Grazing livestock species composition influences community assembly and determines scale-dependent plant diversity

Grazing by domestic herbivores such as cattle and sheep is a major driver of grassland biodiversity. However, it remains unclear how livestock composition influences community dynamics and consequently shapes plant diversity across scales. Here, we conducted a five-year livestock grazing experiment with continuous in situ vegetation monitoring by manipulating the grazing ratio of cattle and sheep in a meadow steppe of northern China. We found that all mixed grazing of cattle and sheep can continuously improve the α and β diversity of plants. Analysis of species dynamics within permanent quadrats showed that the number of newly colonizing species gradually increased as the proportion of grazing cattle increased, leading to higher plant α diversity under cattle dominated grazing (CCS). By contrast, β diversity was higher under sheep-dominated grazing (CSS). Grazing effects on α diversity were mainly driven by shifts in community dominance, whereas β diversity responded to both community d..., , # Grazing livestock species composition influences community assembly and determines scale-dependent plant diversity

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xvk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xvk)

## Description of the data and file structure (column and explanation)

### File: data.xlsx

**Description:** We have submitted the raw data. The data were obtained from four different livestock species composition treatments： CK (no grazing); CCS (cattle grazing intensity is twice that of sheep); CS (the grazing intensity of cattle and sheep is the same); CSS (sheep grazing intensity is twice that of cattle). Plant measurements include Richness, β diversity, community dominance, number of species colonization, number of species extinction, and community assembly process. Soil measurements include soil nitrogen, the quantity, and heterogeneity of soil-available nitrogen.

#### Key Variables

* Richness：number of species in quadrat
* β diversity：The average pairwise dissimilarity between quad...,