Response of soil properties to yak grazing intensity in a Kobresia parva-meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

Grazing intensity is one of the most important factors influencing soil properties variations in rangeland ecosystem. This research aimed to study the features of soil properties under different grazing intensity in a Kobresia parva-meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Results showed that soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (SOC), and total nitrogen (N) significantly decreased with an increase grazing intensity and total and available potassium (K), and C/N ratio exhibited a similar pattern. However, there were not significant differences between warm-season pasture (WSP) and cool-season pasture (CSP). In addition, results indicated that soil P was a limited factor, and N was sensitive to grazing intensity in Kobresia parva alpine meadow grazing ecosystem. Therefore, our study demonstrated that soil properties, such as soil carbon and nitrogen, generally decreased with the increasing of grazing intensity in studied Kobresia parva-meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.