Floristic compositions of Inner Mongolian grasslands under different land‐use conditions

Abstract

AbstractThe severe degradation of grasslands caused by overgrazing and other diverse human operations has become widespread in Inner Mongolia, China. In this study, the vegetations of several grasslands under different land‐use conditions were compared to examine the relationships between the vegetation and the disturbance of the grassland. Floristic and life‐form compositions of the stands representing the six different sites were researched by the quadrat method: a non‐grazed grassland (G1), a lightly grazed grassland (G2), a path (P), an abandoned field (AF) and two artificial meadows (M1 and M2). P, AF, M1 and M2 were located in a part of the grazed grassland. AF, M1 and M2 had been tilled when planted. The dominant species found in G1 and G2 were Potentilla fragarioides, Poa annua, and Cleistogenes squarrosa. Artemisia annua, Chenopodium album, Cannabis sativa f. ruderalis and Calystegia hederacea were found in P and AF, being scarce in the grassland areas. Amaranthus retroflexus, Kochia scoparia and Setaria viridis, which are cosmopolitan weeds, were dominant only in AF. Leymus chinensis, Agropyron cristatum, Potentilla bifurca, and Potentilla tanacetifolia were widely observed across all the surveyed sites. The land‐use change from grassland to path caused a decrease of perennial species and an invasion of annual species by heavy trampling. A similar vegetational change occurred with the land‐use change from grassland to abandoned field due to the destruction of original vegetation by tillage. Human disturbance such as tillage and trampling also resulted in a decrease in the species with the tufted‐ and branched‐form and an increase in the species with the erect‐form. Tillage could produce a more serious impact on the grassland vegetation as compared to grazing.