Deep soil C and N pools in long-term fenced and overgrazed temperate grasslands in northwest China

Fencing for grazing exclusion has been widely found to have an impact on grassland soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN), but little is known about the impact of fenced grassland on the changes in deep soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks in temperate grasslands. We studied the influence of 30 years fencing on vegetation and deep soil characteristics (0–500 cm) in the semi-arid grasslands of northern China. The results showed that fencing significantly increased the aboveground biomass (AGB), litter biomass (LB), total biomass, vegetation coverage and height, and soil water content and the SOC and TN in the deep soil. The belowground biomass (BGB) did not significantly differ between the fenced and grazed grassland. However, fencing significantly decreased the root/shoot ratio, forbs biomass, pH, and soil bulk density. Meanwhile, fencing has significantly increased the C and N stocks in the AGB and LB but not in the BGB. After 30 years of fencing, the C and N stocks significantly increased in the 0–500 cm soil layer. The accumulation of SOC mainly occurred in the deep layers (30–180 cm), and the accumulation of TN occurred in the soil layers of 0 to 60 cm and 160 to 500 cm. Our results indicate that fencing is an effective way to improve deep soil C and N stocks in temperate grassland of northwest China. There were large C and N stocks in the soil layers of 100 to 500 cm in the fenced grasslands, and their dynamics should not be ignored.