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Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration

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A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 27041

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Shikui Dong

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Guest Editor

School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: responses of grassland ecosystems to climate changes and human disturbances; ecological restoration of degraded grassland ecosystems; grassland biodiversity protection; sustainable grassland grazing management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Qiang Yu

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Guest Editor

Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: Ecological stoichiometry, grassland community ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, extreme climatic events, terrestrial biogeochemistry, global change ecology, modeling ecology

Prof. Dr. Huakun Zhou

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Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China
Interests: grassland ecology; restoration ecology; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Lu Wen

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Guest Editor

School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hhot 010010, China
Interests: grassland and wetland ecology; grassland ecological restoration

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Grasslands are very important ecosystems and land resources, and cover about 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface. These ecosystems and lands are vital at local and global scales in terms of ecological functions and the provision of livelihoods for large human populations. However, worldwide climate changes (e.g., global warming, extreme weather-climate events) and human disturbances (e.g., overgrazing, mining) are damaging the health of grassland ecosystems. It has been confirmed that the grassland diversity may not only be important for maintaining ecosystem functioning and services, but also vital for restoring the degraded lands. This Special Issue calls for papers which explore the roles of grassland diversity (including gene diversity, species diversity, functional diversity, habitat diversity and landscape functioning diversity) in the ecological restoration of degraded grasslands from theoretical and practical perspectives. We hope that you will choose to submit your relevant novel studies to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Shikui Dong
Prof. Dr. Qiang Yu
Prof. Dr. Huakun Zhou
Prof. Dr. Lu Wen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

grassland ecosystem
species diversity
habitat diversity
functioning diversity
ecological restoration

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3176 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Examination of the Effects of Domestic Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Grazing on Wetland and Dry Grassland Habitats

by Attila Fűrész, Károly Penksza, László Sipos, Ildikó Turcsányi-Járdi, Szilárd Szentes, Gabriella Fintha, Péter Penksza, Levente Viszló, Ferenc Szalai and Zsombor Wagenhoffer

Plants 2023, 12(11), 2184; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112184 - 31 May 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2499

Abstract

In nature conservation today, there is a global problem with the aggressive expansion of invasive plant species and the conservation of valuable grassland vegetation. Based on this, the following question has been formed: Is the domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) appropriate for managing various habitat types? How does grazing by water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) affect on grassland vegetation? This study was carried out in four areas of Hungary. One of the sample areas was in the Mátra Mountains, on dry grassland areas where grazing had been applied for two, four and six years. The other sample areas were in the Zámolyi Basin, where wet fens with a high risk of Solidago gigantea and in a typic Pannonian dry grassland were investigated. In all areas, grazing was carried out with domestic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). During the study, we carried out a coenological survey, examining the change of cover of plant species, their feed values and the biomass of the grassland. According to the results, both the number and cover of economically important grasses (from 28% to 34.6%) and legumes (from 3.4% to 25.4%) increased in Mátra as well as the high proportion of shrubs (from 41.8% to 4.4%) shifted toward grassland species. In the areas of the Zámolyi Basin, invasive Solidago has been suppressed completely, the pasture has been converted completely (from 16% to 1%) and the dominant species has become Sesleria uliginosa. Thus, we have found that grazing with buffalo is suitable as a habitat management method in both dry grasslands and wet grasslands. Therefore, in addition to its effectiveness in the control of Solidago gigantea, grazing with buffalo is successful in both nature conservation and economic aspects of grassland vegetation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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24 pages, 5928 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Features of Natural Succession of Ex-Arable Forest Steppe Grassland (from Western Romania) under the Influence of Climate

by Veronica Sărățeanu, Otilia Cotuna, Mirela Paraschivu, Luminița L. Cojocariu, Nicolae Marinel Horablaga, Dorin Rechițean, Vlad Dragoslav Mircov, Călin Sălceanu, Alina Andreea Urlică and Loredana Copăcean

Plants 2023, 12(6), 1204; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12061204 - 7 Mar 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2061

Abstract

Important land surfaces from hill and mountain areas from the northern hemisphere formerly used for cropping were abandoned. Often, the abandoned land evolved by natural succession to grassland, shrubland or even to forest. The main goal of this paper is to bring new datasets necessary for the understanding of the evolution of ex-arable grassland vegetation from the forest steppe area into relationship with climate. The researches were performed in the locality of Grădinari (Caraş-Severin County, Western Romania) on an ex-arable plot abandoned since 1995. The vegetation data were collected for 19 years (time interval 2003–2021). The analyzed vegetation features were floristic composition, biodiversity and pastoral value. The climate data considered were air temperature and rainfall amount. The vegetation and climate data were correlated statistically, with a view to highlighting the potential impact of the temperature and rainfalls during the evolution of succession process on the grassland’s floristic composition, biodiversity and pastoral value. The pressure of the increased temperatures on the natural restoration process of the biodiversity and pastoral value of ex-arable forest steppe grassland could, at least partially, be mitigated by random grazing and mulching works. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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14 pages, 8131 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ecological Niche and Interspecific Association of Plant Communities in Alpine Desertification Grasslands: A Case Study of Qinghai Lake Basin

by Ying Hu, Huichun Wang, Huiping Jia, Maodeji Pen, Nian Liu, Jingjing Wei and Biyao Zhou

Plants 2022, 11(20), 2724; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11202724 - 15 Oct 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2534

Abstract

The study of niche and interspecific relationships is one of the classical ecological theories. We set up four desertification gradients. The “Levins” and “Pianka” method were used to calculate the species’ niche breadth and niche overlap. Interspecies associations were analyzed by the ratio of variance (VR), Chi-square test, association coefficient (AC) and Ochiai index (OI). The results showed that in grasslands with different degrees of desertification, Stellera chromosome (3.90), Thermopsis lanceolate (3.52) and Aster almanacs (3.99) had larger niche widths, which were wide-area species of plant communities in the desertification area. The ecological niches of the same species in different habitats or different species in the same habitat were multi-dimensional. Niche differentiation measured by niche overlap can occur at any community succession stage. Niche width and niche overlap were not always consistent with environmental changes. Moreover, there was no linear relationship between them. The interspecific connection coefficient fluctuated greatly with the environment. The results can provide a reference for the study of plant community competition mechanism and desertification control in desertification land of the study area. We still do not know the mechanism of how the plants were preserved and how the retained plants adapted to the new environment during the desertification process. We can further study these questions in the next step. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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11 pages, 2179 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Enclosure in Combination with Mowing Simultaneously Promoted Grassland Biodiversity and Biomass Productivity

by Da Li, Yingying Nie, Lijun Xu and Liming Ye

Plants 2022, 11(15), 2037; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11152037 - 4 Aug 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2109

Abstract

Grassland is the primary land use in China, which has experienced extensive degradation in recent decades due to overexploitation. Here, we conducted field experiments to quantify the degraded grassland’s recovery rate in Northeast Inner Mongolia in response to restoration measures, including fallow + enclosure (FE) and mowing + enclosure (ME) in comparison to livestock grazing (LG), since 2005. Plant community properties were surveyed and aboveground biomass (AGB) sampled in summer 2013. Our results showed that the regional dominant species Leymus chinensis retained its dominance under FE, whereas a range of forb species gained dominance under LG. Vegetative cover was maximal under FE and minimal under LG. The least amount of vegetation development and AGB were observed under LG. However, plant diversity showed an opposite pattern, with maximal diversity under LG and minimal under FE. Statistical analysis revealed that AGB was negatively associated with plant diversity for all treatments except ME. For ME, a positive AGB-diversity relationship was characterized, suggesting that mowing intensity was a controlling factor for the AGB-diversity relationship. Overall, these results demonstrated that enclosure plus mowing represented an effective conservation measure that provided fair support to forage production and a progressive pathway to a more resilient grassland system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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13 pages, 1095 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Impacts of Short-Term Grazing Intensity on the Plant Diversity and Ecosystem Function of Alpine Steppe on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

by Xinghai Hao, Juejie Yang, Shikui Dong, Hao Shen, Fengcai He, Yangliu Zhi, Emmanuella A. Kwaku, Danjia Tu, Shengyun Dou, Xueli Zhou and Zhengrong Yang

Plants 2022, 11(14), 1889; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11141889 - 21 Jul 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2790

Abstract

Livestock grazing is the primary land use of grasslands worldwide. Grazing has been asserted to alter grassland ecosystem functions, such as productivity, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity conservation. However, few studies have focused on the impact of grazing intensity on the ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) of alpine grasslands. We conducted a field experiment of manipulating sheep grazing intensity effects on alpine steppe by surveying plant community characteristics and ecosystem functions. Our results showed that plant community composition was altered with increasing grazing intensity, and the dominant species shifted from grasses and sedges to forbs. EMF was the highest under no grazing (CK) and the lowest under heavy grazing (HG), but there was insignificant difference between CK and HG. HG significantly decreased some indicators that reflected nutrient cycling functions, such as soil available nitrogen, plant leaf nitrogen (PN) and phosphorus content (PP). Furthermore, plant diversity had strong correlations with SOC, total nitrogen (TN), and PN. The results could provide scientific bases for biodiversity conservation and sustainable grazing management of alpine steppe. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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17 pages, 3627 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function under Simulated Gradient Warming and Grazing

by Zhonghua Zhang, Li Ma, Xiaoyuan Yang, Qian Zhang, Yandi She, Tao Chang, Hongye Su, Jian Sun, Xinqing Shao, Huakun Zhou and Xinquan Zhao

Plants 2022, 11(11), 1428; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11111428 - 27 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2506

Abstract

Biodiversity and ecosystem functions and their relationship with environmental response constitute a major topic of ecological research. However, the changes in and impact mechanisms of multi-dimensional biodiversity and ecosystem functions in continuously changing environmental gradients and anthropogenic activities remain poorly understood. Here, we analyze the effects of multi-gradient warming and grazing on relationships between the biodiversity of plant and soil microbial with productivity/community stability through a field experiment simulating multi-gradient warming and grazing in alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau. We show the following results: (i) Plant biodiversity, soil microbial diversity and community productivity in alpine grasslands show fluctuating trends with temperature gradients, and a temperature increase below approximately 1 °C is beneficial to alpine grasslands; moderate grazing only increases the fungal diversity of the soil surface layer. (ii) The warming shifted plant biomass underground in alpine grasslands to obtain more water in response to the decrease in soil moisture caused by the temperature rise. Community stability was not affected by warming or grazing. (iii) Community stability was not significantly correlated with productivity, and environmental factors, rather than biodiversity, influenced community stability and productivity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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11 pages, 1626 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of 5-Year Nitrogen Addition on Species Composition and Diversity of an Alpine Steppe Plant Community on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

by Ran Zhang, Hao Shen, Shikui Dong, Shuai Li, Jiannan Xiao, Yangliu Zhi, Jing Zhang, Hui Zuo, Shengnan Wu, Zhiyuan Mu and Hang Shi

Plants 2022, 11(7), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11070966 - 1 Apr 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2582

Abstract

The N deposition rate is notably increased in China, especially in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). How plants respond to the projected N deposition on the alpine steppe is still in debate. In this study, to investigate the effects of N deposition on the plant community of the alpine steppe, we simulated N deposition at six different N addition rate levels (0, 8, 24, 40, 56, 72 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) from 2015 to 2019. Species composition and diversity were investigated as the assessment indices. The results showed that the importance value of grasses significantly increased with the increase of the N addition rate, while that of forbs significantly decreased. A high N addition rate (72 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) induced species composition change, making Leymus secalinus become the most dominant species within the entire plant community. Compared with the control (without N addition), species richness, Shannon–Weiner diversity, Simpson dominance and Pielou Evenness were significantly reduced under a high N addition rate. The changes of plant diversity in the alpine steppe were closely correlated with dynamics of soil nutrients, especially total carbon (TC), total phosphorus (TP) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄-N). Our findings suggested that a high N deposition rate (72 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹) could significantly change plant composition and reduce the diversity of the alpine steppe, though they were less affected by low N deposition rates at present. With the increase of the N deposition rate, plant composition and diversity of the alpine steppe may be negatively affected in the future. In addition, Leymus secalinus is more competitive than other species with an N deposition rate increase. Soil C, soil P and soil NH⁴-N variation induced by N deposition might play a key role in regulating changes in plant composition and diversity in the alpine steppe. In addition, longer term field investigation needs to be carried out to testify to this phenomenon with the increase of N deposition in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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13 pages, 2221 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mowing Facilitated Shoot and Root Litter Decomposition Compared with Grazing

by Shuzhen Zhang, Yuqi Wei, Nan Liu, Yongqi Wang, Asiya Manlike, Yingjun Zhang and Bo Zhang

Plants 2022, 11(7), 846; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11070846 - 23 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2371

Abstract

Shoot and root litter are two major sources of soil organic carbon, and their decomposition is a crucial nutrient cycling process in the ecosystem. Altitude and land use could affect litter decomposition by changing the environment in mountain grassland ecosystems. However, few studies have investigated the effects of land use on litter decomposition in different altitudes. We examined how land-use type (mowing vs. grazing) affected shoot and root litter decomposition of a dominant grass (Bromus inermis) in mountain grasslands with two different altitudes in northwest China. Litterbags with 6 g of shoot or root were fixed in the plots to decompose for one year. The mass loss rate of the litter, and the environmental attributes related to decomposition, were measured. Litter decomposed faster in mowing than grazing plots, resulting from the higher plant cover and soil moisture but lower bulk density, which might promote soil microbial activities. Increased altitude promoted litter decomposition, and was positively correlated with soil moisture, soil organic carbon (SOC), and β-xylosidase activity. Our results highlight the diverse influences of land-use type on litter decomposition in different altitudes. The positive effects of mowing on shoot decomposition were stronger in lower than higher altitude compared to grazing due to the stronger responses of the plant (e.g., litter and aboveground biomass) and soil (e.g., soil moisture, soil bulk density, and SOC). Soil nutrients (e.g., SOC and soil total nitrogen) seemed to play essential roles in root decomposition, which was increased in mowing plots at lower altitude and vice versa at higher altitude. Therefore, grazing significantly decreased root mass loss at higher altitude, but slightly increased at lower altitude compared to mowing. Our results indicated that the land use might variously regulate the innate differences of the plant and edaphic conditions along an altitude gradient, exerting complex impacts in litter decomposition and further influencing carbon and nutrient cycling in mountain grasslands. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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19 pages, 3845 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vegetation Dynamics in a Loess Grassland: Plant Traits Indicate Stability Based on Species Presence, but Directional Change When Cover Is Considered

by Péter Csontos, Júlia Tamás, Zsófia Kovács, Judit Schellenberger, Károly Penksza, Tibor Szili-Kovács and Tibor Kalapos

Plants 2022, 11(6), 763; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11060763 - 13 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2575

Abstract

This article evaluates the three-year vegetation dynamics of a species rich, protected steppe grassland on loess where no grazing occurred for decades at Bicske, Central Hungary. A detailed coenological survey of vascular vegetation was conducted in four permanent plots of 16 m² each from 2018 to 2020. Raunkiaer’s life-forms, distribution range, and thousand-seed weight of species were evaluated. Shannon diversity and turnover rates for the species and the vegetation were also determined for each plot. In total, 108 vascular plant species were detected. The results indicate grassland stability when plant traits spectra were based on species presence data, but directional change if species cover values were used to weight trait categories. During the three years of the study, chamaephytes decreased and woody species increased their contribution for the Raunkiaer’s life-forms, while the cosmopolitan group has steadily lost its significance for distribution range types. Shannon diversity varied between 2.46 and 3.18 among plots (based on natural logarithm) and remained statistically unchanged through time. Average species turnover rates were 14.18% for 2018/19 and 17.52% for 2019/20, whereas corresponding values for vegetation turnover rates were 25.83% and 23.28%. Vegetation turnover rate was significantly higher than the species turnover rate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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10 pages, 786 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dwarfing and the Underlying Morphological Changes of Poa alpigena Plants in Response to Overgrazing Conditions

by Hongxiao Shi, Xinhong Wu, Hai Wang, Sibagen Ha, Tingting Yang and Wenhui Liu

Plants 2022, 11(3), 336; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11030336 - 27 Jan 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2140

Abstract

Poa alpigena is a dominant grass species in alpine meadows, which is sensitive to environmental conditions. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of the anatomical structure of the stems and leaves of Poa alpigena in overgrazed and enclosed conditions in order to determine the dwarfing morphological mechanism associated with overgrazing. The results show that leaf thickness, leaf epidermal thickness, epidermal cell area, and phloem thickness increased with increased grazing intensity (p < 0.05). In contrast, xylem thickness, mesophyll cell area, and guide wall thickness decreased with an increase in grazing intensity (p < 0.05). Mesophyll cell density was relatively unaffected by grazing intensity. Additionally, the plasticity indices of leaf area, upper epidermal cutin layer thickness, and leaf xylem thickness were higher than 0.5. The plasticity indices of stem tube diameter, epidermal cell size, and epidermal cuticle thickness were greater than 0.4. The results of our study indicate that the structural stem and leaf changes in Poa alpigena are induced by the water and mechanical stresses that occur under grazing conditions. Thus, plateau plants adapt to grazing stress by increasing the thickness of their leaves, cuticles, and phloem. The mesophyll cell area, as well as the stem epidermal cell area of Poa alpigena decreased in response to minor variations in grazing intensity, yet overgrazing did not change its density. However, overgrazing induced a shortening of the leaves and stems, indicating that overgrazing has a dwarfing effect on Poa alpigena. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Grassland Diversity and Ecological Restoration)

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