Grazing intensity effects on soil nitrogen mineralization in semi-arid grassland on the Loess Plateau of northern China

Abstract

Soil nitrogen transformation has been the subject of growing attention in many semi-arid grassland ecosystems. In our study, we employed an intact soil core in situ incubation technique and measured seasonal changes in soil net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates. The measurements were taken from the upper 0–10 cm soil layer of a permanent grassland during a growing season in a 8.5-year field experiment on the Loess Plateau, China that had four grazing intensities (0, 2.7, 5.3 and 8.7 sheep ha−1). Our results demonstrate marked seasonal variations in inorganic nitrogen pools, net nitrogen mineralization and net nitrification. The rates of mineralization and nitrification were highest in August and lowest in September. No consistent differences in monthly net nitrogen mineralization and monthly nitrification rates were observed among the different grazing intensities. Sheep grazing stimulated nitrogen transformation, and the most stimulation occurred at a heavy grazing intensity of 8.7 sheep ha−1. The mean soil net nitrification rate was positively correlated with the soil C/N ratio and pH. The mean N mineralization rate was negatively correlated with soil organic carbon, but was positively correlated with the soil C/N ratio. Our study demonstrated net nitrogen mineralization and nitrification rates were strongly linked to grazing intensity, soil temperature and moisture content.