How Seasonal Grazing Exclusion Affects Grassland Productivity and Plant Community Diversity

Abstract

The Sanjiang Plain is famous for its concentrated distribution of natural wet grasslands. These wet grasslands are an important source of seasonal pasture or hay in the area. However, changes in community structure and ecosystem function have already occurred in wet grasslands because of overgrazing and climate change, resulting in severe grassland degradation. Exploring a reasonable grazing management strategy is crucial for improving grassland species diversity, increasing grassland productivity, and maintaining sustainable grassland utilization. We investigated the effects of five grazing management (GM) strategies (no grazing through the growing season (CK), spring grazing exclusion (Spr-GE), summer grazing exclusion (Sum-GE)), autumn grazing exclusion (Aut-GE), and grazing through the growing season (G)) on the productivity, community composition and structure of wet grasslands in the Sanjiang Plain under three grazing intensities (GI) (light (L), moderate (M), and heavy (H)). Results showed that Spr-GE and Sum-GE were beneficial in increasing total aboveground biomass (AGB), but decreased plant community diversity in Spr-GE due to increased intraspecies and interspecies competition. The exclusion of different seasonal grazings changed the composition of plant communities. At the level of functional groups and dominant species, Spr-GE had a significant effect on most functional groups and dominant species’ characteristics, while Aut-GE had little effect on most functional groups and dominant species’ characteristics. However, different functional groups and dominant species had different responses to seasonal grazing exclusion. In addition, under M, there were significantly improved grassland total AGB and PF AGB. The results indicated that Spr-GE with M may be an effective livestock-management strategy to protect grassland vegetation and community diversity, as well as to restore degraded grassland.