Increasing plant diversity and forb ratio during the revegetation processes of trampled areas and trails enhances soil infiltration

Abstract

Abstract Livestock breeding and production activities provide the livelihood for herdsmen; nevertheless, the accompanying trampling has the potential to negatively influence the physiochemical environment of soil. The policy of returning grazing land to grassland has greatly influenced both biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the regulatory mechanism behind changes of soil infiltration capacity remains largely unexplored. Here, three sites (a 1‐year [R1] and a 3‐year [R3] restoration of grassland, which were both trampled areas and trails an untrampled grassland) were sampled on the Mongolian Plateau of China. The infiltration parameters, soil properties, root channel area, and plant community were determined for each site. The results showed that the species richness, aboveground biomass, and the proportion of forbs in the R3 grassland were 2.7‐, 5.5‐ and 30.8‐times higher than those of the R1 grassland, respectively. The soil infiltration rates and cumulative infiltration increased with species richness, aboveground biomass, and the proportion of forbs. Importantly, all values of species richness, aboveground biomass, and forbs ratio increased with progressing restoration. Overall, our results indicate that grasses recovered first after trampling ceased. Along with the improvement of soil surface conditions, forb species with greater root channel area increased gradually, which increased the soil infiltration rate. Our research highlights the changes in plant community of trampled areas and trails and the regulatory influence of revegetation on soil infiltration.