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Effects of fertilization and irrigation on productivity, plant nutrient contents and soil nutrients in southern Mongolia

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Abstract

The study attempts to evaluate the effect of fertilization and irrigation on steppe productivity in dry southern Mongolian desert-steppes. We conducted an irrigation- and NPK fertilization experiment, irrigating at levels of +100 mm and fertilizers at amounts equivalent to 20 gN (m² year)−1 in a factorial design. We tested the effects on soil nutrients and biomass production. Nutrients in plant tissue were analysed for Stipa krylovii and S. gobica, and for mixed sub-samples of total above- and belowground biomass. Available P and K and total K increased in the soil after fertilization while irrigation reduced total N. Biomass yield almost tripled and inflorescence numbers increased by factors of 4–8 due to fertilization while irrigation alone had very restricted effects and only increased biomass of Agropyron cristatum. Nutrient content of biomass was elevated on fertilized plots. Results indicate that steppe productivity is severely restricted by nutrient availability even under ambient precipitation levels, raising the question whether nutrient withdrawal caused by current land use practices has detrimental effects on pasture productivity. The anticipated beneficial effect of increasing water availability however could not be confirmed. Whether there is an improvement in productivity due to increasing rainfall, as predicted by some climate change models, will depend on the distribution and intensity of rain events.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Hass and J. Treiber for their assistance with the lab work and B. Turuu and C. Bläß for their help harvesting the biomass. H. von Wehrden and J. Hanspach gave advice on statistical questions and H. Brett and D. McCluskey corrected our English. B. Oyuna and U. Tuvshin organized permissions for field work and for the export of samples. The Gobi Gurvan Saykhan National Park granted research permission within the protected area. The DFG (German Science Foundation) and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) provided funding for the project. This is contribution number 298 in the series “Results of the Mongolian-German Biological Expedition since 1962”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biology—Department of Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-University, Am Kirchtor 1, Halle-Wittenberg, 06108, Halle, Germany

    Katrin Ronnenberg

  2. Department of Botany, Senckenberg Museum for Natural History Görlitz, PO Box 300 154, 02806, Görlitz, Germany

    Karsten Wesche

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  1. Katrin Ronnenberg
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Correspondence to Katrin Ronnenberg.

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Responsible Editor: Klaus Butterbach-Bahl.

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Table A1

Split-plot ANOVA of the biomass data. Species are nested within year and within the block factor. Data are rank transformed (DOC 52 kb)

Table A2

Split-Plot-ANOVA of inflorescence numbers. Data are rank transformed and species nested within the block factor. (DOC 41 kb)

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Ronnenberg, K., Wesche, K. Effects of fertilization and irrigation on productivity, plant nutrient contents and soil nutrients in southern Mongolia. Plant Soil 340, 239–251 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0409-z

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