DOI: 10.5061/dryad.prr4xgz0j
title: Data from: More than a decade of moderate grazing: No impact on soil organic carbon stocks and enhancement of mineral-associated organic carbon via livestock diversification

description: Managed grassland soils represent a large reservoir of soil organic carbon
 (SOC), playing a crucial role in climate regulation. While optimal
 herbivore grazing is presumed to be non-detrimental and may even increase
 soil carbon sequestration, there is a limit of long-term experimental
 studies to validate this effect, especially those that incorporate
 multiple herbivore species and their combinations to assess impacts on SOC
 stocks. Here, we conducted a 14-year controlled grazing experiment with
 moderate intensity, incorporating common herbivore species (sheep, cattle,
 or both) in a temperate grassland. The results showed that more than a
 decade of moderate grazing did not alter total SOC stocks and also
 particulate organic carbon (POC), regardless of livestock assemblages,
 while diversified livestock grazing by cattle and sheep increased the
 mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) content and its proportion of
 bulk soil carbon. This effect of grazing on soil MAOC is primarily
 attributed to an increase in soil microbial carbon inputs, driven directly
 by diversified livestock grazing and indirectly by improved plant
 diversity and soil conditions. Our study indicates that moderate grazing
 had a strong effect on MAOC, a key indicator of long-term soil carbon
 stability, but had little influence on total SOC. We further suggest that
 improving grassland soil carbon sequestration requires not only optimizing
 grazing intensity, but also incorporating diverse herbivore assemblages
 that mimic natural grazing systems, with diversified moderate grazing
 emerging as an effective management strategy for promoting carbon storage
 and contributing to climate change mitigation.
description: # Data from: More than a decade of moderate grazing: No impact on soil
 organic carbon stocks and enhancement of mineral-associated organic carbon
 via livestock diversification Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.prr4xgz0j](10.5061/dryad.prr4xgz0j) ## Description of the
 data and file structure NOTE: Descriptions of the abbreviated and full
 names of the four treatments in this study. plant: Actual measured values
 of plant variables obtained in this study. soil: Actual measured values of
 soil variables obtained in this study. ### Files and variables #### File:
 Data_grazing_type.xlsx **Description:** We have submitted our raw data
 (Data_grazing type.xlsx). This data was obtained from four different
 grazing types: ungrazed, sheep grazing, cattle grazing, and mixed grazing
 by cattle and sheep. The plant includes measured value for plant
 diversity, plant biomass, plant cover, and the proportion of forbs. The
 soil includes measured value for SOC stocks, SOC fractions, microbial
 biomass carbon, microbial necromass carbon, soil moisture, and soil bulk
 density. ##### Variables * plant diversity: Shannon-Wiener diversity
 index. * plant biomass (g m^-2^) * plant cover (%) * the proportion of
 forbs (%) * SOC stocks: soil organic carbon stocks (kg m^-2^) * MAOC:
 mineral-associated organic carbon (g kg^-1^) * oPOC: occluded particulate
 organic carbon (g kg^-1^) * fPOC: free particulate organic carbon (g
 kg^-1^) * MBC: microbial biomass carbon (mg kg^-1^) * SM: soil
 moisture (%) * MNC: microbial necromass carbon (g kg^-1^)  * Bacterial
 MNC: bacterial microbial necromass carbon (g kg^-1^) * Fungal MNC: fungal
 microbial necromass carbon (g kg^-1^) * BD: soil bulk density (g cm^-3^)