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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Terrestrial Microbiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1478134
This article is part of the Research Topic Mechanisms of Soil Microorganisms in Sustainable Grazing and Ecosystem Multifunctionality Enhancement in Arid Regions View all articles

Long-term sheep grazing reduces fungal necromass carbon contribution to soil organic carbon in the desert steppe

Provisionally accepted
Tianqi Zhao Tianqi Zhao 1Naijing Lu Naijing Lu 1,2Jianying Guo Jianying Guo 1*Xin Zhang Xin Zhang 1*Jing Liu Jing Liu 1*Mengli Zhao Mengli Zhao 2*
  • 1 Institute of Water Resources for pastoral Area Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
  • 2 Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Grazing has been shown to impact the soil environment and microbial necromass carbon (MNC), which in turn regulates soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the carbon sequestration potential of fungi and bacteria under different stocking rates remains unclear, limiting our understanding of soil carbon sequestration in grazing management. In 2004, we established grazing experiments in the desert steppe of northern China with four stocking rates. Our findings indicate that MNC decreased under moderate and heavy grazing, while light grazing did not significantly differ from no grazing. Notably, the reduction in fungal necromass carbon, rather than bacterial necromass carbon, was primaily responsible for the decreased contribution of MNC to SOC. This difference is attributed to the varying effects of sheep grazing on fungal and bacterial community characteristics, including richness, diversity, and composition. Thus, to accurately predict carbon dynamics in grassland ecosystems, it is essential to consider that the ecological impacts and carbon sequestration potential of microbial communities may vary with different grazing management practices.

    Keywords: Carbon Sequestration, grassland ecosystem, Grazing intensity, microbial community, Stocking rate

    Received: 09 Aug 2024; Accepted: 26 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhao, Lu, Guo, Zhang, Liu and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Jianying Guo, Institute of Water Resources for pastoral Area Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
    Xin Zhang, Institute of Water Resources for pastoral Area Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
    Jing Liu, Institute of Water Resources for pastoral Area Ministry of Water Resources, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
    Mengli Zhao, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.