Belowground C sequestrations response to grazing exclusion in global grasslands : dynamics and mechanisms
Qu, Qing (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation)
Deng, Lei (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation)
Shangguan, Zhouping (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation)
Sun, Jian (Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research)
He, JinSheng (Peking University. College of Urban and Environmental Sciences)
Wang, Kaibo (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Institute of Earth Environment)
Zhou, Zhengchao (Shaanxi Normal University. School of Geography and Tourism)
Li, Jiwei (Northwest A&F University. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation)
Peñuelas, Josep (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)

Data:	2024
Resum:	Globally, grazing exclusion is a widely implemented management strategy for restoring degraded grassland ecosystems and sequestering carbon (C). However, there is limited understanding regarding the temporal responses and underlying factors influencing ecosystem C stocks following grazing exclusion. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive synthesis of data from 199 independent experiments (454 pairwise observations) to analyze responses of plant and soil C stocks to grazing exclusion across four distinct grassland ecosystems (desert, typical, meadow, and alpine) in the globe. We found that rates of change in plant biomass C stocks and soil organic C stocks exponentially or rationally decreased with years since enclosure. Grazing exclusion generally enhanced aboveground biomass C in plants, while its effects on C stocks of belowground biomass and soil were more contingent upon various factors, such as climate, initial levels of C stocks, and grazing exclusion duration. Furthermore, the responses of C stocks of plant biomass and soil to livestock grazing cessation tend to stabilize over time, with equilibrium typically reaching after approximately 40 years, while soil C sequestration responses exhibited a lagged pattern compared to plant biomass C. Our results underscored the effectiveness of grazing exclusion as an effective strategy to enhance C stocks in regions characterized by low C content and non-water limited conditions. We propose that grazing exclusion for 1-5 years was the best restoration time for typical, meadow and alpine grasslands. Given the limited effects of grazing exclusion on soil organic C stocks of desert types, grazing exclusion might not be an effective measure to increase the soil organic C stocks in water-limited areas like desert grasslands.
Ajuts:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación TED2021-132627B-I00
Nota:	Altres ajuts: the Fundación Ramón Areces Grant CIVP20A6621.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Matèria:	Biomass carbon ; Global grassland ecosystem ; Grassland management ; Land use change ; Soil carbon
Publicat a:	Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, Vol. 360 (February 2024) , art. 108771, ISSN 1873-2305

DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2023.108771

Disponible a partir de: 2026-02-28 Postprint

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