Grazing increases below - ground biomass and net primary production in a temperate grassland
Background and aims: Grazing can affect the stock and flow of C between above and below-ground vegetation layers. Components of below-ground stratum are one of the less studied. The goals of this research were: 1] to characterize and estimate the vertical distribution of below-ground biomass in grazed and ungrazed areas during a growing season, and 2] to evaluate grazing effects on below-ground net primary production [BNPP]. Methods: Below-ground biomass was cored four times to 100 cm depth during a growing season on three paired grazed-ungrazed areas in South-central Uruguayan grasslands. BNPP was estimated using both field data and CENTURY model. Results: On average, below-ground biomass was higher in grazed [1417 gm?2] than in ungrazed areas [945 gm?2] and showed a marked reduction in relation with soil depth. Turnover rates were 0.40 and 0.37 years?1 in grazed and ungrazed areas respectively. Field data and CENTURY simulation showed higher BNPP in grazed areas [1.86; 0.77 gm?2days?1 respectively] than in ungrazed areas [1.07; 0.67 gm?2days?1 respectively]. Conclusions: Grazed areas showed higher below-ground biomass, BNPP and turnover that ungrazed areas. Grazing has an important role in regulating both stock and dynamics of C in grassland ecosystems.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | spa |
| Subjects: | VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION, URUGUAY, TEMPERATE ENVIRONMENT, SOIL DEPTH, SOIL CORES, ROOT DISTRIBUTION, NET PRIMARY PRODUCTION, GROWING SEASON, GRAZING, GRAZED-UNGRAZED, GRASSLAND, ECOLOGICAL MODELING, CENTURY MODEL, CARBON SEQUESTRATION, C SEQUESTRATION, BELOWGROUND BIOMASS, ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS, , |
| Online Access: | http://ceiba.agro.uba.ar/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=47166 http://ceiba.agro.uba.ar/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber= http://ceiba.agro.uba.ar/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber= http://ceiba.agro.uba.ar/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber= |
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