Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta‐analysis
Jiangsu University · East China Normal University · +2 more institutions
Abstract
Livestock grazing activities potentially alter ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in grassland ecosystems. Despite the fact that numerous individual studies and a few meta-analyses had been conducted, how grazing, especially its intensity, affects belowground C and N cycling in grasslands remains unclear. In this study, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 115 published studies to examine the responses of 19 variables associated with belowground C and N cycling to livestock grazing in global grasslands. Our results showed that, on average, grazing significantly decreased belowground C and N pools in grassland ecosystems, with the largest decreases in microbial biomass C and N (21.62% and…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 27.23
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 77
Authors
8Topics & keywords
- Grazing
- Environmental science
- Cycling
- Grassland
- Ecosystem
- Agronomy
- Soil carbon
- Nitrogen cycle