Response of the Plant and Soil Features to Degradation Grades in Semi-arid Grassland of the Inner Mongolia, China

As a result of climate change and human activities over the past century, grassland degradation has a profound impact on the carbon storage process. We aimed to research the effects of grassland degradation on plant and soil features and soil carbon emission rate. The carbon content decreased in the leaves but increased in the roots as the degradation gradient increased. The net ecosystem exchange was -8.29 μmol.m⁻².s⁻¹, -3.14 μmol.m⁻².s⁻¹ and -1.57 μmol.m⁻².s⁻¹ in LD (light degradation), MD (moderate degradation) and SD (severe degradation) grassland, respectively. The carbon emission rate (7.22, 6.56 and 4.22 μmol.m⁻².s⁻¹) decreased significantly as the degradation grade increased. (paper)