Comparison of vegetation changes along grazing gradients with different numbers of livestock |
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| Authors: | A Hoshino Y Yoshihara T Sasaki T Okayasu U Jamsran T Okuro K Takeuchi |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Ecosystem Studies, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan;2. Center for Ecosystem Study, Mongolian State University of Agriculture, 210153 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;1. Centre d''Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175 CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France;2. Montpellier SupAgro, 2 place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier, France;1. Chair of Biodiversity of Higher Plants, Technical University Dresden, D-01069, Dresden, Germany;2. Department of Botany, Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz, D-02826, Görlitz, Germany;3. Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, National University of Mongolia, 210646, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;4. Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Science, 210646, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;5. Friedrich Schiller University, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Philosophenweg 16, D-07743, Jena, Germany;6. Leuphana University Lüneburg, Institute of Ecology, Faculty of Sustainability, Scharnhorststr. 1, D-21335, Lüneburg, Germany;7. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Sustainable Grassland Systems, Gutshof 7, D-14641, Paulinenaue, Germany;8. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany;1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, United States;2. Department of Physics, The College at Brockport, State University of New York, Brockport, NY 14420, United States |
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| Abstract: | The objective of this study was to clarify whether the changes in percent cover of plant functional types (i.e., life forms and growth forms) along a grazing gradient reflect the livestock number, which would reinforce the reliability of using a grazing gradient design and improve the management of rangeland. We selected two livestock camps that for many years have had different numbers of livestock, with approximately six times more sheep-equivalents at site 1 than at site 2. Vegetation was sampled in 10 quadrats on five transects along the grazing gradient at each site. In each quadrat, we recorded percent cover of each plant species. Our findings suggested that vegetation changes along the grazing gradient under different livestock numbers were characterized by changes in the cover of life forms: perennial species were replaced by annual species near the camps (10–50 m). However, we did not find growth form change that reflected the difference in the number of livestock. |
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