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Response of soil moisture and temperature to grazing intensity in a Leymus chinensis steppe, Inner Mongolia

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Abstract

Long-term monitoring of soil properties reveals site-specific ecosystem shifts in soil processes due to land use and climate changes. This paper aims to study the effects of physical landscape changes associated with grazing on soil thermal and moisture regime at the plot scale in a semiarid Leymus chinensis steppe of Inner Mongolia, China. The investigated sites were subjected to three grazing intensities: ungrazed since 1979 (UG79), moderately grazed only in winter time (WG), and heavily grazed (HG). At each plot, we recorded the soil moisture and temperature over a 6-year period that spanned between June 2004 and September 2009 and experienced a large range in precipitation (162 to 362 mm). Based on these monitoring data, we divided a year into four hydric periods: (1) growing period (late April to August); (2) transitional period from summer to winter (September–October); (3) winter time (November–first March); and (4) transitional period from winter to summer (March–April). In general, soil moisture in grazed sites was lower than in the ungrazed site, particularly for the 30–50 cm soil layer. Seasonal fluctuation of the soil moisture, due to variable precipitation and atmospheric demands, was most significant in the topsoil (0–10 cm) and was less pronounced in deeper soil. Regardless of hydric seasons, soil moisture was significantly influenced by grazing intensity, whereas soil temperature was slightly influenced. With increasing grazing intensity, soil water storage decreased remarkably. Consequently, grazing reduced plant available water and therefore grassland productivity, which are linked to a great extent with the trampling-induced soil structure change and soil moisture regime.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Xingguo Han, Yongfei Bai and the Institute of Botany (Chinese Academy of Sciences) for the opportunity to work at IMGERS. We are grateful to the German Research Foundation (DFG) for funding the MAGIM project (Forschergruppe 536). Dr. Zhao acknowledges the ‘Innovation Team-building Programme, Northwest A&F University’. The two anonymous reviewers and Dr. Paul Hallett are thanked for their constructive comments for the improvement of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Resource and Environment Science, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Zhao

  2. Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Christian-Albrechts-University zu Kiel, Olshausenstr. 40, 24118, Kiel, Germany

    Ying Zhao, Stephan Peth, Agnieszka Reszkowska, Lei Gan & Rainer Horn

  3. Chair of Soil Protection and Recultivation, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus, Konrad-Wachsmann-Allee 6, 03046, Cottbus, Germany

    Julia Krümmelbein

  4. State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, CAS, Nanjing, China

    Xinhua Peng

Authors
  1. Ying Zhao
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  2. Stephan Peth
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  3. Agnieszka Reszkowska
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  4. Lei Gan
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  5. Julia Krümmelbein
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  6. Xinhua Peng
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  7. Rainer Horn
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Correspondence to Ying Zhao.

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Responsible Editor: Ingrid Koegel-Knabner.

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Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Reszkowska, A. et al. Response of soil moisture and temperature to grazing intensity in a Leymus chinensis steppe, Inner Mongolia. Plant Soil 340, 89–102 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0460-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0460-9

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