Vegetation Characteristics of the Main Grassland Types in China Respond Differently to the Duration of Enclosure: A Meta-Analysis

Enclosure is one of the useful measures to protect and restore degraded grasslands, and it is widely used around the world. The vegetation characteristics of grasslands directly reflect the recovery status of degraded grasslands; however, conflicting results of plant traits were continually achieved in the numerous on-site studies of enclosure in the last two decades. It is necessary to conduct a systematic assessment to find a general conclusion for the effects of enclosure on different grasslands. Studies on the enclosure grasslands in China were taken as the objects to refine the relationships between grassland vegetation characteristics and enclosure measures using meta-analysis. Enclosure had positive effects on the restoration of vegetation coverage, aboveground and belowground biomass, and diversity of degraded grasslands. Different vegetation characteristics and grassland types showed different responses to enclosure duration. The vegetation productivity reached a maximum in the 11–15 years of enclosure for alpine grasslands and typical steppe grasslands, 6–10 years for desert grasslands, and more than 15 years of enclosure for meadow grasslands. Plant species diversity reached the peak values when alpine grasslands and typical steppe grasslands were enclosed approximately 10 years, desert grasslands approximately 11–15 years, and meadow grasslands approximately 5 years. These results indicated that the management strategies of enclosed grasslands should be adjusted reasonably according to the types and the management objectives of grasslands in order to maintain or even improve the condition and services of grassland ecosystems.

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