The priming effect is well acknowledged in soil systems but the effect of nitrogen (N) fertilization remains elusive. To explore how N modifies the priming effect in soil organic matter (SOM), one in situ experiment with ¹³C labeled glucose addition (0.4 mg C g^-1 soil, 3.4 atom % ¹³C) was conducted on soil plots fertilized with three gradients of urea (0, 4 and 16 g N m^-2 yr^-1). After glucose addition, the soil CO₂ concentration and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) were measured on day 3, 7, 21 and 35. The study found that N fertilization decreased soil CO₂, PLFA and the fungi to bacteria ratio. Glucose triggered the strongest positive priming in soil at 0 g N m^-2 yr^-2, meanwhile N fertilization decreased SOM-derived CO₂. Soil at 4 g N m^-2 yr^-2 released the largest amount of glucose-derived carbon (C), likely due to favorable nutrient stoichiometry between C and N. Stable microbial community biomass and composition during early sampling suggests “apparent priming” in this grassland. This study concludes that N fertilization inhibited soil priming in semi-arid grassland, and shifted microbial utilization of C substrate from SOM to added labile C. Diverse microbial functions might be playing a crucial role in soil priming and requires attention in future N fertilization studies.

We investigated soil respiration (Rs) dynamics and influencing factors under different nitrogen (N) addition levels (0, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 g m^-2 yr^-1) on typical grassland plots in Inner Mongolia. We measured soil respiration, temperature, moisture and nutrients. We found that N addition did not change dynamic characteristics of Rs; daily and seasonal dynamics followed a single peak curve. N addition reduced Rs during the growing season. Rs under N2, N4, N8, N16 and N32 treatments decreased by 24.00%, 21.93%, 23.49%, 30.78% and 28.20% in the growing season, respectively, compared to the N0 treatment. However, Rs in the non-growing season was not different across treatments. Rs was significantly positively correlated with soil temperature and moisture and these two factors accounted for 72%-97% and 74%-82% of variation in Rs, respectively. The soil respiration temperature sensitivity (Q₁₀) was between 2.27 and 4.16 and N addition reduced Q₁₀ except in the N8 treatment.

Natural hay pastures in semi-arid pastoral areas produce the highest yields of hay in northern China. However, long-term continuous hay harvesting with no rest interval has resulted in severe degradation across widespread areas of these natural hay pastures. In addition, no clear data exist on the spatial distribution or degree of degradation occurring in natural hay pastures primarily because a nationally unified and normative evaluation standard is lacking. In view of the above problems, we employed an analytic hierarchy process to carry out screening and accuracy validation of evaluation indicators for natural hay pastures in north China grasslands (temperate meadow steppes, temperate steppes, mountain meadows, and lowland meadows). Our study identified seven easily measured indicators that reflect the state of natural hay pastures (average height, aboveground biomass, coverage, proportion of medium grasses, litter biomass, proportion of degradation-indicative plants, and proportion of bare spots and saline-alkali spots). A five-level scoring method was employed to delineate the threshold range for these indicators, The results of this study show that this method effectively solved the technical bottleneck for graded evaluation of degradation in natural hay pastures. This provides a theoretical basis for the scientific assessment of natural hay pasture degradation as well as important technical support for sustainable use of natural hay pastures and livestock production.