Impacts of grazing intensity on denitrification and N2O production in a semi-arid grassland ecosystem

N2O production from denitrification in soils contributes to the enhanced greenhouse effect and the destruction of the stratospheric ozone. Ungulate grazing affects denitrification and the production of N2O. The short-term effect of grazing on denitrification and N2O production has been examined in several grassland ecosystems. However, the effects of long-term grazing have rarely been studied. We measured denitrification and N2O production during the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons in a long-term (17 years) experiment that had five grazing intensities (GI; 0.00, 1.33, 2.67, 4.00 and 5.33 sheep ha(-1)). We found that denitrification and N2O production rates were seasonally variable during the measurement period, with higher values observed in summer and lower values found in spring and autumn. The grazed treatments resulted in decreased denitrification and N2O production, primarily due to the reduced soil nitrate concentration and organic N content under the long-term grazing. This supported our hypothesis that long-term over-grazing suppresses denitrification and N2O production. Although significant differences in denitrification and N2O production were not found between the four GI, there was a general trend that cumulative denitrification and N2O production decreased as grazing intensity increased, especially in 2006. Lower N losses via denitrification and N2O production in the grazed plots, to some extent, may contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emission and help to preserve soil N and ameliorate the negative impacts of grazing on plant growth, productivity, and ecological restoration processes in the temperate steppe in northern China.