Grazing as a driver for Populus euphratica woodland degradation in the semi-arid Aibi Hu region, northwestern China

The endangered river plain woodlands of semi-arid Central Asia provide numerous ecosystem services. Previous studies have focused mainly on changes in water supply and salinity as the underlying mechanisms of Populus euphratica woodland’s decline. We tested whether vegetative regeneration of P. euphratica serves as an alternative pathway to propagation from seeds for reproduction in a degraded tree steppe in northwestern China and whether this method also works on grazed sites. We measured the effects of different grazing pressures on tree growth, survival, and vegetative regeneration. When subjected to high or moderate grazing pressure, P. euphratica populations failed to regenerate vegetatively, indicating recruitment limitation. A 25% increase of grazing pressure decreased the ramet density to 50% and the ramet height to 25%, as well as reducing the average age of ramets to one year. As overgrazing seriously limits the potential of natural recovery of P. euphratica a balance between livestock grazing and the regeneration of the Tugai forests is needed to sustain positive effects of increasing water tables and floods on tree vitality and regeneration. To restore population structure, and to support early vegetative regeneration long-term livestock management interventions to exclude livestock from degraded and recovered land need to be developed.

Research highlights► P. euphratica populations decline along the Aquikesu river due to a negligible regeneration. ► P. euphratica can regenerate vegetatively independently of ground water level and salinity. ► Vegetative regeneration is strongly hindered by grazing. ► Livestock management is mandatory for preserving P. euphratica woodland.