Authors : Guomei Yin, Yongzhi Liu, Yingjun Zhang, Jinhua Zhao, Junying He, Yanlin Xue and Xiaoqing Zhang
Abstract: To investigated the tolerance response of Fringed sagebrush (Artemisia frigid Willd.) to three grazing intensities in the desert steppe of Inner Mongolian in China, the relationships between them were analyzed from two different aspects, plant height and leaf epidermis micro-morphology. As grazing pressure increased, plant height was the better trait of grazing response. At the height level researchers predicted that plants with a negative response to grazing would be ingest by sheep with grazing intensity increasers. At the leaf epidermis micromorphology level, researchers predicted that with higher grazing intensities would have stomatal subsidence, skin folds increase. The results of this exploratory study suggest that prediction of grazing responses on the basis of easily measured plant traits is feasible and consistent between similar grazing systems in different regions. The results challenge the precept that high intensity sheep grazing necessarily change species with micromorphology and height.
Guomei Yin, Yongzhi Liu, Yingjun Zhang, Jinhua Zhao, Junying He, Yanlin Xue and Xiaoqing Zhang, 2014. Responses Strategy to Morphology of Fringed Sagebrush (Artemisia frigid) to Grazing Intensity in Desert Steppe of Inner Mongolia. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 13: 963-969.