Optimising grazing for livestock production and environmental benefits in Chinese grasslands
Warwick B. Badgery A B G , David Kemp B , Zhang Yingjun C , Wang Zhongwu D , Han Guodong D , Hou Fujiang E , Liu Nan C , David Michalk B and Karl Behrendt B F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A NSW Department of Primary Industries, Agricultural Research Institute, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.
B Charles Sturt University, Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia.
C China Agricultural University, College of Grassland Science and Technology, Beijing, China.
D Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, College of Grassland, Resources and Environment, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China.
E Lanzhou University, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou, Gansu, China.
F Harper Adams University, Newport, Shropshire, England.
G Corresponding author. Email: warwick.badgery@dpi.nsw.gov.au
The Rangeland Journal 42(5) 347-358 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ20049
Submitted: 31 May 2020 Accepted: 20 October 2020 Published: 7 December 2020
Journal Compilation © Australian Rangeland Society 2020 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Overgrazing has extensively degraded Chinese grasslands. A reduction in stocking rate of 30–50% below the district averages is required to increase the profitability of livestock production and protect vital ecosystem services such as mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHG). Grazing experiments located in the desert steppe, typical steppe and alpine meadow verified the influence of stocking rate and grazing management on livestock production, grassland composition and associated ecosystem services. The desert steppe experiment found lower stocking rates of ~150 SE (where SE is sheep equivalent, which is a 50 kg animal) grazing days ha–1 (1 SE ha–1 over 150 days) enhanced botanical composition, maintained profitable lamb growth rates and reduced GHG emissions intensity. The typical steppe experiment found moderate grazing pressure of ~400 SE grazing days ha–1 (4 SE ha–1 over 100 days) maintained higher lamb growth rates, an average herbage mass >0.5 t DM ha–1 that maintained the content of Leymus chinensis above 70% and Artemisia frigida below 10% of the grassland and had the highest level of net carbon sequestration. In the alpine meadow experiment the district average stocking rate of ~16 SE ha–1 (1440 SE grazing days ha–1 over 90 days) was not too high, but extending grazing into the non-growing season had no benefit. The findings of these experiments highlight that many of the benefits to ecosystem services can be achieved with reduced stocking rates which also generate profitable levels of livestock production. In both the desert and typical steppe experiments, the results were optimal when the stocking rates were adjusted to maintain average herbage mass over summer above ~0.5 t DM ha–1, whereas herbage mass was higher with the local, conservative stocking rates in the alpine meadow.
Keywords: alpine meadow, desert steppe, ecosystem services, grassland composition, grazing management, greenhouse gases, sheep production, typical steppe.
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