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.
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.
J Environ Manage. 2021 Jan 1;277:111441. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111441. Epub 2020 Oct 6.
Mowing is a widely used practice for haymaking in the semi-arid grassland of northern China. Yet, how it impacts above- and belowground biota and ultimately affects the grassland ecosystem is unclear. Here we address this question by investigating the effects of three mowing regimes (no mowing, mowing once per year, mowing twice every three years) on vegetation characteristics, soil properties, and microbial communities in semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia. Our results show that two types of mowing treatments preserve high plant productivity by increasing subordinate species. However, mowing once per year led to grassland degradation when applied over a seven-year period. Mowing twice every three years facilitates soil bacterial communities and microbial interactions by generating a nutrient-rich ecological niche, whereas mowing once per year negatively impacted them via lessen the substrate quality. Given its clear positive effects upon above- and belowground biota, mowing twice every three years is the most suitable, convenient management practice for sustaining plant species richness on this type of grassland, a finding which suggests that sustainable utilization of grassland resources can only be achieved by using modest rotation cutting practices.
割草是中国北方半干旱草地干草生产的常用方法。然而，它如何影响地上和地下生物群，最终影响草原生态系统尚不清楚。在这里，我们通过调查三种割草制度（不割草、每年割草一次、每三年割草两次）对内蒙古半干旱草地植被特征、土壤性质和微生物群落的影响来解决这个问题。我们的结果表明，两种割草处理方式通过增加从属物种来保持高植物生产力。然而，在七年的时间里，每年割草一次会导致草原退化。每三年割草两次通过产生富含养分的生态位来促进土壤细菌群落和微生物相互作用，而每年割草一次则通过降低基质质量对其产生负面影响。鉴于其对地上和地下生物群的明显积极影响，每三年割草两次是维持这种类型草原植物物种丰富度最适宜、最方便的管理实践，这一发现表明，只有通过适度轮作割草实践才能实现草原资源的可持续利用。
