Background Grazing is a major modulator of biodiversity and productivity in grasslands.
However, our understanding of grazing-induced changes in below-ground communities …

Cyanobacteria are a key biotic component as primary producers in biocrusts, topsoil
communities that have important roles in the functioning of drylands. Yet, major knowledge …

The arrival of 454 sequencing represented a major breakthrough by allowing deeper
sequencing of environmental samples than was possible with existing Sanger approaches …

Experimental studies across biomes demonstrate that herbivores can have significant effects
on ecosystem functioning. Herbivore effects, however, can be highly variable with studies …

Grazing exclusion has been applied as a suitable strategy for soil conservation worldwide,
mainly on semiarid soils. However, it is unclear how grazing exclusion reduces the negative …

Livestock overgrazing influences both microbial communities and nutrient cycling in
terrestrial ecosystems. However, the role of overgrazing in regulating the relationship …

Alpine grasslands are vital in regulating carbon balance on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau
(QTP) because of the large soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, while persistent disturbance …

Grazing is known to affect soil microbial communities, nutrient cycling, and forage quantity
and quality over time. However, a paucity of information exists for the immediate changes in …

Livestock grazing is a popular land-use activity for grasslands. Over grazing and trampling of
livestock impairs ecosystem function by changing vegetation growth, soil nutrients, and soil …

Understanding the successional dynamics governing soil microbial community assembly
following disturbance can aid in developing remediation strategies for disturbed land …