{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1002/ldr.3656", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:14:14Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-06-07", "title": "Herbivores stimulate respiration from labile and recalcitrant soil carbon pools in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park", "description": "Abstract

Quantifying the effects of grazing on soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition is of crucial importance for understanding soil C dynamics. However, less attention has been paid to the pool\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific SOC decomposition and the underlying factors associated with each C pool, representing critical knowledge gaps on soil C dynamics. In this study, we applied a state\uffe2\uff80\uff90of\uffe2\uff80\uff90the\uffe2\uff80\uff90art Bayesian data assimilation technique to re\uffe2\uff80\uff90analyze previous soil incubation data to examine how herbivores influenced the fraction and cumulative respiration of labile and recalcitrant soil C pools from seven edaphically diverse sites in Yellowstone National Park, whereas those variables were not explored in the earlier study. Our results showed that grazing significantly increased cumulative respiration from both labile and recalcitrant C pools. Greater cumulative respiration from the labile C pool was related to grazers increasing labile C pool fractions, while higher cumulative respiration from the recalcitrant C pool was associated with grazers accelerating the decomposition rate of the recalcitrant C pool. Cumulative respiration from both labile and recalcitrant C pools was positively correlated with shoot biomass, soil gravimetric moisture, and soil C and nitrogen content. Our results underscore how knowledge of pool\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific SOC decomposition can provide a better mechanistic understanding of soil C dynamics along topo\uffe2\uff80\uff90edaphic gradients in grazed grassland.Abstract: Nitrogen mineralization rate was studied in grazing trials with three different stocking rates (0, 3, 10 sheep ha\uffe2\uff80\uff901) in two man\uffe2\uff80\uff90made salt marshes, viz. a Puccinellia maritima\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated low salt marsh and a high salt marsh dominated by Festuca rubra. Mineralization rates were derived from the amounts of mineral N which accumulated in situ during six\uffe2\uff80\uff90week incubation periods in tubes containing undisturbed soil cores from the upper 10 cm soil layer. The annual rates of net N mineralization were significantly higher in the better drained, high salt marsh (71 \uffe2\uff80\uff90 81 kg ha\uffe2\uff80\uff901 yr\uffe2\uff80\uff901) than in the low salt marsh (39 \uffe2\uff80\uff90 49 kg ha\uffe2\uff80\uff901 yr\uffe2\uff80\uff901). High amounts of belowground litter accumulated in the low salt marsh due to frequent water logging. Both N mineralization and nitrification rate were negatively correlated with soil water content. In the Puccinellia maritima salt marsh, grazing had neither an effect on N mineralization rates during any of the incubation periods nor on annual mineralization rates. In the Festuca rubra salt marsh, N mineralization rates increased earlier during spring at the intensively grazed site than at the moderately grazed and the ungrazed site. N mineralization and nitrification rates were significantly higher at the ungrazed site than at the intensively grazed site during the period of peak net N mineralization from the end of April until mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90June. Although sheep grazing affected the seasonal pattern of N mineralization in the high marsh, grazing did not affect the annual rate of net N mineralization.

", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "LIMITATION", "seasonality", "SUCCESSION", "MICROBIAL BIOMASS", "15. Life on land", "grazing experiment", "01 natural sciences", "nitrification", "salt marsh", "zonation", "PSEUDOREPLICATION", "vegetation", "PLANT-GROWTH", "HERBIVORES", "ECOSYSTEM", "VEGETATION", "nitrogen mineralization"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2001-17730"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Plant%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1055/s-2001-17730", "name": "item", "description": "10.1055/s-2001-17730", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1055/s-2001-17730"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2001-09-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncn", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:22:33Z", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2023-10-13", "title": "Tillage agriculture and afforestation threaten tropical savanna plant communities across a broad rainfall gradient in India", "description": "unspecifiedThe consequences of land-use change for savanna biodiversity remain undocumented in most regions of tropical Asia. One such region is western Maharashtra, India, where old-growth savannas occupy a broad rainfall gradient and are increasingly rare due to agricultural conversion and afforestation. To understand the consequences of land-use change, we sampled herbaceous plant communities of old-growth savannas and three alternative land-use types: tree plantations, tillage agriculture, and agricultural fallows (n=15 sites per type). Study sites spanned 457 to 1954 mm of mean annual precipitation\u2014corresponding to the typical rainfall range of mesic savannas globally. Across the rainfall gradient, we found consistent declines in old-growth savanna plant communities due to land-use change. Local-scale native species richness dropped from a mean of 12 species/m2 in old-growth savannas to 8, 6, and 3 species/m2 in tree plantations, fallows, and tillage agriculture, respectively. Cover of native plants declined from a mean of 49% in old-growth savannas to 27% in both tree plantations and fallows, and 4% in tillage agriculture. Reductions in native cover coincided with increased cover of invasive species in tree plantations (18%), fallows (18%), and tillage agriculture (3%). In analyses of community composition, tillage agriculture was most dissimilar to old-growth savannas, while tree plantations and fallows showed intermediate dissimilarity. These compositional changes were driven partly by the loss of characteristic savanna species: 65 species recorded in old-growth savannas were absent in other land uses. Indicator analysis revealed 21 old-growth species, comprised mostly of native savanna specialists. Indicators of tree plantations (9 species) and fallows (13 species) were both invasive and native species, while the 2 indicators of tillage agriculture were invasive. As reflective of declines in savanna communities, mean native perennial graminoid cover of 27% in old-growth savannas dropped to 9%, 7%, and 0.1% in tree plantations, fallows, and tillage agriculture, respectively. Synthesis: Agricultural conversion and afforestation of old-growth savannas in India destroys and degrades herbaceous plant communities that do not spontaneously recover on fallowed land. Efforts to conserve India\u2019s native biodiversity should encompass the country\u2019s widespread savanna biome and seek to limit conversion of irreplaceable old-growth savannas.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "land use change", "13. Climate action", "plant species richness", "India", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "grassland", "herbivores", "fire", "FOS: Natural sciences"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Nerlekar, Ashish, Munje, Avishkar, Mhaisalkar, Pranav, Hiremath, Ankila, Veldman, Joseph,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncn"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncn", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncn", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.cjsxksncn"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2023-10-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/avsc.12107", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:19:15Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2014-05-02", "title": "Scale-Dependent Effects Of Grazing And Topographic Heterogeneity On Plant Species Richness In A Dutch Salt Marsh Ecosystem", "description": "AbstractQuestion

For over three decades, low\uffe2\uff80\uff90intensity grazing has been used to maintain or increase plant species richness in European natural areas, but the effects are highly variable. Thus far, good predictors of whether grazing will have positive effects on plant species richness are limited. How does the interplay between low\uffe2\uff80\uff90intensity grazing and topographic heterogeneity affect plant species richness at different spatial scales?

Location

Long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term grazed and ungrazed salt marshes of the Dutch Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog.

Methods

We selected ten plots of 2200\uffc2\uffa0m2 in grazed and ungrazed areas of our study sites, and recorded and compared plant species richness in 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000\uffc2\uffa0m2 subplots. Topographic heterogeneity was quantified at the plot scale using the standard deviation of the elevation derived from a high\uffe2\uff80\uff90resolution (5\uffc2\uffa0m\uffc2\uffa0\uffc3\uff97\uffc2\uffa05\uffc2\uffa0m) digital elevation model. We calculated species\uffe2\uff80\uff93area relationships to analyse our data.

Results

We found that large\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale topographic heterogeneity (based on the whole plot of 2200\uffc2\uffa0m2) positively affects plant species richness at all scales (even at the smallest 0.1\uffe2\uff80\uff90m2 scale), and that grazing has a positive additive effect at the small scales (0.1 and 10\uffc2\uffa0m2). While grazing also had a positive effect on species richness at larger scales (1000\uffc2\uffa0m2), the strength of the effect was dependent on the topographic heterogeneity at that scale. The effectiveness of grazing for increased plant species richness was highest at low topographic heterogeneity, and lowest at intermediate topographic heterogeneity. Effects of intermediate heterogeneity were probably counterbalanced by the effects of grazing.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that the variation in elevation is an important predictor of whether low\uffe2\uff80\uff90intensity grazing has positive effects on plant species richness or not. Grazing appears most beneficial at low topographic heterogeneity, but whether these findings hold for other grazed ecosystems will depend on several factors, most importantly, the relationship between topographic and abiotic heterogeneity. Results of our study are highly relevant for the application of low\uffe2\uff80\uff90intensity grazing as tool for conservation management in salt marshes and other natural areas.

", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Topography", "Livestock", "IMPACT", "Vascular plants", "Spatial scale", "DIVERSITY", "Nature management", "Biodiversity", "Conservation", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "SOIL", "Grazing lawns", "HERBIVORES", "BIODIVERSITY", "Herbivory", "VEGETATION", "14. Life underwater", "Plant-herbivore interactions", "GRASSLANDS", "RESTORATION", "RESPONSES", "ENVIRONMENTS"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12107"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Applied%20Vegetation%20Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/avsc.12107", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/avsc.12107", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/avsc.12107"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2014-05-02T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.12964", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:19:21Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2015-05-06", "title": "Vegetation Shift From Deciduous To Evergreen Dwarf Shrubs In Response To Selective Herbivory Offsets Carbon Losses: Evidence From 19years Of Warming And Simulated Herbivory In The Subarctic Tundra", "description": "Abstract

Selective herbivory of palatable plant species provides a competitive advantage for unpalatable plant species, which often have slow growth rates and produce slowly decomposable litter. We hypothesized that through a shift in the vegetation community from palatable, deciduous dwarf shrubs to unpalatable, evergreen dwarf shrubs, selective herbivory may counteract the increased shrub abundance that is otherwise found in tundra ecosystems, in turn interacting with the responses of ecosystem carbon (C) stocks and CO2 balance to climatic warming. We tested this hypothesis in a 19\uffe2\uff80\uff90year field experiment with factorial treatments of warming and simulated herbivory on the dominant deciduous dwarf shrub Vaccinium\uffc2\uffa0myrtillus. Warming was associated with a significantly increased vegetation abundance, with the strongest effect on deciduous dwarf shrubs, resulting in greater rates of both gross ecosystem production (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) as well as increased C stocks. Simulated herbivory increased the abundance of evergreen dwarf shrubs, most importantly Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum, which led to a recent shift in the dominant vegetation from deciduous to evergreen dwarf shrubs. Simulated herbivory caused no effect on GEP and ER or the total ecosystem C stocks, indicating that the vegetation shift counteracted the herbivore\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced C loss from the system. A larger proportion of the total ecosystem C stock was found aboveground, rather than belowground, in plots treated with simulated herbivory. We conclude that by providing a competitive advantage to unpalatable plant species with slow growth rates and long life spans, selective herbivory may promote aboveground C stocks in a warming tundra ecosystem and, through this mechanism, counteract C losses that result from plant biomass consumption.

", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "570", "Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum", "Biodiversity", "carbon storage", "15. Life on land", "herbivores", "Global Warming", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon Cycle", "Magnoliopsida", "climate change", "13. Climate action", "grazing", "Vaccinium myrtillus L", "Biomass", "Herbivory", "CO2 flux", "Tundra", "ta119", "Finland"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12964"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/gcb.12964", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12964", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12964"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-06-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.f542t16", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:22:34Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Grazing and resource availability control soil nematode body size and abundance-mass relationship in semi-arid grassland", "description": "unspecified1. Body size is a central functional trait in ecological communities. Despite recognition of the importance of above-belowground interactions, effects of aboveground herbivores on size and abundance-size relationships in soil fauna are almost uncharted. Depending on climate and soil properties, herbivores may increase basal resources of soil food webs, or reduce pore space, mechanisms expected to have contrasting effects on soil animal body size. 2. We investigated how body size and shape of soil nematodes responded to mammalian grazers in three semi-arid grassland sites, along a gradient of soil texture and organic matter (OM) in a long-term herbivore removal study. We analysed nematode mass, length, diameter, body size distribution, and biomass distribution. We formulated two mechanistic hypotheses to assess whether resource availability or pore space was the dominant abiotic control and modulated the effects of grazing. 3. In ungrazed soils, average and maximum nematode size, as well as abundance and biomass of large nematodes, were greater in the high-OM than in the low-OM soil, and intermediate in the medium-OM soil. Grazing promoted larger sizes in the low-OM soil, where it had been shown to increase organic matter and microbial biomass, and led to more homogeneous average size and body size distribution across sites. The results support the hypothesis that nematode size was controlled by basal resource availability rather than by pore space. However, body shape might have been constrained by small pores in the fine-texture, high-OM soil, where nematodes were more elongated. 4. Grazing may facilitate larger sizes in soil nematode communities by boosting basal resources where these are limiting, with important implications for estimations of nematode biomass and contribution to carbon and nutrient cycling. These findings contribute to the insofar-limited mechanistic understanding of how herbivores can shape functional traits of soil fauna, and demonstrate that animals at one trophic level may control patterns in body size and abundance-size relationships in other trophic levels without a direct predator-prey or competitive linkage between them.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Individual size distribution", "Soil texture", "Aboveground-belowground interactions", "15. Life on land", "Mammalian herbivores", "organic matter", "Soil fauna"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Andriuzzi, Walter S., Wall, Diana H.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f542t16"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.f542t16", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.f542t16", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.f542t16"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-05-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.2307/3237009", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:21:26Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-02-03", "title": "Effects Of Nutrients And Shade On Tree-Grass Interactions In An East African Savanna", "description": "

Abstract. Savanna trees have a multitude of positive and negative effects on understorey grass production, but little is known about how these effects interact. We report on a fertilization and shading experiment carried out in a Tanzanian tropical dry savanna around Acacia tortilis trees. In two years of study there was no difference in grass production under tree canopies or in open grassland. Fertilization, however, indicate that trees do affect the nutrient limitation of the grass layer with an N\uffe2\uff80\uff90limited system in open grassland to a P\uffe2\uff80\uff90limited system under the trees. The N:P ratios of grass gave a reliable indication of the nature of nutrient limitation, but only when assessed at the end of the wet season. Mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90wet season nutrient concentrations of grasses were higher under than outside the tree canopy, suggesting that factors other than nutrients limit grass production. A shading experiment indicated that light may be such a limiting factor during the wet season when water and nutrients are sufficiently available. However, in the dry season when water is scarce, the effect of shade on plant production became positive. We conclude that whether trees increase or decrease production of the herbaceous layer depends on how positive effects (increased soil fertility) and negative effects (shade and soil water availability) interact and that these interactions may significantly change between wet and dry seasons.

", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "productivity", "growth", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "herbivores", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "kenya", "vegetation", "limitation", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "light-intensity", "competition", "environments"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.2307/3237009"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Vegetation%20Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.2307/3237009", "name": "item", "description": "10.2307/3237009", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.2307/3237009"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2001-02-24T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "3033508559", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-13T16:27:34Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-06-07", "title": "Herbivores stimulate respiration from labile and recalcitrant soil carbon pools in grasslands of Yellowstone National Park", "description": "Abstract

Quantifying the effects of grazing on soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition is of crucial importance for understanding soil C dynamics. However, less attention has been paid to the pool\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific SOC decomposition and the underlying factors associated with each C pool, representing critical knowledge gaps on soil C dynamics. In this study, we applied a state\uffe2\uff80\uff90of\uffe2\uff80\uff90the\uffe2\uff80\uff90art Bayesian data assimilation technique to re\uffe2\uff80\uff90analyze previous soil incubation data to examine how herbivores influenced the fraction and cumulative respiration of labile and recalcitrant soil C pools from seven edaphically diverse sites in Yellowstone National Park, whereas those variables were not explored in the earlier study. Our results showed that grazing significantly increased cumulative respiration from both labile and recalcitrant C pools. Greater cumulative respiration from the labile C pool was related to grazers increasing labile C pool fractions, while higher cumulative respiration from the recalcitrant C pool was associated with grazers accelerating the decomposition rate of the recalcitrant C pool. Cumulative respiration from both labile and recalcitrant C pools was positively correlated with shoot biomass, soil gravimetric moisture, and soil C and nitrogen content. Our results underscore how knowledge of pool\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific SOC decomposition can provide a better mechanistic understanding of soil C dynamics along topo\uffe2\uff80\uff90edaphic gradients in grazed grassland.