Grazing and short-term precipitation affect ecosystem functioning; C, N, and P contents; and CNP stoichiometry in the desert steppe of the Mongolia Plateau.xlsx

Field data were obtained from July 20 to August 10, which represented the highest annual plant growth peaks in 2016, 2017 and 2018. In each treatment, five 1 × 1 m quadrats were established randomly to observe the plant community coverage and species number, and then the aboveground biomass and litter biomass were clipped at the ground level. <br><br>Soil samples were obtained from five 5 cm diameter soil cores at depths of 0 to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 30 and 30 to 40 cm. The five cores from each quadrat were mixed in situ as one composite sample and rocks and visible plant materials were removed by hand. The soil was air-dried and ground to pass a 1 mm sieve for C, N and P analysis.