Effect of fencing and grazing on a Kobresia-dominated meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
Effect of fencing and grazing on a Kobresia-dominated meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
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DOI：
10.1007/s11104-008-9854-3
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发表时间：
2009-06
期刊：
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Gao-lin Wu;G. Du;Zhen-Heng Liu;S. Thirgood
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Gao-lin Wu;G. Du;Zhen-Heng Liu;S. Thirgood
放牧是影响天然草地群落结构和生产力的重要因素之一。隔离食草动物的围栏是保护草原的主要管理措施之一。围栏能否通过限制放牧来改善草地群落状况？结果表明，围栏显著提高了地上植被生产力，但降低了植物密度和物种多样性。长期围篱有利于牧草功能群的改善，抑制了有害杂草功能群的发育。封育对地下有机质、全氮、速效氮、全磷和速效磷均有显著的正向影响。随着时间的推移，放牧草地的生产力呈现出微弱的下降趋势。围篱草地和放牧草地植物密度长期呈下降趋势。研究表明，放牧是长期围封草原物种多样性和植物密度提高的有效管理措施，定期放牧和围封有利于草原的管理。
Grazing is one of the most important factors influencing community structure and productivity in natural grasslands. Fencing to exclude grazers is one of the main management practices used to protect grasslands. Can fencing improve grassland community status by restraining grazing? We conducted a field community study and indoor soil analyses to determine the long-term effects of fencing and grazing on the above-ground community and soil in aKobresia-dominated meadow in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, NW China. Our results showed that fencing significantly improved above-ground vegetation productivity but reduced plant density and species diversity. Long-term fencing favored the improvement of forage grass functional groups and restrained the development noxious weed functional groups. There were significant positive effects of fencing on below-ground organic matter, total nitrogen, available nitrogen, total phosphorus and available phosphorus. The productivity of grazed meadow showed a weak decrease over time. There were long-term decreasing trends for plant density both in fenced and grazed meadows. Our study suggests that grazing can be considered as a useful management practice to improve species diversity and plant density in long-term fenced grasslands and that periodic grazing and fencing is beneficial in grassland management.