Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on community structure and nutritional quality of degraded grassland of Stellera chamaejasme under two different management measures

doi:10.11686/cyxb2018179

Abstract

Abstract: Fertilization is an effective management measure for the recovery of degraded grasslands. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of nitrogen fertilization on the community structure and nutritional quality of degraded alpine meadows of Stellera chamaejasme. We conducted a fertilization experiment with different amounts of nitrogen fertilizer [10 (N₁), 20 (N₂), 30 (N₃), 40 (N₄) kg·ha^-1], under two different management measures, clipping and prohibition of grazing. The density and above-ground biomass of S. chamaejasme were significantly lower under the two different management measures than in the control (P<0.05), and were decreased in the fertilization+prohibition of grazing treatments. In the area in which grazing was prohibited, the richness index was highest in N₄, but was not significantly different from that in CK (P>0.05). The Alatalo index was highest in N₁, and the Shannon-Wiener index was highest in the clipping+N₄ area. The Alatalo index was significantly higher in the clipping area than in the clipping+N₄ treatment (P<0.05), and the highest number of species was in the clipping area. The above-ground biomass was significantly higher in all the N-fertilization treatments than in CK (P<0.05). The above-ground biomass of the Cyperaceae was higher than that of the Gramineae. The total aboveground biomass and the biomass of functional groups did not differ significantly among the different fertilization treatments (P>0.05). Total biomass and the biomass of the Cyperaceae showed high rates of increase (47.21% and 48.24%, respectively). The highest rate of increase of the Gramineae was in the grazing-prohibition+N₄ treatment (119.35%). Overall, the nutrient contents of grass did not differ significantly (P>0.05) among the different fertilization treatments. However, the crude protein content was significantly higher in the grazing treatment than in the grazing+N₁ treatment. The crude ash content was significantly higher in the clipping+N₂ treatment than in CK, and the neutral detergent fiber content was significantly higher in the clipping treatment than in the clipping+N₂ treatment (P<0.05). The crude protein content per unit area did not differ significantly among the different fertilization treatments (P>0.05). The crude fat content per unit area was significantly higher in the grazing+N₄ treatment than in the grazing treatments and CK (P<0.05), and significantly higher in the clipping+N₁ treatment than in CK (P<0.05).

Key words: alpine degraded grassland, graze-prohibition, fertilization, grassland diversity, nutritional quality

WANG Yu-qin, BAO Gen-sheng, SONG Mei-ling, YIN Ya-li, LIU Sheng-cai, YANG You-wu, YANG Ming, WANG Hong-sheng. Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on community structure and nutritional quality of degraded grassland of Stellera chamaejasme under two different management measures[J]. Acta Prataculturae Sinica, 2018, 27(12): 177-186.

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