Effects of grazing prohibition years on community characteristics and soil factors in temperate desert grassland

In order to clarify the response of temperate desert grassland community to enclosure and soil environment, field sampling and laboratory experiments were combined, and the effects of different grazing prohibition years (unforbidden grazing and grazing prohibition for 5 and 9 years) on grassland community characteristics and soil nutrient characteristics in spring and autumn pastures were studied to provide a theoretical basis for rational utilization and management of spring and autumn pastures. The results showed that with the increase in grazing prohibition years, the average height, coverage and biomass of grassland community were significantly higher than those of non-grazing prohibition grassland community (P < 0.05). The average density of grassland community without grazing prohibition was significantly higher than that of grassland community with grazing prohibition for 5 and 9 years (P < 0.05). The Simpson and Shannon Wiener diversity indexes of different grazing prohibition years showed that grazing prohibition for 9 years > grazing prohibition for 5 years > no grazing prohibition, but the spatial distribution of grassland community in grazing prohibition for 5 years was more uniform, while the species richness of grassland community in grazing prohibition for 9 years was higher. Canonical correspondence analysis(CCA) showed that the main soil factor affecting the growth characteristics of grassland vegetation in different grazing prohibition years was soil water content (39.7%), monitored by soil pH (9.6%). Enclosure grazing prohibition can thus significantly improve grassland productivity and promote species diversity. It is an effective measure to address the restoration of degraded temperate grassland community.