Impacts of Grazing on Vegetation and Soil Physicochemical Properties in Northern Yinshan Mountain Grasslands

Abstract

The grasslands at the northern foot of the Yinshan Mountains are an integral component of the northern grassland ecosystem in China. The ecosystem in this region has low stability and poor resistance to disturbance. In this study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the possible changes in vegetation community structure and soil physicochemical properties due to overgrazing in the grasslands. Completely randomized group experiments were designed with grazing intensity as the single-factor study was conducted using natural grassland located in Xilamuren (in Inner Mongolia, northern China) as the study area. Three blocks were created, each having four plots of different grazing intensities and each block having an area of 100 m × 100 m. The experiments were conducted to evaluate the possible variances both in the structure of the vegetation community and the soil physicochemical properties resulting from overgrazing in the grasslands at the northern foot of Yinshan Mountain. The results were as follows: The importance values of dominant species, such as Heteropappus altaicus and Artimisia gmelinii, exhibited varying degrees of change with an increase in the grazing intensity. The surface vegetation cover decreased significantly with an increase in the grazing intensity. The increasing grazing intensity led to a significant increase in the content of very coarse sand grains in the soil. Severe grazing increased the exposed surface area, intensified the effects of blowing wind and scouring action of water, and led to the coarsening of topsoil particles. At 0–5 cm depth, the bulk density of soil exhibited an increasing tendency with an increase in the grazing intensity. The organic matter content of the soil in the heavily grazed plots decreased by 11.74%, 11.00%, and 14.08%, respectively, when compared to that in the 0–40 cm soil layer with no grazing, light grazing, and moderate grazing. The results emphasized the importance of managing grazing intensity for soil and vegetation restoration. Thus, the effects of short-term grazing (for example, 5 years) on vegetation community composition and species diversity may be less pronounced. This study contributes to our understanding of pasture management and the restoration of grassland species diversity.