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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are obligate symbionts that engage in crucial interactions with plants, playing a vital role in grassland ecology. Our study focuses on the pioneer plant Agropyron cristatum, and we collected soil samples from four degraded grasslands in Yudaokou to investigate the response of community composition to the succession of degraded grasslands. We measured the vegetation status, soil physical and chemical properties, AMF colonization, and spore density in different degraded grasslands. High-throughput sequencing was employed to analyze AMF in soil samples. Correlations among community composition, soil characteristics, and plant factors were studied using principal component and regression analyses. The distribution of AMF in grasslands exhibited variation with different degrees of degradation, with Glomus, Scutellospora, and Diversispora being the dominant genera. The abundance of dominant genera in AMF also varied, showing a gradual increase in the relative abundance of the genus Diversispora with higher degradation levels. AMF diversity decreased from 27.7% to 12.4% throughout the degradation process. Among 180 samples of Agropyron cristatum plants, AMF hyphae and vesicles displayed the highest infection status in non-degraded grasslands and the lowest in severely degraded ones. Peak AMF spore production occurred in August, with maximum values in the 0-10-cm soil layer, and the highest spore densities were found in lightly degraded grasslands. Apart from pH, soil factors exhibited a positive correlation with AMF infection during grassland degradation. Furthermore, changes in AMF community composition were jointly driven by vegetation and soil characteristics, with vegetation coverage and soil organic carbon significantly impacting AMF distribution. Significant differences in AMF variables (spore number and diversity index) were also observed at different soil depths. Grassland successional degradation significantly influences AMF community structure and composition. Our future focus will be on understanding response mechanisms and implementing improvement methods for AMF during grassland degradation and subsequent restoration efforts.

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Grazing is the most extensive land use in grassland worldwide, wherein the soil microbiome is known to support multiple ecosystem functions. Yet, the experimental impact of livestock grazing and dung deposits on the soil microbiome in degraded grassland remains poorly understood. We examined the effects of sheep dung depositions on the bacterial and fungal microbiome of two grasslands: non-degraded and degraded (long-term overgrazing) in northern China. Specifically, sheep dung was experimentally added to the soil and its effects on the soil microbial community were determined 3 months later (corresponding to livestock excreta deposited throughout the entire growing season of grassland, June to September). Our results showed that sheep dung additions showed negative effects on the soil microbiome of already degraded grassland, while with a diminished impact on the non-degraded grassland. In particular, dung deposition decreased soil microbial Shannon index, notably significantly reducing fungal diversity in degraded grassland. Moreover, sheep dung deposition modifies soil bacterial community structure and diminishes bacterial community network complexity. The alteration of soil pH caused by sheep dung deposition partially explains the decline in microbial diversity in degraded grassland. However, sheep dung did not alter the relative abundance and community composition of bacterial and fungal dominant phyla either in the non-degraded or in the degraded grassland. In conclusion, the short-term deposition of sheep dung exerted a detrimental influence on the microbial community in degraded grassland soil. It contributes new experimental evidence regarding the adverse effects of livestock grazing, particularly through dung deposition, on the soil microbiome in degraded grassland. This knowledge is crucial for guiding managers in conserving the soil microbiome in grazed grasslands.

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Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are a defense mechanism against herbivores, which in turn use detoxification metabolism to process ingested and absorbed PSMs. The feeding environment can cause changes in liver metabolism patterns and the gut microbiota. Here, we compared gut microbiota and liver metabolome to investigate the response mechanism of plateau zokors (Eospalax baileyi) to toxic plant Stellera chamaejasme (SC) in non-SC and SC grassland (-SCG and +SCG). Our results indicated that exposure to SC in the -SCG population increased liver inflammatory markers including prostaglandin (PG) in the Arachidonic acid pathway, while exposure to SC in the +SCG population exhibited a significant downregulation of PGs. Secondary bile acids were significantly downregulated in +SCG plateau zokors after SC treatment. Of note, the microbial taxa Veillonella in the -SCG group was significantly correlated with liver inflammation markers, while Clostridium innocum in the +SCG group had a significant positive correlation with secondary bile acids. The increase in bile acids and PGs can lead to liver inflammatory reactions, suggesting that +SCG plateau zokors may mitigate the toxicity of SC plants by reducing liver inflammatory markers including PGs and secondary bile acids, thereby avoiding liver damage. This provides new insight into mechanisms of toxicity by PSMs and counter-mechanisms for toxin tolerance by herbivores.

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The grasslands in North China are rich in fungal resources. However, the knowledge of the structure and function of fungal communities and the role of microbial communities in vegetation restoration and succession are limited. Thus, we used an Illumina HiSeq PE250 high-throughput sequencing platform to study the changing characteristics of soil fungal communities in degraded grasslands, which were categorized as non-degraded (ND), lightly degraded, moderately degraded, and severely degraded (SD). Moreover, a correlation analysis between soil physical and chemical properties and fungal communities was completed. The results showed that the number of plant species, vegetation coverage, aboveground biomass, and diversity index decreased significantly with increasing degradation, and there were significant differences in the physical and chemical properties of the soil among the different degraded grasslands. The dominant fungal phyla in the degraded grassland were as follows: Ascomycota, 44.88%-65.03%; Basidiomycota, 12.68%-29.91%; and unclassified, 5.51%-16.91%. The dominant fungi were as follows: Mortierella, 6.50%-11.41%; Chaetomium, 6.71%-11.58%; others, 25.95%-36.14%; and unclassified, 25.56%-53.0%. There were significant differences in the microbial Shannon-Wiener and Chao1 indices between the ND and degraded meadows, and the composition and diversity of the soil fungal community differed significantly as the meadows continued to deteriorate. The results showed that pH was the most critical factor affecting soil microbial and fungal communities in SD grasslands, whereas soil microbial and fungal communities in ND grasslands were mainly affected by water content and other environmental factors.

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Bud banks are considered a crucial factor in regulating the species composition of grassland communities and maintaining the ecological function of alpine grasslands. However, few studies have paid attention to the dynamic changes of bud banks from undisturbed to severely degraded alpine meadows. Therefore, this study examined the correlations between plant diversity and bud bank traits at different stages of alpine meadows degradation. Grass biomasses and plant diversity were found to be highest in moderately degraded meadows, and sedge biomasses were highest in lightly degraded meadows. Lack of disturbance and moderate disturbance by herbivores increased the bud bank density of alpine meadows. Consistent with the changes in bud bank density, bud bank diversity was highest in undisturbed meadows. The structural equation model indicated that the densities of rhizome and the densities and diversities of tiller buds play crucial roles in facilitating the greater diversity of the plant community. Our findings suggest that the diversities and densities of rhizome and tiller buds in the degradation stages are synchronized with changes in plant diversity, and in the regenerative ability of bud banks, which largely determine the outcome of restoration in degraded meadows. These findings could provide a frame of reference for effectively restoring degraded alpine regions by regenerating bud banks. The potential driving force and renewal capacity of bud banks should be taken into account in restoring the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau's degraded meadow.

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To understand the formation process of typical poisonous plant degraded grassland, we studied the cha-racteristics of vegetation and soil during the gradual expansion of Ligularia virgaurea into the native grassland of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results showed that population density, plant height, coverage, and biomass of L. virgaurea increased during the formation of L. virgaurea degraded grassland. In comparison with native grassland, the degraded grassland had higher total aboveground biomass (113.9%), soil total nitrogen concentration (61.0%), NH4+-N (77.9%), organic carbon concentration (45.3%), available phosphorus concentration (78.8%) as well as soil microbial biomass carbon (42.1%) and nitrogen (47.4%), but lower NO3--N (40.1%) and species richness (28.5%) and aboveground biomass (45.7%) of other species beyond L. virgaurea. The extremely strong abilities of interspecific inhibition and morphological plasticity of L. virgaurea, as well as efficient nutrient accumulation and utilization were the keys to its successful expansion, which facilitated the formation of typical L. virgaurea degraded grassland.

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To explore whether there were differences among the patterns of response of grasslands with different levels of degradation to extreme drought events and nitrogen addition, three grasslands along a degradation gradient (extremely, moderately, and lightly degraded) were selected in the Bashang area of northern China using the human disturbance index (HDI). A field experiment with simulated extreme spring drought, nitrogen addition, and their interaction was conducted during the growing seasons of 2020 and 2021. The soil moisture, aboveground biomass, and composition of the plant community were measured. The primary results were as follows. (1) Drought treatment caused soil drought stress, with moderately degraded grassland being the most affected, which resulted in an 80% decrease in soil moisture and a 78% decrease in aboveground biomass. The addition of nitrogen did not mitigate the impact of drought. Moreover, the aboveground net primary production (ANPP) in 2021 was less sensitive to spring drought than in 2020. (2) The community composition changed after 2 years of drought treatment, particularly for the moderately degraded grasslands with annual forbs, such as Salsola collina, increasing significantly in biomass proportion, which led to a trend of exacerbated degradation (higher HDI). This degradation trend decreased under the addition of nitrogen. (3) The variation in drought sensitivities of the ANPP was primarily determined by the proportion of plants based on the classification of degradation indicators in the community, with higher proportions of intermediate degradation indicator species exhibiting more sensitivity to spring drought. These findings can help to provide scientific evidence for the governance and restoration of regional degraded grassland under frequent extreme weather conditions.

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Tibetan medicine Lamiophlomis rotata(Benth.)Kudo is a plant belonging to the genus L.rotata(Benth.)in Labiatae,which is a commonly used bulk Tibetan medicine.As a first-class endangered Tibetan medicine,its sustainable utilization of resources is representative,and it is particularly important to master its species characteristics and adaptation mechanism under high Plateau adversity.This paper sorts out the habitat characteristics,morphological characteristics,population ecological characteristics,reproductive characteristics and other aspects of L.rotata(Benth.),analyzes the growth characteristics and adverse ecological factors of L.rotata(Benth.)in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau grassland,and analyzes its adaptation mechanism in drought,cold and different degraded grass from two aspects of biological characteristics and physiological characteristics.The author believes that it is necessary to study its stress resistance mechanism from many aspects,such as gene and molecular biology,and explore the suitable planting mode of monoculture,so as to provide a theoretical basis for introduction and domestication,cultivation management,resource protection and sustainable utilization.

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This study proposed nitrogen addition experiments to analyze the effects of exogenous nitrogen addition on soil fungal diversity in alpine meadow. All the experiments were performed in degraded alpine meadow with two different slopes (gentle slope and steep slope) in Guoluo Prefecture of the Sanjiangyuan Region, and the sequence and analysis of ITS of soil fungi were performed using MiSeq PE250 sequencing technology. Comparative analysis was carried out with three nitrogen addition levels on soil fungal diversity in degraded grassland with different slopes, which included low nitrogen (LN, 2 g·m-2), middle nitrogen (MN, 5 g·m-2), and high nitrogen (HN, 10 g·m-2). The results showed that:① the distribution groups of fungi in the soil were Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Glomomycota, and the dominant bacteria was Ascomycota. ② The dominant genera were Mortierella and Archaeorhizomyces, and there were no differences in response to different slopes and nitrogen addition levels. ③ A total of 95 genera (Gibberellum, Preussia, etc.) were identified and significantly differed between two different slopes (P<0.05). ④ Bacteria with a relative abundance less than 1% had significant differences in nitrogen addition at different levels on the same slope (P<0.05). 5 In addition, the analyses of α and ß diversities showed that soil fungal community structure was stable under different slopes and nitrogen addition levels. Exogenous nitrogen supplementation significantly improved the relative abundance of non-dominant fungal communities without destroying soil fungal community structure.

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Understanding the responses of functional trait variation for grassland plants to grazing disturbance is highly helpful to clarify the community assembly mechanism, functional diversity maintenance, plant adaptation and their strategies. We investigated plant functional traits (plant height, root length, leaf area, root area, leaf dry matter content, shoot dry matter content, root dry matter content, specific leaf area, specific root length and root/ shoot ratio) and the responses of their variation characteristics to grazing disturbance in enclosure and grazing grasslands in Horqin Sandy Land. The results showed that the interspecific variation of functional trait was obviously higher than the intraspecific variation in degraded grassland. The relative contribution of interspecific variation to the overall trait variation ranged from 70.2% to 95.1%, while that of intraspecific variation only contributed 4.9% to 29.8%. However, that did not imply the intraspecific variation could be ignored in the community assembly. The interspecific variation in grazing grassland was lower than that in enclosed grassland, while the intraspecific variation increased but the interspecific variation decreased in grazing grassland. Grazing resulted in the decrease of leaf area and leaf dry matter content but the increase of specific root length for pastoral-resistant grasses. However, pastoral-tolerant forbs would improve their dominance in the community by decreasing specific root length and increa-sing leaf area and leaf dry matter content. The traits sensitive to grazing were leaf area, leaf dry matter content, specific root length, and specific leaf area. Leaf traits and root traits were significantly positively correlated within and with each other. Grazing would enhance the synergy of root traits while reduce the synergy of leaf traits. That meant grazing could change the trade-off strategy of functional traits in individual and population levels, and thus affect vegetation structure and function in community level.

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Nitrogen (N) enrichment poses a severe threat to ecosystem multifunctionality. Given increasing variability of ecosystem functioning and uncertainty under global change, a pressing question is how N enrichment affects temporal stability of multiple functions (i.e., 'multifunctional stability'). Whether the responses of multifunctional stability to N enrichment change with external disturbance, such as grasslands with different degradation statuses, remains unclear. We conducted multi-level N enrichment experiments at four grassland sites with no, moderate, severe, and extreme degradation statuses in Inner Mongolia, China. We measured temporal stability of five functions, comprising aboveground net primary productivity, soil total carbon (C) and N storage, and soil microbial biomass C and N storage, to explore how multifunctional stability responded to N enrichment. The temporal stability of most individual functions and multifunctional stability decreased sharply when N input exceeded 20 g N m-2 y-1 in the non-, moderately, and severely degraded grasslands, whereas the threshold declined to 10 g N m-2 y-1 in the extremely degraded grassland. The relative importance of plant and soil microbes in regulating multifunctional stability varied along the degradation gradient. In particular, plant species asynchrony and species richness showed strong positive relationships with multifunctional stability in the non- and moderately degraded grasslands, whereas soil microbial diversity, especially bacterial diversity, was positively associated with multifunctional stability in the severely and extremely degraded grasslands. Overall, our findings identified a critical threshold for N-induced multifunctional stability and called for context-specific biodiversity conservation strategies to buffer the negative effect of N enrichment on grassland ecosystem stability.

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To clarify the variation of species composition, diversity, and functional structure of soil fungi community along alpine meadow degradation,we examined the characteristics and controlling factors of soil fungal communities in non-degraded, lightly degraded, moderately degraded, severely degraded and extremely degraded (black soil beach) alpine meadows at the Three Rivers Source Region, based on the high-throughput gene sequencing and FUNGuild functional prediction. The results showed that the dominant phyla in alpine meadow soil were Ascomycota, Basidiomycetes, and Mortierellomycota. Species composition of soil fungal community varied greatly in alpine meadow under different levels of degradation. The abundance of Cladosporium flabelliforme, Entoloma sodale, Hygrocybe conica, Inocybe sp. and Trichocladium opacum increased, while that of Gibberella tricincta and Dactylonectria macrodidyma decreased following grassland degradation. The meadow under severe degradation had higher soil fungal Chao1 index, while that under light degradation had lower Shannon index and Simpson index. The abundance of pathologic, symbiotic, and saprophytic types of fungi varied among different alpine meadows. Along with the grassland degradation, the abundance of soil symbiotic fungi decreased, while that of pathological fungi increased. The soil fungal community and functional compositions changed obviously with degradation in the alpine meadow. Plant aboveground biomass, soil water content, pH, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, available phosphate, total potassium and AN/AP (ratio of available nitrogen and available phosphorus) were the main driving factors for the variations in soil fungal community structure.

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Alpine grassland has very important water conservation function. Grassland degradation seriously affects the water conservation function; moreover, there is little understanding of the change of water state during grassland restoration. Our study aims to bridge this gap and improve our understanding of changes in soil moisture during the restoration process. In this study, the water storage, vegetation, and meteorology of a non-degradation grassland (grazing intensity of 7.5 sheep/ha) and a severely degraded grassland (grazing intensity of 12-18 sheep/ha) were monitored in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for seven consecutive years. We used correlation, stepwise regression, and the boosted regression trees (BRT) model analyses, five environmental factors were considered to be the most important factors affecting water storage. The severely degraded grassland recovered by light grazing treatment for 7 years, with increases in biomass, litter, and vegetation cover, and a soil-water storage capacity 41.9% higher in 2018 compared to that in 2012. This increase in soil-water storage was primarily due to the increase in surface soil moisture content. The key factors that influenced water storage were listed in a decreasing order: air temperature, litter, soil heat flux, precipitation, and wind speed. Their percentage contributions to soil-water storage were 50.52, 24.02, 10.86, 7.82, and 6.77%, respectively. Current and future climate change threatens soil-water conservation in alpine grasslands; however, grassland restoration is an effective solution to improve the soil-water retention capacity in degraded grassland soils.

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The sharp rise in anthropogenic activities and climate change has caused the extensive degradation of grasslands worldwide, jeopardizing ecosystem function, and threatening human well-being. Toxic weeds have been constantly spreading in recent decades; indeed, their occurrence is considered to provide an early sign of land degeneration. Policymakers and scientific researchers often focus on the negative effects of toxic weeds, such as how they inhibit forage growth, kill livestock, and cause economic losses. However, toxic weeds can have several potentially positive ecological impacts on grasslands, such as promoting soil and water conservation, improving nutrient cycling and biodiversity conservation, and protecting pastures from excessive damage by livestock. We reviewed the literature to detail the adaptive mechanisms underlying toxic weeds and to provide new insight into their roles in degraded grassland ecosystems. The findings highlight that the establishment of toxic weeds may provide a self-protective strategy of degenerated pastures that do not require special interventions. Consequently, policymakers, managers, and other personnel responsible for managing grasslands need to take appropriate actions to assess the long-term trade-offs between the development of animal husbandry and the maintenance of ecological services provided by grasslands.

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The Songnen Plain of China was once an important grassland used for sheep grazing, but it has largely been degraded to bare saline-alkaline land (BSAL). BSAL consists of plant-free areas characterized by high soil pH values (up to 10) and salt and alkali (e.g., Na+ and Ca2+) contents, as well as low soil organic matter and water contents; thus, very few soil faunal species can survive on BSAL. The recovery of degraded ecosystems provides a great opportunity to investigate the reconstruction of belowground soil faunal communities. Collembola are a class of widespread and abundant soil fauna that can colonize this harsh environment. Habitat changes on BSAL promote aboveground revegetation, which greatly facilitates the recovery of Collembola. A soil transfer experiment on the BSAL of the Songnen Plain was conducted to study the effects of habitat and Collembola morphological traits on the recovery process of Collembola. Defaunated and with-fauna soil blocks were transferred among three habitats: BSAL, reclaimed arable land, and naturally revegetated grassland. The recovered Collembola in the transferred soil blocks were compared two, seven, and 12 weeks after the start of the experiment. The results showed that (1) the majority of the Collembola, regardless of their morphological traits, recovered in the defaunated soil blocks within 2 weeks; (2) generalists and habitat-preferring species recovered faster than specialists; (3) the average total abundance, species richness, and community composition of Collembola recovered to the natural levels in 2 weeks; and (4) 12 weeks after replacement, the highest average total abundance and species richness of Collembola were found in the arable land. Our results indicate that the majority of Collembola in this study, regardless of their dispersal type, which is related to their morphological traits, are fast dispersers, and their recovery speeds are mainly affected by habitat preferences. We suggest that the reclamation of BSAL to arable land rather than its natural recovery to grassland aids in the recovery of Collembola in degraded grassland systems.

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Grassland degradation is an ecological problem worldwide. This study aimed to reveal the patterns of the variations in bacterial diversity and community structure and in nitrogen cycling functional genes along a subalpine meadow degradation gradient on the Loess Plateau, China. Meadow degradation had a significant effect on the beta diversity of soil bacterial communities (P < 0.05) but not on the alpha diversity (P > 0.05). Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) indicated that the compositions of bacterial and plant communities changed remarkably with increasing meadow degradation (all P < 0.05). The beta diversities of the plant and soil bacterial communities were significantly correlated (P < 0.05), while their alpha diversities were weakly correlated (P > 0.05) along the meadow degradation gradient. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that the structure of the bacterial community was strongly correlated with total nitrogen (TN), nitrate nitrogen (NO3--N), plant Shannon diversity, plant coverage, and soil bulk density (all P < 0.05). Moreover, the abundances of N fixation and denitrification genes of the bacterial community decreased along the degradation gradient, but the abundance of nitrification genes increased along the gradient. The structure of the set of N cycling genes present at each site was more sensitive to subalpine meadow degradation than the structure of the total bacterial community. Our findings revealed compositional shifts in the plant and bacterial communities and in the abundances of key N cycling genes as well as the potential drivers of these shifts under different degrees of subalpine meadow degradation.IMPORTANCE Soil microbes play a crucial role in the biogeochemical cycles of grassland ecosystems, yet information on how their community structure and functional characteristics change with subalpine meadow degradation is scarce. In this study, we evaluated the changes in bacterial community structure and nitrogen functional genes in degraded meadow soils. Meadow degradation had a significant effect on bacterial community composition. Soil total nitrogen was the best predictor of bacterial community structure. The beta diversities of the plant and soil bacterial communities were significantly correlated, while their alpha diversities were only weakly correlated. Meadow degradation decreased the potential for nitrogen fixation and denitrification but increased the potential for nitrification. These results have implications for the restoration and reconstruction of subalpine meadow ecosystem on the Loess Plateau.

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Nematodes, occupying multiple trophic levels in the food web, play important roles in energy flow and nutrient cycling. Most of Chinese natural grasslands have been degraded due to long-term unreasonable utilization, such as over-grazing. External nutrient input is an important way to restore the ecological function of degraded grasslands. The main and intertative effects of nitrogen and phosphorus inputs on soil nematode abundance, trophic group composition and community structure were studied in the grasslands in Xilingol League of Inner Mongolia. Totally, 38 genera of nematodes were recorded. Tylencholaimus, Aphelenchoides, Thonus, and Scutylenchus were dominant genera in this degraded grassland. Nitrogen input decreased total abundances of soil nematodes, and that of omnivores-carnivorous nematodes and plant-feeding nematodes. Phosphorus input increased total abundances of soil nematodes, and that of fungal-feeding nematodes, omnivores-carnivorous nematodes, and plant-feeding nematodes. Nitrogen input inhibited the positive effects of phosphorus input on the abundances of total nematodes, omnivores-carnivorous nematodes and plant-feeding nematodes. Nutrient inputs had no effect on nematode diversity, which would be resulted from the stable plant community. Nitrogen input significantly increased nematode maturity index, decreased plant parasitic nematode maturity index (PPI), and greatly alleviated the negative effects of phosphorus input on PPI and Wasilewska index, indicating that nitrogen input could improve soil health condition and the stability of nematodes community. Our results would help improve our understanding of the effects of nutrient inputs on degraded grassland ecosystem from a soil biotic perspective.

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BACKGROUND: Stellera chamaejasme L. is a poisonous plant widely distributes in degraded grasslands in China. The mechanism underlying its spread remains unknown. In some degraded grasslands, S. chamaejasme has gradually replaced previous dominant species, such as Leymus chinensis, Stipa krylovii, Artemisia eriopoda on typical steppes. Apart from its unpalatability by livestock, we hypothesized that the survival strategy (nutrient uptake and water use efficiency) of S. chamaejasme in degraded grasslands could be distinct from other coexisting species in the community. Recently, ecological stoichiometry has been suggested as a new approach for studying the demand for natural resources of plants in a changing world, and the leaf carbon isotopic composition (δ13C leaf) as a rapid and effective high throughput phenotyping method for water use efficiency (WUE), both of which can reveal the survival and adaptive strategies of plants. Therefore, in this study we aimed to fill the knowledge gap concerning ecological stoichiometry in the leaf, stem, and root of S. chamaejasme and its surrounding soil on grasslands with different degrees of degradation, and comparing the leaf nutrient content and δ13C of S. chamaejasme with the coexisting species (L. chinensis, S. krylovii, A. eriopoda) in the communities. Toward this goal, we conducted a field survey in which plants and soils were sampled from four different degraded grasslands on typical steppes in China. RESULTS: Our results showed that there is no significant difference of carbon content (C%) and nitrogen content (N%) in leaves of S. chamaejasme in different degraded grasslands, and all element contents and element ratios in stems did not differ significantly. Meanwhile, ecological stoichiometry of S. chamaejasme is distinct from the coexisting species, with low C%, high N% and phosphorus content (P%) in the leaf, indicating high nutrient uptake efficiency of S. chamaejasme in nutrient-poor environments like degraded grasslands. Additionally, S. chamaejasme showed significant higher WUE than other species. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that high nutrient uptake efficiency and high WUE of S. chamaejasme might together contribute to the spread of S. chamaejasme in degraded grasslands.

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BACKGROUND: Patchy vegetation is a very common phenomenon due to long-term overgrazing in degraded steppe grasslands, which results in substantial uncertainty associated with soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics because of changes in the amount of litter accumulation and nutrition input into soil. METHODS: We investigated soil C and N stocks beneath three types of monodominant species patches according to community dominance. Stipa krylovii patches, Artemisia frigida patches, and Potentilla acaulis patches represent better to worse vegetation conditions in a grassland in northern China. RESULTS: The results revealed that the soil C stock (0-40 cm) changed significantly, from 84.7 to 95.7 Mg ha-1, and that the soil organic carbon content (0-10 cm) and microbial biomass carbon (0-10 and 10-20 cm) varied remarkably among the different monodominant species communities (P < 0.05). However, soil total nitrogen and microbial biomass nitrogen showed no significant differences among different plant patches in the top 0-20 cm of topsoil. The soil C stocks under the P. acaulis and S. krylovii patches were greater than that under the A. frigida patch. Our study implies that accurate estimates of soil C and N storage in degenerated grassland require integrated analyses of the concurrent effects of differences in plant community composition.

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Influence of climate change on the grassland phenology has attracted more and more attentions of ecologists. Although dozens of studies have been conducted, there have been few records examining the phenology differences of grasslands with different plant species compositions. Using continuous photography and image processing methods, this study examined seasonal vegetation cover dynamics of grasslands along a degradation gradient to clarify the influence of vegetation composition on the dynamics of vegetation cover during growing season. Our results revealed that phenological patterns of grasslands differentiated with their degradation status. Abandoned farmland (AF) and severely degraded grassland (SD) with most annuals and least climax species had the earliest start of growing season, while AF and extremely degraded grassland (ED) dominated by grasses had the earliest end of growing season. The start and end of growing season were strongly related to the relative cover of climax species and grasses. The results presented in this study support the possibility of using digital photography to capture the role of plant species composition on vegetation phenology in grasslands.

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