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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (3): 41-55.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2024178

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Effects of short-term nitrogen addition, watering, and mowing on plant community characteristics and soil physicochemical properties in Sophora alopecuroides degraded grassland

Shu-qi LIU1,2,3(), Dong CUI1,2(), Wen-xin LIU1,2, Hai-jun YANG2,4, Yan-cheng YANG1,2, Zhi-cheng JIANG1,2, Jiang-chao YAN1,2, Jiang-hui LIU1,2   

  1. 1.Institute of Resources and Ecology,Yili Normal University,Yining 835000,China
    2.College of Resources and Environment,Yili Normal University,Yining 835000,China
    3.College of Land and Environment,Shenyang Agricultural University,Shenyang 110866,China
    4.College of Ecology and Environment,Yunnan University,Kunming 650000,China
  • Received:2024-05-14 Revised:2024-06-20 Online:2025-03-20 Published:2025-01-02
  • Contact: Dong CUI

Abstract:

In the context of global climate change and intensified human activities affecting grassland ecosystems, the increasing area of invasion by poisonous weeds in the arid and semi-arid regions of Xinjiang is threatening the health of grassland ecosystems through rapid loss of biodiversity and serious grassland degradation. The study of the effects of nitrogen deposition, precipitation change, and mowing on plant community characteristics and soil physicochemical properties of Sophora alopecuroides degraded grassland has theoretical and practical significance for sustainable management of this grassland ecosystem in the future. This study conducted a controlled experiment on degraded grasslands with S. alopecuroides as a single dominant species. We set up a total of eight treatments. The eight treatments were: CK (no nitrogen, no water, no mowing), nitrogen addition (N treatment), water addition (W treatment), mowing (M treatment), nitrogen-water interaction (NW treatment), nitrogen-mowing interaction (NM treatment), water-mowing interaction (WM treatment), nitrogen-water-mowing interaction (NWM treatment). We analyzed the variation in plant species diversity, primary productivity, plant height, vegetation cover, soil physicochemical properties, and the relationship between vegetation characteristics of S. alopecuroides and soil physicochemical factors. The results indicated that: nitrogen addition significantly increased the biomass of S. alopecuroides, while mowing significantly decreased the biomass and height of S. alopecuroides. Nitrogen addition in the N, NW, NM and NWM treatments significantly increased soil nitrate nitrogen content, and the NWM treatment significantly increased soil ammonium nitrogen content. Redundancy analysis and regression analysis showed that soil organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, Ca2+ and HCO3- significantly affected the density of S. alopecuroides. Nitrogen addition increased the content of inorganic nitrogen in soil. Mowing inhibited the growth of S. alopecuroides to some extent. The interaction effect of water addition and other factors was more significant than that of water addition alone on plants and soil. The results provide new insight for the management and restoration of S. alopecuroides degraded grassland.

Key words: Sophora alopecuroides, biodiversity, biomass, soil nutrients, soil salinity