Garay MM¹, NM Amiotti², P Zalba¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.84, No.2, pp. 280-287, 2015, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2015.84.280

Abstract Afforestation is a recommended practice to mitigate global warming. However, their implementation may generate undesirable impacts, mostly if exotic species are used. Plantations of Pinus radiata D Don in Ventania (Bs. As., Argentina) soils showed notorious increments of extractable P (Pe), which could affect the dynamic of this element as well as the degree of phosphorus saturation (GSP_Bray). The objectives of this study were: i) to quantify the GSP_Bray in Mollisols afforested with P. radiata comparing the results with those coming from adjacent, natural grassland areas (base line); ii) to evaluate the potential environmental risk induced by afforestation through the… More >

Wen L¹, SK Dong¹, YY Li¹, C Pulver², XY Li¹, JJ Shi³, YL Wang³, YS Ma³, DM Liu⁴

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.82, pp. 45-54, 2013, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2013.82.045

Abstract The alpine grassland in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is an extensive rangeland ecosystem sustaining a sparse population of traditional nomadic pastoralists in China. However, global climate change and anthropologic disturbances have severely degraded the alpine grasslands, and the consequences of this degradation are largely unknown. Forage is the only food source for livestock in the alpine region, and livestock is the major income source for nomadic herders. Therefore, it is critical to assess the forage quantity and quality along the current grassland degradation gradient. In this study, we examined the botanical composition, biomass of different functional groups, and forage grass nutritive… More >

Peter G^1,2, FA Funk³, A Loydi⁴, AI Casalini⁵, CV Leder⁴

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.81, pp. 233-237, 2012, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2012.81.233

Abstract In the western Monte Phytogeographical Province of Rio Negro, vegetation is a shrubby-grassland steppe, where plants are interspersed within a bare soil matrix forming “phytogenic islands”. The objective of this study was to evaluate the specific composition and cover of the study ecological system under different grazing pressures. We selected areas with high, moderate and low grazing intensity at three sites. In each area we established five linear transects, where basal cover and all intercepted species were registered. Sites were arranged through a Principal Component Analysis using the Infostat software. We analyzed similarity between sites, considering basal cover and species… More >

Villamil MB¹, NM Amiotti², N Peinemann³

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.80, pp. 193-201, 2011, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2011.80.193

Abstract Demand for greater cattle production at the El Caldenal area in central Argentina has resulted in overgrazing in a patchy grassland structure. Patches are clearly identified on the basis of dominant plant species resulting from their grazing history. Our primary objective was to examine the influence of individual plants at each patch on the local multivariate pattern of soil nutrients, assessing the magnitude of the association between the concentration of nutrients in the plant and its underlying soil. Canonical discriminant analysis highlighted the important role of soil organic matter, available P, and Zn content of soils to segregate among patches.… More >

Song Y¹, CA. Busso⁵, Y Yu², P Wang³, Wuyunna¹, D Zhou⁴

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.87, pp. 242-251, 2018, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2018.87.242

Abstract The effects of different defoliation intensities and frequencies were studied on regrowth and herbage mass of Leymus chinensis and Hordeum brevisubulatum in northeast China for two years. Plants were defoliated to 6, 8 or 10 cm stubble height by removing about 40% of growth down to each designated defoliation height. In the first year, L. chinensis was defoliated 22, 17 or 13 times, and in the second year was defoliated 21, 15 or 15 times to reach 6, 8 or 10 cm stubble height treatments, respectively. H. brevisubulatum was defoliated 26, 21 or 15 times in the first year, and… More >

Wang XG¹, Wuyunna^1*, CA Busso², YT Song¹, FJ Zhang¹, GW Huo¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.87, pp. 123-132, 2018, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2018.87.123

Abstract Chemical elements, such as carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), are major limiting nutrients in arid and semiarid grasslands and their stoichiometry (C:N:P) is a very important ratio to determine. In addition, it is critical to understand how plant stoichiometry responds to multiple environmental factors at the species level. In this study, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to investigate the effects of salt stress (4 g NaCl/kg soil), drought (35% of the soil water holding capacity) and N addition (10 g N/m²), as well as their interactions, on C, N and P concentrations and C:N:P ratios in two dominant… More >