Vegetation and soil microorganism characteristics of degraded grasslands

doi:10.11686/cyxb20150505

Abstract

Abstract: Currently,studies of grassland degradation studies are mainly focused on soil properties, vegetation or soil microbiology separately; studies which consider all of these components are limited. This paper attempted to apply the perspective of systemic theory to provide scientific evidence for grassland degradation. Various degraded grasslands, located at the northeast margin of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, were selected for the study. Grassland characteristics were identified and associations between vegetation and soil microorganism properties were investigated using correlation analysis. The results showed that the number of plant species reduced with increased degradation and the dominant species changed.Additionally the height, coverage and aboveground biomass of the plant community decreased significantly (P<0.05) with enhanced degradation. Soil microbial carbon and nitrogen content also decreased with enhanced degradation. Aboveground biomass decreases by 88.6% from lightly degraded grassland (LDG) to severe degraded grassland (SDG). The microbial biomass of carbon (218.90 mg/kg) and nitrogen (44.32 mg/kg) in LDG were significantly higher than those in SDG (P<0.05), but there was no difference between moderate degraded grassland (MDG) and SDG. Soil microbial quotient was not affected by degradation. There was a significant positive correlation between aboveground biomass and microbial biomass (P<0.05).

LU Hu, YAO Tuo, LI Jian-Hong, MA Wen-Bin, CHAI Xiao-Hong. Vegetation and soil microorganism characteristics of degraded grasslands[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2015, 24(5): 34-43.

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