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Biotic communities cannot mitigate the negative effects of grazing on multiple ecosystem functions and services in an arid shrubland

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Abstract

Aims

Dryland biotic communities (plants and biocrusts) are known to maintain multiple functions (multifunctionality) and services (multiservices) that decline with overgrazing by domestic livestock. Here, we evaluate the role of biotic communities in controlling the responses of multiple functions and services to grazing in an arid shrubland.

Methods

We compared nine ecosystem functions and services associated with carbon and nitrogen cycling, and water infiltration at grazed and ungrazed sites in eastern Australia. We hypothesized that overgrazing would reduce individual functions, but that effects on multifunctionality and multiservices would be tempered by shrubs, vascular plants and biocrusts.

Results

Grazing reduced biocrust cover, soil phosphatase, β-glucosidase and potential mineralization, but not plant richness, soil respiration, infiltration measures nor dissolved inorganic N. In our models, grazing had the largest and most negative effects on multifunctionality and multiservices. Structural equation modelling showed that grazing reduced biocrust cover. Unlike the univariate analyses, grazing reduced plant cover and suppressed any positive effect of these biotic communities on multifunctionality and multiservices.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that any positive buffering by plant richness, shrubs and plant cover on multifunctions or multiservices will not offset the negative effects of grazing. Strategies to improve functionality of arid shrublands should focus on the management of total grazing pressure.

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Acknowledgments

Jing Zhang received support from the National Basic Research Program (2014CB954200) and National Natural Scientific Foundation (41401117) of China to visit Australia, and a Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station Scholarship for travel and living allowances while in Australia. We are extremely grateful for the support provided by Dr. Keith Leggett from the University of NSW Arid Zone Research Station at Fowlers Gap.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresources in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, 830011, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China

    Jing Zhang

  2. University of New South Wales Arid Zone Research Station, Fowlers Gap, via Broken Hill, NSW, 2880, Australia, c/- Centre for Ecosystem Studies, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Jing Zhang & David J. Eldridge

  3. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo

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  1. Jing Zhang
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  2. David J. Eldridge
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  3. Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
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Correspondence to David J. Eldridge.

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Responsible Editor: Harry Olde Venterink.

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Zhang, J., Eldridge, D.J. & Delgado-Baquerizo, M. Biotic communities cannot mitigate the negative effects of grazing on multiple ecosystem functions and services in an arid shrubland. Plant Soil 401, 381–395 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2754-4

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