Impact of grazing on hydraulic, thermal and mechanical soil properties of grassland soils in the steppe ecosystem of the Xilin River Basin (Inner Mongolia)
Final Report Abstract
1. Animal trampling leads to changes in soil mechanical and hydraulic properties on different scales. Intensive (heavy) grazing increases tensile strength, in-situ shear resistance and precompression stress which have detrimental effects on root growth and nutrient accessibility. Anisotropy of hydraulic soil functions reflects the significant change in soil structure resulting from grazing/trampling. Soil structural changes are associated with a decrease in air capacity and hydraulic conductivity. 2. Long term exclusion of grazing can restore soil functioning, however, soils are mechanically very vulnerable in this state and repeated grazing would likely deteriorate soil structure and physical properties rapidly. 3. Soil mechanical and hydraulic properties depend on vegetation type. In general LC is characterized by higher tensile soil aggregate strength and higher water repellency but lower precompression stresses and lower saturated hydraulic conductivity. Recovery of soil structure following grazing exclusion was more intense in the LC sites than in the SG site. 4. Soil properties were interrelated with significant correlations between SWC, Ks, WDPT, SOC and DB. Spatial heterogeneity of soil parameters decreased with increasing grazing intensity due to soil compaction and homogenization during trampling, reduced input of organic matter and for the heavily grazed site significantly reduced soil water storage. Moderate grazing, however, did not show a negative effect on soil water storage and long term measurements even revealed a slight increase in surface soil water content compared to ungrazed sites.
Publications
- (2007): Spatial variability of soil properties affected by grazing intensity in Inner Mongolia grassland. Ecological Modelling, 205, 241-254
Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Krümmelbein, J., Horn, R., Wang, Z., Steffens, M., Hoffmann, C., Peng, X.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2007.02.019) - (2008): Determination of precompression stress of a variously grazed steppe soil under static and cyclic loading. Soil Tillage Research, 99, 139–148
Krümmelbein, J., Peth, S., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2008.01.008) - (2009): Grazing induced alterations of soil hydraulic properties and functions in Inner Mongolia, P.R. China. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 172 (6), 769-777
Krümmelbein, J., Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200800218) - (2010): Controls of surface soil moisture spatial patterns and their temporal stability in a semi-arid steppe. Hydrological Processes, 24, 2507-2519
Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Wang, X.Y., Lin, H., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7665) - (2010): Response of soil moisture and temperature to grazing intensity in a Leymus chinensis steppe, Inner Mongolia. Plant and Soil, 340 (1-2), 89-102
Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Reszkowska, A., Gan, L., Krümmelbein, J., Peng, X., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0460-9) - (2010): Wettability affected by soil characteristics and land uses. Pedosphere, 20 (1), 43-54
Wang, X.Y., Zhao, Y., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(09)60281-2) - Modeling grazing effects on coupled water and heat fluxes in Inner Mongolia grassland. Soil Tillage and Research, 109 (2), 75-86
Ying Zhao, Stephan Peth, Rainer Horn, Julia Krümmelbein, Bettina Ketzer, Yingzhi Gao, Jose Doerner, Christian Bernhofer, Xinhua Peng
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2010.04.005) - (2011): Factors controlling the spatial patterns of soil moisture in a grazed semi-arid steppe investigated by multivariate geostatistics. Ecohyrology, 4 (1), 36-48
Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Hallett, P., Wang, X.Y., Giese, M., Gao, Y.Z., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/eco.121) - (2011): Grazing Effects on Compressibility of Kastanozems in Inner Mongolian Steppe Ecosystem. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 75 (2), 426-433
Rezkowska, A., Peth, S., Peng, X.H., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2010.0225) - (2011): Influence of grazing on hydraulic and mechanical properties of semiarid steppe soils under different vegetation type in Inner Mongolia, China. Plant and Soil, 340 (1-2), 59-72
Rezkowska, A., Krummelbein, J., Peth, S., Horn, R., Zhao, Y., Gan, L.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0405-3) - (2011): Influence of grazing on soil water and gas fluxes of two Inner Mongolian steppe ecosystems. Soil & Tillage Research, 111 (2), 180-189
Rezkowska, A., Krummelbein, J., Gan, L., Peth, S., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2010.10.003) - (2011): Response of soil moisture and temperature to grazing intensity in a Leymus chinensis steppe, Inner Mongolia. Plant and Soil, 340 (1-2), 89-102
Zhao, Y., Peth, S., Reszkowska, A., Gan, L., Krümmelbein, J., Peng, X., Horn, R.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0460-9)
