Data from: More than a decade of moderate grazing: No impact on soil organic carbon stocks and enhancement of mineral-associated organic carbon via livestock diversification
Data files
Sep 06, 2025 version files 36.58 KB
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Data_grazing_type.xlsx
34.88 KB
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README.md
1.71 KB
Abstract
Managed grassland soils represent a large reservoir of soil organic carbon (SOC), playing a crucial role in climate regulation. While optimal herbivore grazing is presumed to be non-detrimental and may even increase soil carbon sequestration, there is a limit of long-term experimental studies to validate this effect, especially those that incorporate multiple herbivore species and their combinations to assess impacts on SOC stocks. Here, we conducted a 14-year controlled grazing experiment with moderate intensity, incorporating common herbivore species (sheep, cattle, or both) in a temperate grassland. The results showed that more than a decade of moderate grazing did not alter total SOC stocks and also particulate organic carbon (POC), regardless of livestock assemblages, while diversified livestock grazing by cattle and sheep increased the mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) content and its proportion of bulk soil carbon. This effect of grazing on soil MAOC is primarily attributed to an increase in soil microbial carbon inputs, driven directly by diversified livestock grazing and indirectly by improved plant diversity and soil conditions. Our study indicates that moderate grazing had a strong effect on MAOC, a key indicator of long-term soil carbon stability, but had little influence on total SOC. We further suggest that improving grassland soil carbon sequestration requires not only optimizing grazing intensity, but also incorporating diverse herbivore assemblages that mimic natural grazing systems, with diversified moderate grazing emerging as an effective management strategy for promoting carbon storage and contributing to climate change mitigation.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.prr4xgz0j
Description of the data and file structure
NOTE: Descriptions of the abbreviated and full names of the four treatments in this study.
plant: Actual measured values of plant variables obtained in this study.
soil: Actual measured values of soil variables obtained in this study.
Files and variables
File: Data_grazing_type.xlsx
Description: We have submitted our raw data (Data_grazing type.xlsx). This data was obtained from four different grazing types: ungrazed, sheep grazing, cattle grazing, and mixed grazing by cattle and sheep. The plant includes measured value for plant diversity, plant biomass, plant cover, and the proportion of forbs. The soil includes measured value for SOC stocks, SOC fractions, microbial biomass carbon, microbial necromass carbon, soil moisture, and soil bulk density.
Variables
- plant diversity: Shannon-Wiener diversity index.
- plant biomass (g m-2)
- plant cover (%)
- the proportion of forbs (%)
- SOC stocks: soil organic carbon stocks (kg m-2)
- MAOC: mineral-associated organic carbon (g kg-1)
- oPOC: occluded particulate organic carbon (g kg-1)
- fPOC: free particulate organic carbon (g kg-1)
- MBC: microbial biomass carbon (mg kg-1)
- SM: soil moisture (%)
- MNC: microbial necromass carbon (g kg-1)
- Bacterial MNC: bacterial microbial necromass carbon (g kg-1)
- Fungal MNC: fungal microbial necromass carbon (g kg-1)
- BD: soil bulk density (g cm-3)
