approach to sequester C to the soil in alpine meadow systems.