Soil invertebrates are widely recognized as ecosystem engineers that can influence soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics, yet their effects on SOC fractions and the structural composition of SOC pools, as well as the environmental factors regulating these effects, have not been comprehensively synthesized. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of 53 invertebrate manipulation studies across China, comprising 320 observations, to quantify changes in SOC, carbon fractions, and three functional carbon pools (active carbon, slow carbon, and recalcitrant carbon pools), and to evaluate how climate and soil properties moderate SOC responses. Overall, invertebrate manipulation was associated with significant increases in SOC and most measured fractions, with particularly strong positive effects on the active and recalcitrant carbon pools. However, effect sizes varied substantially among ecosystems, experimental settings, invertebrate groups, and manipulation durations, indicating pronounced context dependence. Joint-distribution analyses revealed heterogeneous relationships between SOC and the active, slow, and recalcitrant carbon pools, with no consistently uniform pattern across observations. Across environmental gradients, SOC responses showed statistically significant but weak positive relationships with mean annual temperature and precipitation, whereas they declined with increasing soil pH. Together, these results demonstrate that invertebrate effects on SOC should be interpreted in conjunction with changes in individual fractions and functional carbon pools, and that environmental conditions partially explain the variation in these responses.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition, a major driver of global change, exerts profound effects on the biogeochemical cycling of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), as well as their stoichiometric ratios (C:N:P) in grassland ecosystems. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of 1168 observations from 83 published studies to quantitatively assess the impacts of N addition on the C:N:P stoichiometry of plants, soils, and microbes across global grasslands. Our results show that N addition significantly increased plant and SOC content, enhanced N content in plants, soils, and microbial biomass, and reduced C:N ratios in plant leaves and soils by 17.3% and 2.7%, respectively. In addition, N addition markedly elevated N:P ratios in plant leaves (32.2%), soils (9.3%), and microbial biomass (16.8%). These stoichiometric responses were strongly mediated by N input rates and experimental duration, but showed broadly consistent patterns across climatic contexts. Collectively, our findings provide new insights into how N deposition alters elemental cycling and stoichiometric balance in grassland ecosystems, improving the predictive accuracy of ecosystem models and informing management strategies to mitigate the impacts of increasing N deposition under global change

The plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi), a keystone subterranean engineer in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau alpine meadows, creates dynamic mosaics of soil disturbances through mound formation that destabilize plant-soil systems but critically reshape soil bacterial assembly, a process essential for ecosystem functioning yet unresolved mechanistically. Here, we integrated 16S rRNA sequencing with ecological network and assembly modeling to assess bacterial community dynamics across zokor mound succession stages. The results showed that: Disturbance-induced soil restructuring initiated a successional cascade: acute habitat fragmentation in new mounds (NM) fueled bacterial diversification (peak alpha-diversity in semi-new mounds, SM; p < 0.05), while competitive exclusion drove diversity decline in undisturbed grasslands (CK). Crucially, assembly transitioned from heterogeneous selection dominated (73.33% in NM/SM) to stochastic homogenizing dispersal (80% in old mounds, OM) as soil organic carbon (SOC) gradients attenuated. SOC-mediated niche consolidation ultimately balanced deterministic-stochastic processes in CK (selection: 53.33% vs. dispersal: 46.67%), revealing carbon stabilization as a keystone mechanism maintaining community resilience. Soil nutrients fueled plant diversity but suppressed keystone taxa, while plant diversity both constrained bacterial richness and stabilized communities. These findings redefine zokor disturbances as ecosystem engineers, initially diversifying microbiomes through habitat heterogeneity, before fostering network resilience via oligotrophic specialists.

Plants are consumed by a variety of organisms, including herbivores and pathogens, which significantly impact plant biomass, diversity, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. While the impacts of vertebrate herbivores are well established, the effects of consumer groups such as insect herbivores, mollusks, and fungal pathogens on plant communities are less clear and remain understudied in many systems. Existing evidence of how they affect plant biomass, diversity, and community composition is mixed, and most studies have focused on individual consumer groups in isolation. However, different consumer groups interact with each other, directly or indirectly, in ways that alter their impacts on plants, and the consequences of these interactions for plant community structure and ecosystem function remain understudied. Further, consumer impacts vary across environmental gradients and likely depend on abiotic conditions such as climate, soil type, or elevation, and biotic conditions such as plant productivity, diversity, or community composition. Existing studies testing the impacts of invertebrate herbivores and fungal pathogens on plant communities differ substantially in methodology, making generalities across large scales difficult. This calls for experimental approaches that implement standardized protocols across many sites. Here, we introduce and report on the methodology of a novel global research network, The Bug-Network (BugNet), that implements standardized consumer-reduction experiments across 5 continents and 18 countries in diverse, herbaceous- or shrub-dominated ecosystems to investigate: (1) the influence of fungal pathogens, insect herbivores, and mollusks on plant diversity and ecosystem functioning, (2) interactions among these consumer groups, and (3) the abiotic and biotic drivers of context-dependent consumer impacts. BugNet aims to advance a predictive understanding of plant-consumer interactions in order to test fundamental ecological hypotheses and improve predictions of global change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Grassland ecosystems are among the largest biogenic methane sinks and play a vital role in the global methane budgets. However, current assessments of methane uptake by grasslands remain uncertain due to limited observational data and unclear driving mechanisms. In this study, we compiled 1229 field measurements from 129 sampling sites across diverse grassland types in China and employed a Random Forest model to study the spatiotemporal dynamics and environmental drivers of methane uptake flux from 1982 to 2020. The results showed that the average methane uptake flux was estimated at 44.4 μg CH4 m-2 h-1. Spatially, higher uptake rates were observed in the southern and eastern regions of the Inner Mongolian Plateau and Junggar Basin, while relatively lower rates occurred in the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Temporally, the methane uptake in grasslands in China increased significantly over the 38-year study period, with shrubland and meadow grasslands contributing most to this trend. Further analysis identified rising temperatures and soil drying as the dominant drivers of the observed increase in methane uptake flux. This study provides a spatiotemporal dataset of methane fluxes in China's grassland ecosystem and offers theoretical support for understanding global methane budget changes and the underlying driving mechanisms under climate warming.

Precisely assessing wetland net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is important for accurately evaluating global carbon budgets. However, constrained by the quality of observational data and insufficient understanding of driving mechanisms, assessments of China's wetland NEP still have considerable uncertainties. Therefore, this study assessed continuous observations from 30 eddy covariance flux towers across various wetland types in China and applied the random forest (RF) model to simulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of China's wetland NEP. The results showed that from 1982 to 2020, China's wetlands represented a net C-CO2 sink overall, with an average NEP of 21.61 ± 0.04 mg C m-2 h-1 and annual net C-CO2 absorption of 56.23 Tg C. Riverine and coastal wetlands had the highest NEP, while freshwater marshes had the lowest. From 1982 to 2020, the wetland NEP in China exhibited a significant increasing trend. Further analysis indicated that potential evapotranspiration (PET) is the main driving factor behind the significant increase in NEP in China's wetlands, with a clear threshold effect: NEP rises with PET up to a certain point (e.g., 160 mm), after which it declines. This study accurately quantified the spatiotemporal dynamics of China's wetland NEP and revealed the critical impact of PET on NEP, thus providing a new perspective for performing wetland carbon cycle research and formulating climate change mitigation strategies.

The transitional zone between the Tibetan Plateau and the Loess Plateau features diverse ecological structures, with varied terrain and climate contributing to the high sensitivity and fragility of its ecosystems. Furthermore, the impact of human activities has made ecosystem services and their interrelations increasingly complex and dynamic. Therefore, studying ecosystem services and their driving factors, as well as implementing measures to mitigate or eliminate negative impacts, is of great significance for maintaining ecological stability and promoting sustainable development in this region. This study assessed five ecosystem services in the transitional zone of the Tibetan Plateau and Loess Plateau from 1990 to 2020. By combining multi-scale analyses (1 km, 5 km, and 10 km grids) with structural equation modeling, the study identified trade-offs, synergies, and the main driving factors among these ecosystem services. The results indicated that, with the exception of habitat quality (HQ), the other four services showed an increasing trend. soil conservation (SC), water yield (WY), habitat quality (HQ), and carbon storage (CS) demonstrated synergistic relationships, while net primary productivity (NPP) exhibited a trade-off relationship with WY and HQ and a synergistic relationship with SC and CS. Spatially, these services were not entirely aligned as either synergistic or competitive, revealing spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Additionally, consistent relationships were observed between pairs of services across scales, with similar correlation strengths across scales. The analysis of driving factors revealed that natural and social factors often exerted opposite influences on ecosystem services. Specifically, SC and CS were primarily driven by natural factors such as precipitation (Pre), temperature (Tem), and potential evapotranspiration (PET). In contrast, WY, NPP, and HQ were influenced by a combination of natural and social factors, including population density (Pop), Pre, and GDP. Additionally, variations in key driving factors and their effects across temporal and spatial scales demonstrated the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of primary drivers in ecosystem services. This study reveals the complexity of ecosystem services and their interrelationships from multiple perspectives, providing a scientific framework for ecosystem management in environmentally fragile regions.

As crucial regulators of the ecosystem functions, soil microbes are facing a range of challenges including ecological degradation caused by small mammal disturbances. These disturbances not only threaten biodiversity but also affect the healthy functioning of ecosystems. Effects of plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi) disturbances on the complexity, stability and assembly processes of belowground microbial networks remain unclear. In this study, we employed ITS rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to systematically investigate fungal network properties, assembly mechanisms, functional potential, and the links to plant-soil functions in soil fungal communities through various stages of zokor mound succession: (i) new mounds (NM), (ii) semi-new mounds (SM), (iii) old mounds (OM) and (iv) pristine grassland (CK), as a control. The results demonstrated that zokor disturbances significantly altered plant species diversity and soil properties, simultaneously affecting the composition and structure of soil fungal communities. Disturbances increased the complexity of fungal community networks but decreased their stability. Moreover, dispersal limitation and homogeneous selection were identified as the primary mechanisms that shape fungal community structure. Functional potential analysis revealed that zokor disturbances led to a decline in the relative abundance of lichenized fungi and plant saprotrophs. Multiple environmental factors, including soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total phosphorus (TP) were identified as pivotal in driving changes in soil fungal communities. These results deepen our comprehension of the impacts of small mammal disturbances on fungal community characteristics in the Tibetan Plateau grassland ecosystem and provide valuable insights into the potential mechanisms sustaining fungal diversity in extreme environments.

The Siberian jerboa (Orientallactaga sibirica), a keystone species in desert ecosystems and a critical indicator for environmental change assessment. However, little is known about the spatial distribution and habitat suitability of Siberian jerboa in China, particularly under the dual impacts of climate change and human disturbance. This study employed the MaxEnt model to discern key factors affecting the Siberian jerboa's habitat suitability, predicated future habitat shifts in response to climatic and anthropogenic influences. The results reveal that the species predominantly inhabits northwestern China, centering in Gansu's Hexi Corridor and central Inner Mongolia under current climate conditions. Vegetation cover emerges as the primary determinant of its distribution, with elevation, human disturbance, temperature fluctuations, and slope also significantly influencing habitat suitability of the species. The potentially suitable habitat range of the Siberian jerboa is shrinking due to global climate change. Notably, future projections suggest an expansion of its distribution towards the Tibetan Plateau, driven by climate change. This research contributes valuable insights into the adaptive responses of desert rodents to the environmental change.

Rodent disturbances are considered as the key factors that affect grassland ecological restoration worldwide. Although the impact of rodent disturbances on plant diversity and ecosystem functions has been extensively studied, our understanding of how such activities shape soil bacterial community networks and their functional roles remains limited. In this study, we employed 16S rRNA sequencing to investigate soil bacterial communities between undisturbed alpine meadow and zokor mounds at different successional stages. Additionally, we analyzed the co-occurrence networks and potential functions within the alpine meadow ecosystem. The results revealed that (1) the disturbance by plateau zokors altered the soil bacterial community structure, increased bacterial diversity and reduced network complexity. Also, there were synergistic interactions among key species in the soil bacterial co-occurrence network; (2) soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) were identified as the key environmental variables that shape soil bacterial communities; (3) functional predictions based on FAPROTAX indicated that the disturbance by plateau zokors significantly affected the functional groups involved in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. Overall, these findings significantly enhance our understanding of how small mammal activities influence the soil nutrient cycling and bacterial community in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) alpine meadow.

Exploring the activity patterns of small mammals is important for understanding the survival strategies of these animals, such as foraging and mating. The purpose of the present study was to determine the activity of free-living plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) in different months and seasons (cold and warm seasons), with a particular emphasis on the effects of weather condition. Based on a camera-trapping survey conducted from October 2017 to September 2018, we evaluated the activity patterns and activity levels of plateau pikas inhabiting the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. The effects of environmental factors on the activity of plateau pikas were examined using the generalized additive mixed model (GAMM). The results showed that: (1) The plateau pikas exhibited unimodal patterns of activity during the cold season (October-April). During the warm season (May-September), the activity patterns of the plateau pikas were bimodal. Their activity levels were highest in June. (2) During the cold season, their activity levels rose gradually over the course of the day to a peak near noon, and they were not significantly higher after sunrise than they were before sunset. During the warm season, their activity peaks were in the morning and afternoon, and their activity levels were substantially lower after sunrise than they were before sunset. (3) The plateau pikas were more active under conditions with lower ambient temperatures and precipitation during the cold and warm seasons. While relative air humidity was positively correlated with the activity of the plateau pikas during the warm season, wind speed was negatively correlated with the pikas' activity during the cold season. Overall, these results collectively indicate that plateau pikas occupy habitats with cool and less windy microclimates during the cold season, and with cool and moist microclimates during the warm season. Information on the time allocation of pikas' activity levels during different seasons should provide a baseline for understanding their potential for adaptation to climate change.

祁连山北麓中段荒漠草原鼠害日趋加剧,已严重影响当地畜牧业生产和草原生态保护.明晰当地啮齿动物栖息地特征对鼠害精准防控具有重要意义.本研究调查了该区域啮齿动物地理分布及其主要分布区土壤物理性状和植物群落结构,从植被景观、土壤和植物3个层面揭示研究区啮齿动物栖息地特征.结果表明:(1)荒漠草原是研究区啮齿动物主要分布区;(2)0～30 cm 土壤紧实度和土壤水分与鼠洞密度显著相关(R2＞0.32,P＜0.05);(3)植被盖度、生物量、Patrick指数和Pielou指数与鼠洞密度显著相关(R2＞0.31,P＜0.05),珍珠猪毛菜(Salsola passerina)频度与鼠洞密度呈显著负相关(P＜0.05);(4)冗余分析结果发现,显著影响啮齿动物栖息地选择的是0～30 cm 土壤紧实度(P＜0.01).可见,0～30 cm 土壤紧实度是影响研究区啮齿动物栖息地选择的主要环境因子.

Ligularia virgaurea and Ligularia sagitta are two species of poisonous plants with strong invasiveness in natural grasslands in China that have caused considerable harm to animal husbandry and the ecological environment. However, little is known about their suitable habitats and the key environmental factors affecting their distribution. Although some studies have reported the distributions of poisonous plants on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) and predicted their potential distributions at local scales in some regions under climate change, there have been few studies on the widespread distributions of L. virgaurea and L. sagitta . In this study, we recorded 276 and 118 occurrence points of L. virgaurea and L. sagitta on the QTP using GPS, and then used the MaxEnt model to predict the distribution of suitable habitats. Results showed that (1) under current climate conditions, L. virgaurea and L. sagitta are mainly distributed in southern Gansu, eastern Qinghai, northwestern Sichuan, eastern Tibet, and southwestern Yunnan, accounting for approximately 34.9% and 39.8% of the total area of the QTP, respectively; (2) the main environmental variables affecting the distribution of suitable habitats for L. virgaurea and L. sagitta are the Human Footprint Index (52.8%, 42.2%), elevation (11%, 4.4%), soil total nitrogen (18.9%, 4.2%), and precipitation seasonality (5.1%, 7.3%); and (3) in the future, in the 2050s and 2070s, the area of habitat of intermediate suitability for L. virgaurea will spread considerably in northwest Sichuan, while that of high suitability for L. sagitta will spread to eastern Tibet and western Sichuan.

Extensive research confirms that abiotic stressors like predation risk can profoundly affect animal condition. However, there is a lack of experimental research assessing the suite of physiological responses to risk. We increased predation risk in free-living plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) by simulating natural chases using a model predator (UAV: unmanned aerial vehicle) and monitored behavior, physiology, and reproduction of pikas. We found that: Predation risk affects the body weight of plateau pika under different population density stress, but the effect is not significant. Compared with the non-predation risk treatment (control), the plateau pika under high population density stress mainly responded to the risk of predation by reducing the foraging time and increasing the vigilance time, while plateau pikas under low population density pressure not only reduce foraging time and appropriately increase vigilance time, but also focus on increasing the concealing time in the burrows. The corticosterone (CORT), cortisol and thyroid (T4) level of plateau pika with low population density under the predation risk was significantly higher than those in the control, and the testosterone (T), progesterone (PROG), leptin (LEP) and testicular weight of plateau pika with low population density in the predation risk was significantly lower than those in the control. There was no difference in the litter size of female pika between predation risk treatments and control. Broadly, our result show that predation risk had significant effects on the behavior, physiology and reproduction of plateau pikas with low population density, but had no significant effect with high population density, and the response of male plateau pika to predation risk was greater than that of female. Therefore, the prevention of plateau pika should focus on the control of population density and the protection of predators, so as to avoid the failure of ecological prevention methods such as natural enemies due to the increase of population density.

近年来,由于气候异常和人为过度放牧等原因,毒害草型退化草地面积不断扩大,严重威胁草地畜牧业的健康发展.然而,毒害草也是草地植物多样性的重要组分,毒害草滋生是草地生态系统正反馈策略之一.了解草原毒害草植物学、种群生态学和毒理学等研究现状和发展趋势,对科学防控毒害草危害和保护草地多样性有重要意义.利用CiteSpace软件,选择WOS和CNKI中2000～2021年间毒害草研究文章进行文献计量学分析.结果表明:(1)WOS数据库中发文量整体呈上升趋势,而CNKI数据库中发文量呈先升高后降低;(2)毒害草研究呈综合性和广泛性,涉及植物学、药理学和生态学等学科;(3)巴西是发文量最高的国家,大坎皮纳联邦大学(University Federal Campina Grande)、美国农业部农业科学研究院(USDA-Agricultural Research Service)和中国科学院是主要研究机构,WOS作者间合作紧密,呈聚集状,CNKI多以小团体存在,合作交流较少;(4)毒害草化感作用、内生真菌、DNA条形码鉴定和基因组成是现阶段研究热点.

Soils contain a remarkable diversity of organisms that are important regulators of ecosystem functions. However, the knowledge of how the environment shapes biodiversity patterns below ground remains limited in alpine areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Here, we conducted a microhabitat scale study (400 m2 plot) integrating data on soil and plant community characteristics to explore the driving forces of functional diversity of soil microbial and macroinvertebrate communities under disturbance by plateau zokor (Eospalax baileyi), a subterranean rodent inhabiting the Tibetan Plateau. The results show that plateau zokor disturbance led to a decline in the below -ground biomass of grasses, whereupon the total belowground plant biomass and soil organic carbon decreased significantly. The functional diversity of soil microbial and macroinvertebrate communities was significantly increased under plateau zokor disturbance. Redundancy analysis indicated that soil moisture, temperature and compaction, in combination with plant species richness and belowground biomass of forb were the most important factors in driving soil microbial and macroinvertebrate functional diversity. Piecewise structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that plateau zokor mound disturbance had positive effects on the functional diversity of soil microbial and macroinvertebrate communities by regulating soil physical properties (moisture, temperature, and compaction) and plant species richness within the habitat. Further, zokor disturbance affected the functional diversity of soil microbial and macroinvertebrate communities indirectly via regulating soil organic carbon. Our study provides evidence that the functional diversity of microbes is more driven by envi-ronmental changes than those of macroinvertebrates.

The aboveground biomass of vegetation in desert areas serves as a crucial indicator for monitoring land desertification and extracting desert vegetation information using remote sensing techniques. In this study, the Minqin County of Gansu Province was selected as the experimental area and Sentinel-2 images were used as the data source. We constructed estimation models (unitary linear, exponential, logarithmic, and binomial models) for the planted index and the aboveground biomass of vegetation, which were measured by us. These models include five vegetation indices: ratio vegetation index (RVI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), difference vegetation index (DVI), soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and optimized soil-adjusted vegetation index (OSAVI). The aboveground biomass in the study area was estimated using the selected optimal model. The results demonstrated that SAVI had the highest correlation with the aboveground biomass (r = 0.79) compared with RVI, NDVI, DVI, and OSAVI. The binomial model based on SAVI was the best model (R2 = 0.76) for the aboveground biomass estimation in the study area, with higher accuracy (R2 = 0.73, RMSE = 0.12). In the Minqin County, the relatively dense areas of vegetation were mainly distributed in the four major irrigation districts (Hongyashan, Huanhe, Changning, and Nanhu), the surrounding area of Qingtu Lake, and the northwest region of Hongshagang Town, whereas the vegetation in other regions was relatively sparse. The proportions of nonvegetation area 0.5 kg (100m2)- 1] were 66%, 21%, 5%, and 8%, respectively.

Rodent pests are the greatest and most widespread biological problem affecting pastoral land in China and their impact can reach ‘disaster’ level. Obtaining accurate data for rodent-damaged areas in grassland is a priority for evaluating the degree of pest damage and for devising pest management strategies. At present, survey grid and mapping methods are the main methods used to identify rodent-damaged areas in grassland. However, both of those methods have problems in terms of low efficiency and poor accuracy, so they do not meet the requirements for precise management of grassland pests. According to the principles of ecology and statistics, we used unmanned aerial vehicle（UAV） remote sensing technology and a stratified sampling method to detect damage areas from plateau pika, a dominant rodent pest on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. These trials were conducted at four townships in Maqu County in Gansu Province. First, we selected the primary investigation area according to its suitability for rodents. Then, the first survey area was divided according to different habitat types into secondary survey plots, and each plot was divided into a grid. A certain number of quadrats in the secondary sample plots was randomly sampled, each as a three-level sample with a UAV survey. According to the average area of rodent pest damage across multiple quadrats, the damaged area in each secondary plot was calculated. The areas of damage in all the secondary plots were added to obtain the total pest-damaged area in the primary investigation area. The total area of grassland in the test area was 4. 6×10~5 ha, the area suitable for plateau pika was 2. 5×10~5 ha, and the area of plateau pika damage in the test area was 1. 05×10~4 ha. There were 50 sampling sites in total, and each site had an area of 1 ha.Taking one site as a sample, it takes one person 20 min to complete the work in terms of UAV flying and image interpretation. Compared with the grid survey method and mapping method, this new method can detect areas of rodent damage in grassland on a larger scale because it is more efficient, accurate, and cost-effective.

Globally, livestock grazing is an important management factor influencing soil degradation, soil health and carbon (C) stocks of grassland ecosystems. However, the effects of grassland types, grazing intensity and grazing duration on C stocks are unclear across large geographic scales. To provide a more comprehensive assessment of how grazing drives ecosystem C stocks in grasslands, we compiled and analyzed data from 306 studies featuring four grassland types across China: desert steppes, typical steppes, meadow steppes and alpine steppes. Light grazing was the best management practice for desert steppes (< 2 sheep ha −1 ) and typical steppes (3 to 4 sheep ha −1 ), whereas medium grazing pressure was optimal for meadow steppes (5 to 6 sheep ha −1 ) and alpine steppes (7 to 8 sheep ha −1 ) leading to the highest ecosystem C stocks under grazing. Plant biomass (desert steppes) and soil C stocks (meadow steppes) increased under light or medium grazing, confirming the ‘ intermediate disturbance hypothesis ’. Heavy grazing decreased all C stocks regardless of grassland ecosystem types, approximately 1.4 Mg ha −1 per year for the whole ecosystem. The regrowth and regeneration of grasslands in response to grazing intensity (i.e., grazing optimization ) depended on grassland types and grazing duration. In conclusion, grassland grazing is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, proper management (light or medium grazing) can maintain and even increase C stocks above- and belowground, and increase the harvested livestock products from grasslands. On the other hand, human-induced overgrazing can lead to rapid degradation of vegetation and soils, resulting in significant carbon loss and requiring long-term recovery. Grazing regimes (i.e., intensity and duration applied) must consider specific grassland characteristics to ensure stable productivity rates and optimal impacts on ecosystem C stocks. Graphical Abstract