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Wang L, Liu X, Xin X, Wu S, Legesse TG, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Zhao Z, Cao K, Zhu X, Shao C. The greenhouse gas emissions from meat sheep production contribute double of household consumption in a Eurasian meadow steppe. Sci Total Environ 2024; 920:171014. [PMID: 38369163 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
With the rapid development of the economy, household activities have emerged as an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making them a crucial focal point for research in the pursuit of sustainable development and carbon emission reduction. Hulunber, as a typical steppe region in eastern Eurasia, is representative of studying the GHG emissions from household ranches, which are the basic production units in this region. In this paper, based on survey data of 2018 and 2019, we quantified and assessed GHG emissions from household ranches by combining life cycle assessment (LCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches, with LCA to define household ranches system boundary and SEM to determine the key driving factors of emissions. The results showed that GHG emissions of meat sheep live weight was 23.54 kg CO2-eq/kg. The major contributor to household GHG emissions was enteric methane (55.23 %), followed by coal use (20.80 %) and manure management systems (9.16 %), and other contributing factors (14.81 %). The SEM results indicated that the GHG emissions from household ranches were derived primarily by economic level, while the economic level was significantly affected by income. This study also found a significant positive and linear correlation between household GHG emissions and the number of meat sheep (R2 = 0.89, P < 0.001). The GHG emissions from meat sheep production (67.52 %) were double times greater than household livelihood consumption (32.48 %). These findings emphasized the importance of reducing emissions from meat sheep production and adjusting the energy mix of household livelihood, contributing to the establishment of a low-carbon household livelihood operation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lulu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xinchao Liu
- Inner Mongolia Academy of Agricultural & Animal Husbandry Sciences, Hohhot 010031, China
| | - Xiaoping Xin
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Susie Wu
- Susdatability Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, China
| | - Tsegaye Gemechu Legesse
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Yaoqi Zhang
- School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36949, United States
| | - Yun Liu
- Key Laboratory for Northern Urban Agriculture of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Zhiyuan Zhao
- Bayannur City Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, Bayannur 015000, China
| | - Kexin Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xiaoyu Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; Agro-Environmental Protection Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Tianjin 300191, PR China.
| | - Changliang Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
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Legesse TG, Dong G, Dong X, Qu L, Chen B, Daba NA, Sorecha EM, Zhu W, Lei T, Shao C. The extreme wet and large precipitation size increase carbon uptake in Eurasian meadow steppes: Evidence from natural and manipulated precipitation experiments. Environ Res 2023; 237:117029. [PMID: 37659645 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023]
Abstract
The distribution of seasonal precipitation would profoundly affect the dynamics of carbon fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. However, little is known about the impacts of extreme precipitation and size events on ecosystem carbon cycle when compared to the effects of average precipitation amount. The study involved an analysis of carbon fluxes and water exchange using the eddy covariance and chamber based techniques during the growing seasons of 2015-2017 in Bayan, Mongolia and 2019-2021 in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, respectively. The components of carbon fluxes and water exchange at each site were normalized to evaluate of relative response among carbon fluxes and water exchange. The investigation delved into the relationship between carbon fluxes and extreme precipitation over five gradients (control, dry spring, dry summer, wet spring and wet summer) in Hulunbuir meadow steppe and distinct four precipitation sizes (0.1-2, 2-5, 5-10, and 10-25 mm d-1) in Bayan meadow steppe. The wet spring and summer showed the greatest ecosystem respiration (ER) relative response values, 76.2% and 73.5%, respectively, while the dry spring (-16.7%) and dry summer (14.2%) showed the lowest values. Gross primary production (GPP) relative response improved with wet precipitation gradients, and declined with dry precipitation gradients in Hulunbuir meadow steppe. The least value in net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) was found at 10-25 mm d-1 precipitation size in Bayan meadow steppe. Similarly, the ER and GPP increased with size of precipitation events. The structural equation models (SEM) satisfactorily fitted the data (χ2 = 43.03, d.f. = 11, p = 0.215), with interactive linkages among soil microclimate, water exchange and carbon fluxes components regulating NEE. Overall, this study highlighted the importance of extreme precipitation and event size in influencing ecosystem carbon exchange, which is decisive to further understand the carbon cycle in meadow steppes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsegaye Gemechu Legesse
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Gang Dong
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China
| | - Xiaobing Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems (SKLHIGA), College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China
| | - Luping Qu
- Forest Ecology Stable Isotope Center, Forestry College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China
| | - Baorui Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Nano Alemu Daba
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Eba Muluneh Sorecha
- State Engineering Laboratory of Efficient Water Use of Crops and Disaster Loss Mitigation/Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wen Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China
| | - Tinajie Lei
- State Engineering Laboratory of Efficient Water Use of Crops and Disaster Loss Mitigation/Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Changliang Shao
- State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China.
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Dong X, Qu L, Dong G, Legesse TG, Akram MA, Tong Q, Jiang S, Yan Y, Xin X, Deng J, Shao C. Mowing mitigated the sensitivity of ecosystem carbon fluxes responses to heat waves in a Eurasian meadow steppe. Sci Total Environ 2022; 853:158610. [PMID: 36089030 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 09/03/2022] [Accepted: 09/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The heat waves (HW) will be more frequent and intense in the future with increased human activity and uncertain implications for ecosystem carbon fluxes. The semi-arid Eurasian grassland is sensitive to climate change and under frequent HWs attacks. Mowing as one of the most common human practices in this region, combining with HW can have comprehensive effects on plant communities, biomass, and nutrient cycling. Hence, a 3-year (2019-2021) field manipulation experiment was conducted to assess how mowing influenced the carbon cycling under HWs, and the interactions between HWs and mowing on carbon fluxes at the community and ecosystem levels in a Eurasian meadow steppe. Over the three years, HW significantly reduced net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and gross ecosystem production (GEP) by 28 % and 8 % (P < 0.05), respectively, whereas ecosystem respiration (Re) did not show significant changes. Moderate mowing (stubble height was set at 6-8 cm) for harvest effectively mitigated ecosystem sensitivity to HWs and significantly increased ecosystem carbon fluxes (NEE, Re, and GEP), biomass and the number of species. Mowing reduced the negative impact of HWs on ecosystem carbon fluxes by about 15 % compared to HWs alone, contributing to the invasion of species such as Thalictrum squarrosum and Vicia amoena, and increased the indirect effect of HW on NEE in the structural equation model. In addition, the higher soil water content (SWC) was another effective way to reduce the impact of HWs. Therefore, mowing and higher SWC would be effective ways to counteract the negative effects of HWs on carbon fluxes in future grassland management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaobing Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Luping Qu
- Forestry College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China; Isotope Research Center, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Gang Dong
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
| | - Tsegaye Gemechu Legesse
- National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Muhammad Adnan Akram
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Qi Tong
- National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Shicheng Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
| | - Yuchun Yan
- National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xiaoping Xin
- National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Jianming Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystems, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - Changliang Shao
- National Hulunber Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
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Legesse TG, Qu L, Dong G, Dong X, Ge T, Daba NA, Tadesse KA, Sorecha EM, Tong Q, Yan Y, Chen B, Xin X, Changliang S. Extreme wet precipitation and mowing stimulate soil respiration in the Eurasian meadow steppe. Sci Total Environ 2022; 851:158130. [PMID: 35995168 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The imbalance of terrestrial carbon (C) inputs versus losses to extreme precipitation can have consequences for ecosystem carbon balances. However, the current understanding of how ecosystem processes will respond to predicted extreme dry and wet years is limited. The current study was conducted for three years field experiment to examine the effects of environmental variables and soil microbes on soil respiration (Rs), autotrophic respiration (Ra) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) under extreme wet and dry conditions in mowed and unmowed grassland of Inner Mongolia. Across treatments (i.e. control, dry spring, wet spring, dry summer and wet summer), the mean of Rs was increased by 24.9 % and 24.1 % in the wet spring and wet summer precipitation treatments, respectively in mowed grassland. In other hand, the mean of Rs was decreased by -22.1 % and -3.5 % in dry spring and dry summer precipitation treatments, respectively in mowed grassland. The relative contribution of Rh and Ra to Rs showed a significant (p < 0.05) change among simulated precipitation treatments with the highest value (76.18 %) in wet summer and 26.41 % in dry summer, respectively under mowed grassland. Rs was significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the interactive effect of extreme precipitation and mowing treatments in 2020 and 2021. The effects of precipitation change via these biotic and abiotic factors explained by 52 % and 81 % in Ra and Rh, respectively in mowed grassland. The changes in microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) had significant (p < 0.05) direct effects on Rh in both mowed and unmowed grasslands. The influence of biotic and abiotic factors on Rs was stronger in mowed grasslands with higher standardized regression weights than in unmowed grassland (0.78 vs. 0.69). These findings highlight the importance of incorporating extreme precipitation events and mowing in regulating the responses of C cycling to global change in the semiarid Eurasian meadow steppe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsegaye Gemechu Legesse
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Luping Qu
- Forest Ecology Stable Isotope Center, Forestry College, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
| | - Gang Dong
- School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
| | - Xiaobing Dong
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Tida Ge
- State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Institute of Plant Virology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Nano Alemu Daba
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Kiya Adare Tadesse
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Eba Muluneh Sorecha
- State Engineering Laboratory of Efficient Water Use of Crops and Disaster Loss Mitigation/Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Qi Tong
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Yuchun Yan
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Baorui Chen
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xiaoping Xin
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Shao Changliang
- National Hulunbuir Grassland Ecosystem Observation and Research Station & Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
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