The Effects Of Grazing Methods On Desert Grassland Species Diversity

Four grazing ways(cattle grazing,sheep grazing,cattle and sheep mixed grazing,and no grazing)were designed to research effects of different grazing ways on the grassland species diversity of Xilamuren grassland in the Inner Mongolia.The main results were shown as follows:(1)Grazing could reduce the above ground biomass of the plant communities.The above ground present biomass of sheep grazing from 2014 to 2016 were 54.89g/m2,45.93g/m2 and 64.21g/m2,respectively,which of cattle grazing were 45.97g/m2,31.19g/m2 and 56.28g/m2 respectively,and the mixed grazing were 46.61g/m2,34.66g/m2,58.75g/m2,respectively.Above ground present biomass of the cattle grazing and mixed grazing were no difference,which was significantly higher than that of sheep grazing.(2)Plant highs decreased under the cattle grazing and mixed grazing.The community coverage under the different grazing ways was not affected with grazing time.Mixed grazing reduced plant density compared with sheep grazing.Cattle grazing increased the importance values of Leguminosae and miscellaneous grasses in plant communities,and decreased that of Stipa krylovii,while the sheep grazing was the opposite.(3)Sheep grazing decreased the species richness,Shannon-wiener index and evenness,while mixed grazing could maintain the species diversity of the plant community.