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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2024, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (8): 1-14.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2023342

   

Changes in vegetation and soil characteristics and their correlations in grasslands at different stages of degradation on the desert steppe in an arid wind-sandy area of Ningxia

Ying CAO1(), Ming-he NIE1, Yan SHEN1,2,3,4(), Yan HU5, Deng-bao MA5, Dong LI5, Teng-si HOU1, Peng FANG1, Xue-qin WANG1   

  1. 1.College of Forestry and Prataculture,Ningxia University,Yinchuan 750021,China
    2.Key Laboratory of High Efficiency Forage Production Mode Innovation,Ningxia University,Yinchuan 750021,China
    3.Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Grass and Animal Husbandry Engineering Technology Research Center,Ningxia University,Yinchuan 750021,China
    4.Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration in Northwest China,Ningxia University,Yinchuan 750021,China
    5.Forestry and Grassland Bureau,Hongsibao District,Wuzhong City,Wuzhong 751999,China
  • Received:2023-09-14 Revised:2023-10-11 Online:2024-08-20 Published:2024-05-13
  • Contact: Yan SHEN

Abstract:

The aim of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of the variations in vegetation and soil of desert grasslands at different stages of degradation, and to investigate the correlations between soil properties and vegetation characteristics within these stages. A field study was conducted in desert grasslands in the arid wind-sandy region in Ningxia, with an aim to compare the vegetation and soil characteristics across grasslands at four stages of degradation: Non-degraded, lightly degraded, moderately degraded, and heavily degraded. The relationship between vegetation and soil during the process of grassland degradation was analyzed. The results revealed that, as the degree of grassland degradation increased, there was a transition in the dominant species from perennial legumes and graminoids to annual miscellaneous grasses. The plant functional groups exhibited diverse responses in terms of vegetation coverage, height, and above-ground biomass (P<0.05). The Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Simpson’s dominance index, and Pielou’s evenness index showed consistent trends of decreasing as the degree of grassland degradation increased. Furthermore, with increasing severity of grassland degradation, there were significant decreases in soil organic matter content, total carbon and nitrogen levels, available nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, and silt content, and a significant increase in bulk density. The results of a redundancy analysis revealed a strong correlation between the characteristics of desert grassland vegetation and soil factors in general. However, the specific soil properties influencing these vegetation characteristics varied among grasslands at different stages of degradation. In non-degraded grasslands, the total carbon content significantly affected vegetation characteristics, while bulk density played a significant role in moderately degraded grasslands. Heavily degraded grasslands were considerably impacted by the available nitrogen content (P<0.01). Improvements in vegetation or the supplementation of soil nutrients can be considered as effective strategies for restoring grasslands.

Key words: degradation stage, vegetation, soil, redundancy analysis, desert steppe