Short-term management and stocking rate effects of grazing sheep on herbage quality and productivity of Inner Mongolia steppe
P. Schönbach A E , H. Wan A , A. Schiborra B , M. Gierus A , Y. Bai C , K. Müller D , T. Glindemann D , C. Wang D , A. Susenbeth D and F. Taube AA Institute of Crop Science and Plant Breeding - Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Christian-Albrechts-University, Hermann-Rodewald-Str. 9, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
B Group Animal Husbandry in the Topics and Subtropics, Georg-August-University of Goettingen and University of Kassel, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
C Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100093 Beijing, P.R. China.
D Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Christian-Albrechts-University, Hermann-Rodewald-Str. 9, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
E Corresponding author. Email: pschoenbach@email.uni-kiel.de
Crop and Pasture Science 60(10) 963-974 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP09048
Submitted: 6 February 2008 Accepted: 10 July 2009 Published: 18 September 2009
Abstract
Degradation and decreasing productivity increasingly demand sustainable grazing management practices within Inner Mongolian steppe ecosystems. This study focuses on grazing-induced degradation processes over a wide range of stocking rates and aims to identify short-term sensitive indicators and alternative management practices. Short-term effects of 2 grazing management systems (Mixed System and Traditional System) and 7 stocking rates (SR0, SR1.5, SR3, SR4.5, SR6, SR7.5, and SR9 for 0,1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5, and 9 sheep/ha, respectively) on yielding performance and herbage quality were measured on experimental plots in which moveable exclosures were used on areas chronically grazed by sheep. The experiment was conducted in a typical steppe ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, P. R. China. Results are presented for 2005 and 2006.
Sampling time was the main factor affecting yield and quality. Stocking rate also showed considerable effects on yield. Herbage mass decreased linearly from SR0 to SR9, by 85% and 82% in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Herbage accumulation was also affected by stocking rate, and was highest at SR1.5 and clearly reduced at SR9. Grazing effects on relative growth rate indicated grazing tolerance of plants in the short-term, since up to high stocking rates, relative growth rates remained stable. Precipitation also determined plant responses to increasing levels of grazing. The year of higher rainfall generated higher grazing tolerance of plants and higher herbage growth than the drought year. Despite considerable reduction of herbage mass, consistent short-term responses of herbage quality to grazing in 2005 and 2006 were reflected only in terms of crude protein and acid detergent lignin. Herbage crude protein content was highest at SR7.5 and SR9, while lignin was lowest at SR7.5 and SR9. Neither productivity nor herbage quality was affected by the management system, suggesting that both systems may be applicable on typical steppe in the short-term.
Additional keywords: grazing experiment, grazing intensity, semi-arid grassland, typical steppe, Leymus chinensis, Stipa grandis.
Acknowledgments
This study was realised within the framework of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) research group 536 MAGIM, a Sino-German inter-disciplinary project and the Natural Science Foundation of China (30770370, 30825008). The authors are grateful to the trained local operators for enabling the enormous data collection by their unfailing efforts, to Karin Makoben for chemical laboratory analysis, to Ralf Loges for generating NIRS validation and calibration statistics, and to Gerhard Rave and Hela Mehrtens for helpful discussions on statistics.
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