Abstract
Semi-arid grassland in northern China faces degradation and desertification problems, with fertilizer application appearing to be a potential solution by improving soil fertility and plant fields or biodiversity. In this study, mineral and organic fertilizers were used in a semi-arid natural grassland in Hebei Province for three years. The plant characteristics, biomass and species diversity index were assessed and analyzed. In the years 2016 and 2017, mineral fertilizers (RC) significantly increased the total aboveground biomass and the aboveground biomass, natural height, density and coverage of Leymus chinensis compared with organic fertilizers (RO), especially at a moderate application rate (RC2). Leymus chinensis was first divided into its own group and then separated into four groups via cluster tree analysis. The importance values of Leymus chinensis showed continuous increases in mineral fertilizer treatments, but not for organic fertilizers. Margalef’s species richness indexes increased significantly (to 2.09) in the organic treatment (RO1) when compared with RC2. Thus, it was concluded that mineral fertilizers could enhance the position of Leymus chinensis in the natural grassland, while organic fertilizers could promote species biodiversity. This study also provides recommendations regarding the use of fertilizers for the purposes of increasing plant biomass and biodiversity in semi-arid grasslands of northern China.
Highlights
In agricultural soil, fertilizer application potentially influences soil nutrients, their availability properties and crop yields [1]
In 2016, the total aboveground biomass increased significantly to 363.99 g·m−2 in RC2 compared with the CK and all treatments of organic fertilizer application (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference compared with RC1 and RC3 (P > 0.05)
The Leymus chinensis aboveground biomass significantly increased to 270.88 g·m−2 and, in contrast, had no significant difference compared to the other treatments (Table 2)
Summary
Fertilizer application potentially influences soil nutrients, their availability properties and crop yields [1]. More N input pollutes the water table in the instance of heavy rains or in sand soils Their nitrogen use efficiency can be very low; the nitrous oxide gas which can be emitted for volatilization by their land spreading is one of the main greenhouse gases. Another important mineral nutrient for crop production is phosphate (P) [16], which improves soil fertility and maintains the equilibrium of soil nutrients [17,18,19]. High rates of P, together with N, tend to result in basin eutrophication by soil erosion due to rain or wind
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