Effects of grazing disturbance on vegetation community characteristics and biomass in Jiajin Mountain, Sichuan Province

Grazing disturbance significantly impacts vegetation community characteristics and biomass in Jiajin Mountain, Sichuan Province. The study found that severe grazing (within 2000 m of pig farms) reduces species diversity, weakens regeneration capacity, and alters dominant plant species, particularly affecting perennial herbs and gramineous grasses. Light to moderate disturbance (levels IV-III) promotes higher sapling proportions and maintains biodiversity, while heavy disturbance (level I) nearly eliminates saplings, indicating poor community recovery. Redundancy analysis revealed positive correlations between shrub and herb diversity indices with biomass, suggesting that grazing management must balance productivity and diversity to sustain mixed coniferous-broadleaf forests.

HAO Jianfeng, 郝建锋，余飞燕，姚小兰，陈聪琳，喻静，向琳. (2021). Effects of grazing disturbance on vegetation community characteristics and biomass in Jiajin Mountain, Sichuan Province. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 41(24). https://doi.org/10.5846/stxb202104241083