Divergent effects of contemporary grazing on grassland litter decay are associated with site-specific legacies

Abstract

While regional climate establishes the hydrothermic baseline for decomposition, inconsistent grazing effects across ecosystems suggest that macroclimatic frameworks alone cannot predict ecosystem sensitivity to contemporary disturbances. We hypothesized that such context-dependent responses are associated with site-specific legacies, defined as integrated functional states shaped by past environmental and management conditions. We conducted a multisite experiment across four temperate grasslands in northern China differing in hydrothermic regimes and grazing histories. Within each site, three-year contemporary grazing treatments were paired with ungrazed controls, and the widespread Leymus chinensis was used as a standardized substrate to isolate decomposition-environment effects. During the 130-day peak decomposition period, decay in ungrazed plots was positively associated with climatic humidity, whereas grazing effects varied among sites: strong inhibition at the historically ungrazed site, promotion at the moderately grazed site, and weak inhibition at heavily grazed and overgrazed sites. Path analysis suggested that regional humidity and grazing history were jointly associated with baseline vegetation and soil properties linked to the decomposition microhabitat. We propose that plant-soil ecological memory provides a useful conceptual filter for interpreting ecosystem responses to contemporary grazing, suggesting that restoration planning should account for historical grazing legacies and prioritize soil-functional recovery in degraded grasslands.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

grazing history / grazing effects / biogeochemical cycling / zoogeochemistry / context dependence / ecosystem context

Highlight

	● Contemporary grazing effects on litter decay vary across ecosystem contexts.
	● Historical legacies are linked to contemporary decomposition responses.
	● Climate and grazing history jointly shape the decomposition microhabitat.
	● Plant-soil ecological memory informs targeted grassland restoration.

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