Dominant species determined forage quantity and quality in a typical Inner Mongolia steppe

Grasslands are crucial for supporting the development of animal husbandry by providing essential nutrients such as crude protein, crude fat, and neutral and acid detergent fibers. However, grasslands are facing threats from climate aridification and the increasing intensities of grazing and mowing. Based on a 3-year controlled experiment manipulating grassland management practices and precipitation amount in a typical Inner Mongolia grassland, this study showed decreases in the yields of crude protein, crude fat, and neutral and acid detergent fibers with decreasing precipitation. Grazing and mowing showed less pronounced impacts compared to precipitation amount but reduced nutrient yield by lowering community-wide productivity. Dominant species, such as Leymus chinensis and Stipa krylovii, played a pivotal role in regulating the community’s response to changes in precipitation and grassland management practices by adjusting their nutrient contents and contributions to community-wide productivity, thereby influencing the overall nutrient yield capacity. Our results suggest that climate aridification will decrease forage quantity in the Inner Mongolian typical grassland, thereby reducing the nutrient supply capacity of dominant species and consequently lowering the overall nutrient production of the community. This, in turn, threatens the sustainable development of animal husbandry, a situation that could be further exacerbated by the increasing intensities of grazing and mowing activities.