Synergy and trade-off between plant functional traits enhance grassland multifunctionality under grazing exclusion in a semi-arid region

文献类型： 外文期刊

第一作者： Gao, Yang

作者： Gao, Yang;Liu, Jian;Wang, Duojia;An, Yu;Ma, Hongyuan;Tong, Shouzheng

作者机构：

关键词： Ecosystem multifunctionality; Community weighted mean; Restoration duration; Songnen grasslands; Structural equation modeling

期刊名称：JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT （ 影响因子：8.4； 五年影响因子：8.6 ）

ISSN： 0301-4797

年卷期： 2025 年 373 卷

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Grazing exclusion is effective in restoring vegetation and ecological services in degraded grasslands within semiarid regions. Variations in plant functional traits associated with the duration of grazing exclusion can indicate both ecological adaptability of plants and restoration processes of ecosystems. However, research on ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) under grazing exclusion and restoration mechanisms mediated by plant functional traits is relatively limited. In this study, we calculated EMF based on plant species diversity, above-ground biomass (AGB), below-ground biomass (BGB), storages of soil organic carbon (TSOC), soil nitrogen (TSN), and soil phosphorus (TSP) in grasslands under varying durations of grazing exclusion in the semi-arid Songnen Plain, China, and investigated the trait-based pathways involved in forming EMF. The findings revealed irregular fluctuations in plant species diversity, while AGB, TSOC, TSN, and TSP exhibited a linear increase with grazing exclusion duration. Additionally, BGB initially increased but experienced a slight decline over the 17 years of grazing exclusion (GE17). Notably, EMF peaked at 0.778 in GE17 site. In particular, the proportions of AGB and TSOC in the EMF were higher in grazing exclusion sites than that in grazing site. Leaf area (LA) and leaf weight (LW) were lowest in grazing site and highest in GE17 site. Redundancy analysis indicated that the plant functional traits, including LA, leaf nitrogen content (LNC), and LW, collectively explained a substantial proportion of the variance (70.85%) in ecosystem function indicators. Structural equation modelling analysis revealed a direct impact of grazing exclusion on EMF (P < 0.05). However, EMF was remarkably and directly affected by the AGB (P < 0.01) that regulated by the trade-off between LW and LNC. In addition, the synergy between LW and LA had an impact on TSP (P < 0.01), and further enhance EMF (P < 0.05). These findings prominently emphasize the advantageous outcomes of proper grazing exclusion concerning the functional aspects of degraded grasslands. Moreover, they persuasively validate the crucial significance of plant functional traits in relation to the enhancement of EMF. Consequently, this study is capable of providing valuable information for revealing multiple driven mechanisms of grassland EMF in the semi-arid regions.

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