No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes
Grassland carbon capturing and storage (CCS) is thought to benefit from regulation of grazing. The impact is likely to depend on livestock density. Yet, few studies have tested this principle or evaluated the consistency of grazer-carbon relationships across multiple sites. We sampled four intertida...
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doaj-f2a85ac27f634c13afd226df2a9de09e2020-11-25T01:26:10ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2019-05-01710.3389/fevo.2019.00151433991No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt MarshesRachel J. Harvey0Angus Garbutt1Stephen J. Hawkins2Stephen J. Hawkins3Stephen J. Hawkins4Martin W. Skov5School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United KingdomCentre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bangor, United KingdomSchool of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United KingdomOcean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, United KingdomMarine Biological Association, Plymouth, United KingdomSchool of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, United KingdomGrassland carbon capturing and storage (CCS) is thought to benefit from regulation of grazing. The impact is likely to depend on livestock density. Yet, few studies have tested this principle or evaluated the consistency of grazer-carbon relationships across multiple sites. We sampled four intertidal zones across 22 salt marshes along a 650 km stretch of coast in the UK to examine the impact of livestock density on globally important saltmarsh “blue carbon” stocks. Although there were marked impacts of grazing pressure on above ground vegetation composition, structure and biomass, there was no detectable relationship between grazing intensity and soil organic carbon, irrespective of tidal zone in the marsh or soil depth-layer analyzed. A substantial spatial variation in soil carbon was instead explained by contextual environmental variables. There was evidence that compensatory responses by vegetation, such as increased root growth, countered carbon loss from grazing impacts. Our work suggests that grazing effects on carbon stocks are minimal on broader scales in comparison with the influence of environmental context. The benefits of grazing management to carbon stores are likely to be highly context dependent.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00151/fullblue carbongrazingsaltmarshbroad-scaleenvironmental context |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Rachel J. Harvey Angus Garbutt Stephen J. Hawkins Stephen J. Hawkins Stephen J. Hawkins Martin W. Skov |
spellingShingle |
Rachel J. Harvey Angus Garbutt Stephen J. Hawkins Stephen J. Hawkins Stephen J. Hawkins Martin W. Skov No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution blue carbon grazing saltmarsh broad-scale environmental context |
author_facet |
Rachel J. Harvey Angus Garbutt Stephen J. Hawkins Stephen J. Hawkins Stephen J. Hawkins Martin W. Skov |
author_sort |
Rachel J. Harvey |
title |
No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes |
title_short |
No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes |
title_full |
No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes |
title_fullStr |
No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes |
title_full_unstemmed |
No Detectable Broad-Scale Effect of Livestock Grazing on Soil Blue-Carbon Stock in Salt Marshes |
title_sort |
no detectable broad-scale effect of livestock grazing on soil blue-carbon stock in salt marshes |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2296-701X |
publishDate |
2019-05-01 |
description |
Grassland carbon capturing and storage (CCS) is thought to benefit from regulation of grazing. The impact is likely to depend on livestock density. Yet, few studies have tested this principle or evaluated the consistency of grazer-carbon relationships across multiple sites. We sampled four intertidal zones across 22 salt marshes along a 650 km stretch of coast in the UK to examine the impact of livestock density on globally important saltmarsh “blue carbon” stocks. Although there were marked impacts of grazing pressure on above ground vegetation composition, structure and biomass, there was no detectable relationship between grazing intensity and soil organic carbon, irrespective of tidal zone in the marsh or soil depth-layer analyzed. A substantial spatial variation in soil carbon was instead explained by contextual environmental variables. There was evidence that compensatory responses by vegetation, such as increased root growth, countered carbon loss from grazing impacts. Our work suggests that grazing effects on carbon stocks are minimal on broader scales in comparison with the influence of environmental context. The benefits of grazing management to carbon stores are likely to be highly context dependent. |
topic |
blue carbon grazing saltmarsh broad-scale environmental context |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2019.00151/full |
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