Effect of 5 years long cessation of grazing on methane uptake in a semi-arid grassland

Grazing exerts a key role in nutrient cycling in grassland ecosystems, however, little is known about the effects of short-term enclosure on methane (CH4) fluxes in a semi-arid steppe biome like this of Inner Mongolia. CH4 fluxes were measured in the Leymus chinensis (Trin) Tzvel. grassland using static chamber and gas chromatography (GC). Measurements were carried out twice per month over a growing season in 2004 at the two sites (one fenced since 1999 (UG99) and the other subjected to freely grazing (FG)). All CH4 fluxes were positive, indicating that this grassland functioned as the active atmospheric CH4 uptakes. During this period, the UG99 site (57.6 [plus or minus] 6.7 [mu]g C m[^-2] h[^-1]) had significantly higher mean CH4 uptake in comparison to the FG site (37.0 [plus or minus] 6.3 [mu]g C m[^-2] h[^-1]). A significant liner negative correlations between CH4 uptake and soil moisture (0.5 cm) at the both sites were found (P <0.05). The results indicated that short-term enclosure was helpful to improve CH4 uptake in this area.