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Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology ›› 2026, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (6): 1851-1860.doi: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.202606.005

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Effects of enclosure on soil physicochemical properties and enzyme activities of typical plant communities in desert steppe of Ningxia

SHI Na1,2, LIU Jiankang1,2*, ZHANG Jie1,2, LYU Peng3, ZHANG Chenghui3, ZHANG Bohua3, LAN Huiqin1,2, WANG Yitao1,2   

  1. 1School of Ecology and Environment, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China;
    2Key Laboratory of Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystems in Northwestern China of Ministry of Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China;
    3School of Forestry and Grassland Science, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021, China
  • Received:2026-01-29 Revised:2026-04-28 Online:2026-06-18 Published:2026-12-18

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Abstract: We compared the differences in plant community structure, soil physicochemical properties, and enzyme activity under enclosed and traditional grazing conditions across three typical plant communities in the desert steppe of Yanchi County, Ningxia-Astragalus adsutus, Artemisia scoparia, and Artemisia ordosica. The results showed that enclosure significantly increased average height, coverage, and aboveground biomass of three communities but reduced community density and species diversity. Enclosure did not affect soil pH and total nitrogen in all the three communities, but reduced soil organic carbon and available nitrogen by 53.3% and 42.0% in the A. adsutus community, while increased total phosphorus, total potassium, and available potassium concentration by 41.7%, 9.7%, and 33.6%, respectively. Enclosure significantly increased total potassium and available potassium concentration by 15.9% and 108.4% in the A. ordosica community, while did not affect soil nutrients in the A. scoparia community. Enclosure generally inhibited the activities of sucrase, urease, alkaline phosphatase, and catalase in the soil of all communities, with significant reductions in urease and alkaline phosphatase activity by 61.2% and 68.3% in the A. adsutus community, and significant declines in sucrase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activity by 16.9%, 43.2%, and 67.9% in the A. scoparia community, as well as significant decreases in the activity of all four enzymes by 11.9% to 51.9% in the A. ordosica community. Correlation and redundancy analyses indicated that plant diversity and soil physicochemical properties together explained 85.6% of the variation in soil enzyme activity, with soil moisture, organic carbon, and species richness contributing the most. The independent explanatory rate of soil physicochemical properties (41.0%) was significantly higher than that of plant diversity (8.4%). The effects of grassland enclosure on plant communities, soil properties, and key enzyme activity were dependent on community type, while plant communities influenced soil enzyme activity indirectly by modulating soil physicochemical properties.

Key words: enclosure, desert steppe, soil physicochemical property, soil enzyme activity