A tentative exploration of livestock-poultry-grassland system

Abstract

The livestock-poultry-grassland (LPG) system, a novel land use of grassland promoted by chicken farming, is important for controlling locust disaster, fertilizing infertile soils, and providing income to herders. It has great potential to improve both ecological and productive functions of degraded grasslands. The common chicken-farming mode used in agricultural regions (MJ) is simple and easy to learn. The feasibility of introducing MJ in grassland pastoral regions is unclear, because its effects on vegetation have not been studied. We experimented by comparing MJ and zero grazing (CK). The results showed that chickens in MJ plots had a clumped pattern and depended on the stocking rate. The stocking rates of free-range chickens significantly decreased with distance from the chicken house, from 4000 birds per hm2 (at R R ( R >60 m). The plant community was significantly affected by MJ, distance, and MJ×distance. At distances from 0 to 20 m, the vegetation was severely damaged by MJ, with community height, coverage, and aboveground biomass significantly lower than those in CK. At distances from 20 to 60 m, species richness, coverage, and aboveground biomass of MJ were significantly greater than those of CK because of nutrient addition, with an increase of 110.0%, 54.7%, and 43.2%, respectively, in the current year. These values remained nearly the same in the subsequent year. At distances greater than 60 m, MJ had no significant effects on the vegetation. Therefore, considering the uneven distribution of chickens and severe vegetation damage around the chicken house, MJ is not suitable for the LPG system. To promote vegetation growth and grassland restoration, we propose chicken farming with a moderate stocking rate and an evenly distributed mode as well as the maximum possible development of the nutrient addition effect.