IMAP

Space shortcuts

/

Blog Posts

/

Versions Compared

Old Version 5

changes.mady.by.user Michael ASSOULINE

Saved on

compared with

New Version 6

changes.mady.by.user Michael ASSOULINE

Saved on

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

...

Note to the reader: This general fiche summarises the environmental and climate impacts of different GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT practices, namely soil organic amendment, soil fertilisation with conventional or with enhanced-efficiency fertilisers, mowing, grazing and increasing grass/forb species richness, found in a systematic review of 34 synthesis research paperspapers [1]. These papers were selected from an initial number of 1022 obtained through a systematic literature search strategy, according to the inclusion criteria reported in section 4. 

...

Description  

  • Grasslands are areas of land predominantly covered by communities of grass-like plants and forbs and may include sparsely occurring trees and shrubs. In the Eurostat classification, percentages of area covered by such canopies are limited to less than 10 % in the case of trees and to less than 20 % in the case of shrubs (i.e., low woody plants capable of reaching heights of up to 5 metresmetres [2]) [3]. However, in the scientific literature reviewed here, grasslands are usually more broadly defined and might not fully meet such canopy limits. 
  • This review includes a wide variety of grassland types: savannah, grassy deserts, seasonally flooded grasslands, prairies, meadows, pastures, rangelands, salt-marshes, bioenergy perennial grasslands, calcareous grasslands and wooded grasslands. Grasslands differ in terms of: 
  • management intensity: natural, semi-natural, improved and intensively managed, 
  • management history: permanent and temporary, 
  • successional stage: ancient and secondary grasslands, 
  • biomes and climates: semi-arid, temperate, tropical, Mediterranean, tundra, alpine, subalpine, artic and subartic. 
  • Fodder crops are not included as grasslands. 
  • This review includes several interventions on grasslands: 
  • Soil organic amendments are materials of plant or animal origin that can be added to soil, such as manures, biosolids, green wastes, and composts, to improve the soil quality in terms of its structure and biochemical functionfunction [4]. This includes also biochar, which is charcoal produced by pyrolysis of biomass in the absence of oxygen. 
  • Enhanced-efficiency fertilisers (EEF) are different types of fertilisers or products associated to fertilisers, which have been developed to better synchronize fertiliser nitrogen (N) release with crop uptake, offering the potential for enhanced N-use efficiency (NUE) in crops and reduce losses5. This review includes the use of different types of EEF, namely nitrification inhibitors, urease inhibitors and polymer-coated fertilisers. 
  • Fertilisers are natural or synthetic substances containing chemical elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) that are applied to soils to improve growth and productiveness of plants6. This review includes the use of both mineral and organic conventional fertilisers. 
  • Mowing is a harvesting practice consisting on cutting the grass. 
  • Grazing is a method of animal husbandry in which livestock are allowed to feed outdoors consuming wild vegetation. Please, note that in this set of fiches grazing is only explored when compared to mowing. Grazing and different grazing intensity are explored in a separate set of fiches.  
  • Increasing grass/forb species richness is a practice normally used to improve the agronomical performance of some grasslands. It consists on reseedings, generally with pluriannual grasses and legumes7. 

Key descriptors  

  • This review does not include other practices conducted in grasslands such as grazing nor the conversion of other agricultural land uses to grasslands, which are assessed in separate sets of fiches. 
  • The management practices reviewed here are only conducted in grasslands. However, the use in croplands (i.e., with no distinction between arable lands and grasslands) of nitrification inhibitors and other enhance-efficiency fertilisers, biochar and other soil organic amendments and fertilisers, are assessed in other sets of fiches. 
  • For greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the use of fertilisers is explored separately for N and P fertilisers as effects slightly differ. 

...

Ref. Num 

Authors 

Year 

Title 

Reference 

DOI 

1 

Chen, J; Feng, M; Cui, Y; Liu, G 

2021 

The impacts of nitrogen addition on upland soil methane uptake: A global meta-analysis 

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 795, 148863. 

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148863 

2 

Chen, XL; Chen, HYH; Searle, EB; Chen, C; Reich, PB 

2021 

Negative to positive shifts in diversity effects on soil nitrogen over time 

NATURE SUSTAINABILITY, 4, 225–232. 

10.1038/s41893-020-00641-y 

3 

Barry, KE; van Ruijven, J; Mommer, L; Bai, YF; Beierkuhnlein, C; Buchmann, N; de Kroon, H; Ebeling, A; Eisenhauer, N; Guimaraes-Steinicke, C; Hildebrandt, A; Isbell, F; Milcu, A; Nesshover, C; Reich, PB; Roscher, C; Sauheitl, L; Scherer-Lorenzen, M; Schmid, B; Tilman, D; von Felten, S; Weigelt, A 

2020 

Limited evidence for spatial resource partitioning across temperate grassland biodiversity experiments 

ECOLOGY, 101(1), e02905. 

10.1002/ecy.2905 

4 

Chen, XL; Chen, HYH; Chen, C; Ma, ZL; Searle, EB; Yu, ZP; Huang, ZQ 

2020 

Effects of plant diversity on soil carbon in diverse ecosystems: A global meta-analysis 

BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, 95(1), 167-183. 

10.1111/brv.12554 

5 

Jia, XY; Zhong, YQW; Liu, J; Zhu, GY; Shangguan, ZP; Yan, WM 

2020 

Effects of nitrogen enrichment on soil microbial characteristics: From biomass to enzyme activities 

GEODERMA, 366, 114256. 

10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114256 

6 

Ploughe, LW; Akin-Fajiye, M; Gagnon, A; Gardner, WC; Fraser, LH 

2020 

Revegetation of degraded ecosystems into grasslands using biosolids as an organic amendment: A meta-analysis 

APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, 24(1), e12558. 

10.1111/avsc.12558 

7 

Prather, RM; Castillioni, K; Kaspari, M; Souza, L; Prather, CM; Reihart, RW; Welti, EAR 

2020 

Micronutrients enhance macronutrient effects in a meta-analysis of grassland arthropod abundance 

GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, 29(12), 2273-2288. 

10.1111/geb.13196 

8 

Ros, MBH; Koopmans, GF; van Groenigen, KJ; Abalos, D; Oenema, O; Vos, HMJ; van Groenigen, JW 

2020 

Towards optimal use of phosphorus fertiliser 

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 10, 17804. 

10.1038/s41598-020-74736-z 

9 

Wang, C; Tang, YJ; Li, XN; Zhang, WW; Zhao, CQ; Li, C 

2020 

Negative impacts of plant diversity loss on carbon sequestration exacerbate over time in grasslands 

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 15(10), 104055. 

10.1088/1748-9326/abaf88 

10 

Xu, S; Eisenhauer, N; Ferlian, O; Zhang, JL; Zhou, GY; Lu, XK; Liu, CS; Zhang, DQ 

2020 

Species richness promotes ecosystem carbon storage: Evidence from biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 287, 20202063. 

10.1098/rspb.2020.2063 

11 

Zhang, LH; Yuan, FH; Bai, JH; Duan, HT; Gu, XY; Hou, LY; Huang, Y; Yang, MG; He, JS; Zhang, ZH; Yu, LJ; Song, CC; Lipson, DA; Zona, D; Oechel, W; Janssens, IA; Xu, XF 

2020 

Phosphorus alleviation of nitrogen-suppressed methane sink in global grasslands 

ECOLOGY LETTERS, 23(5), 821-830. 

10.1111/ele.13480 

12 

Chen, C; Chen, HYH; Chen, XL; Huang, ZQ 

2019 

Meta-analysis shows positive effects of plant diversity on microbial biomass and respiration 

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 10, 1332. 

10.1038/s41467-019-09258-y 

13 

Gravuer, K; Gennet, S; Throop, HL 

2019 

Organic amendment additions to rangelands: A meta-analysis of multiple ecosystem outcomes 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 25(3), 1152-1170. 

10.1111/gcb.14535 

14 

Jiang, J; Wang, YP; Yang, YH; Yu, MX; Wang, C; Yan, JH 

2019 

Interactive effects of nitrogen and phosphorus additions on plant growth vary with ecosystem type 

PLANT AND SOIL, 440(1-2), 523-537. 

10.1007/s11104-019-04119-5 

15 

Midolo, G; Alkemade, R; Schipper, AM; Benitez-Lopez, A; Perring, MP; De Vries, W 

2019 

Impacts of nitrogen addition on plant species richness and abundance: A global meta-analysis 

GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, 28(3), 398-413. 

10.1111/geb.12856 

16 

Zheng, MH; Zhou, ZH; Luo, YQ; Zhao, P; Mo, JM 

2019 

Global pattern and controls of biological nitrogen fixation under nutrient enrichment: A meta-analysis 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 25(9), 3018-3030. 

10.1111/gcb.14705 

17 

Talle, M; Deak, B; Poschlod, P; Valko, O; Westerberg, L; Milberg, P 

2018 

Similar effects of different mowing frequencies on the conservation value of semi-natural grasslands in Europe 

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION, 27(10), 2451-2475. 

10.1007/s10531-018-1562-6 

18 

Wang, JY; Chadwick, DR; Cheng, Y; Yan, XY 

2018 

Global analysis of agricultural soil denitrification in response to fertilizer nitrogen 

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, 616, 908-917. 

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.229 

19 

Cai, YJ; Akiyama, H 

2017 

Effects of inhibitors and biochar on nitrous oxide emissions, nitrate leaching, and plant nitrogen uptake from urine patches of grazing animals on grasslands: A meta-analysis 

SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT NUTRITION, 63(4), 405-414. 

10.1080/00380768.2017.1367627 

20 

Chen, J; Luo, YQ; Li, JW; Zhou, XH; Cao, JJ; Wang, RW; Wang, YQ; Shelton, S; Jin, Z; Walker, LM; Feng, ZZ; Niu, SL; Feng, WT; Jian, SY; Zhou, LY 

2017 

Costimulation of soil glycosidase activity and soil respiration by nitrogen addition 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 23(3), 1328-1337. 

10.1111/gcb.13402 

21 

You, CM; Wu, FZ; Gan, YM; Yang, WQ; Hu, ZM; Xu, ZF; Tan, B; Liu, L; Ni, XY 

2017 

Grass and forbs respond differently to nitrogen addition: A meta-analysis of global grassland ecosystems 

SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7, 1563. 

10.1038/s41598-017-01728-x 

22 

Zhou, ZH; Wang, CK; Zheng, MH; Jiang, LF; Luo, YQ 

2017 

Patterns and mechanisms of responses by soil microbial communities to nitrogen addition 

SOIL BIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY, 115, 433-441. 

10.1016/j.soilbio.2017.09.015 

23 

Geisseler, D; Lazicki, PA; Scow, KM 

2016 

Mineral nitrogen input decreases microbial biomass in soils under grasslands but not annual crops 

APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY, 106, 1-10. 

10.1016/j.apsoil.2016.04.015 

24 

Gilsanz, C; Baez, D; Misselbrook, TH; Dhanoa, MS; Cardenas, LM 

2016 

Development of emission factors and efficiency of two nitrification inhibitors, DCD and DMPP 

AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT, 216, 1-8. 

10.1016/j.agee.2015.09.030 

25 

Humbert, JY; Dwyer, JM; Andrey, A; Arlettaz, R 

2016 

Impacts of nitrogen addition on plant biodiversity in mountain grasslands depend on dose, application duration and climate: A systematic review 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 22(1), 110-120. 

10.1111/gcb.12986 

26 

Li, Y; Niu, SL; Yu, GR 

2016 

Aggravated phosphorus limitation on biomass production under increasing nitrogen loading: A meta-analysis 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 22(2), 934-943. 

10.1111/gcb.13125 

27 

Talle, M; Deak, B; Poschlod, P; Valko, O; Westerberg, L; Milberg, P 

2016 

Grazing vs. mowing: A meta-analysis of biodiversity benefits for grassland management 

AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT, 222, 200-212. 

10.1016/j.agee.2016.02.008 

28 

Tian, DH; Wang, H; Sun, J; Niu, SL 

2016 

Global evidence on nitrogen saturation of terrestrial ecosystem net primary productivity 

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 11(2), 24012. 

10.1088/1748-9326/11/2/024012 

29 

Thakur, MP; Milcu, A; Manning, P; Niklaus, PA; Roscher, C; Power, S; Reich, PB; Scheu, S; Tilman, D; Ai, F; Guo, H; Ji, R; Pierce, S; Ramirez, NG; Richter, AN; Steinauer, K; Strecker, T; Vogel, A; Eisenhauer, N 

2015 

Plant diversity drives soil microbial biomass carbon in grasslands irrespective of global environmental change factors 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 21(11), 4076-4085. 

10.1111/gcb.13011 

30 

Humbert, JY; Pellet, J; Buri, P; Arlettaz, R 

2012 

Does delaying the first mowing date benefit biodiversity in meadowland? 

ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE, 1, 9. 

10.1186/2047-2382-1-9 

31 

Kim, DG; Saggar, S; Roudier, P 

2012 

The effect of nitrification inhibitors on soil ammonia emissions in nitrogen managed soils: A meta-analysis 

NUTRIENT CYCLING IN AGROECOSYSTEMS, 93(1), 51-64. 

10.1007/s10705-012-9498-9 

32 

De Schrijver, A; De Frenne, P; Ampoorter, E; Van Nevel, L; Demey, A; Wuyts, K; Verheyen, K 

2011 

Cumulative nitrogen input drives species loss in terrestrial ecosystems 

GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, 20(6), 803-816. 

10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00652.x 

33 

Lu, M; Zhou, XH; Luo, YQ; Yang, YH; Fang, CM; Chen, JK; Li, B 

2011 

Minor stimulation of soil carbon storage by nitrogen addition: A meta-analysis 

AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT,140(1-2), 234-244. 

10.1016/j.agee.2010.12.010 

34 

Akiyama, H; Yan, XY; Yagi, K 

2010 

Evaluation of effectiveness of enhanced-efficiency fertilizers as mitigation options for N2O and NO emissions from agricultural soils: Meta-analysis 

GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 16(6) 1837-1846. 

10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02031.x 

[1] Synthesis research papers include either meta-analysis or systematic reviews with quantitative results.

[2] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Shrubland

[3] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Glossary:Grassland

[4] Diacono, M, and Montemurro, F. 2010. Long‐term effects of organic amendments on soil fertility. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 30, 401–422.