College of Grassland Science and Technology
Nan Liu, Professor
College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193
Phone: +86-13120416164
E-mail: liunan@cau.edu.cn
Education
Ph.D. Sep 2008 – June 2013 China Agricultural University
B.S. Sep 2004 – July 2008 Shandong Agricultural University
Research Experience
Dec 2016~: Associate Professor, College of Animal Science, China Agricultural University.
Feb 2015~March 2016: Research Scholar, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California-Davis
June 2013~Dec 2016: Lecturer, College of Animal Science, China Agricultural University.
Research Emphases and Interests
My research interests are in biodiversity, plant-soil interactions, soil carbon sequestration, and the balance between livestock and forage, utilizing a combination of experimental field and greenhouse studies. The majority of my research focuses on grazing grassland ecology and management, with an emphasis on belowground mechanisms, such as soil organic carbon forming and storage, and the process of litter decomposition and rhizodeposition. The underlying mechanism of grazing (defoliation, trampling and dung and urine return and their interaction) process effects on plant, soil, and soil microbial communities and their relationships. I also do some work on cultivated grassland management (e.g. plant production, forage quality evaluation, and intercropping systems).
Current Research Projects:
• Grazing effects on plant-derived carbon input and forming soil organic carbon in grassland.
• Litter decomposition and its carbon inputs into the soil in grazing grassland.
• Key technology on efficient utilization of cultivated grassland―Balance model of herbage and livestock production.
• Microbial regulation on soil organic carbon stability under grazing.
• Plant diversity maintenance of grazing grassland
• Evaluation of the project of returning grazing land to no grazing land (PRGLNGL)
• Mechanism of formation and maintaining high productivity of fairy ring in grassland
Publications
(A) Publications
Representative Thesis
Zhang, Y.*, Zhou, J., Yang, G., Jing J., Liu, N., 2020. Theory and application of no-tillage reseeding in degraded grasslands. Chinese Science Bulletin 65, 1546-1555.
Bi, Y., Zhou, P., Li, S., Wei, Y., Xiong, X., Shi, Y., Liu, N., Zhang, Y., 2019. Interspecific interactions contribute to higher forage yield and are affected by phosphorus application in a fully-mixed perennial legume and grass intercropping system. Field Crops Research 244, 107636.
Yang, C., Li, J., Liu, N., Zhang, Y., 2019. Effects of fairy ring fungi on plants and soil in the alpine and temperate grasslands of China. Plant and soil 441, 499-510.
Zhang, H., Guo, Y.P., Chen, W.Q., Liu, N., Shi, S.L., Zhang, Y.J., Ma, L., Zhou, J.Q., 2019. The potential application of plant wax markers from alfalfa for estimating the total feed intake of sheep. Animal 13, 2782-2791.
Yang, X., Shen, Y., Liu, N., Wilson, G.W.T., Cobb, A.B., Zhang, Y., 2018. Defoliation and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi shape plant communities in overgrazed semi-arid grasslands. Ecology.
Gui, W., Ren, H., Liu, N., Zhang, Y., Cobb, A.B., Wilson, G.W.T., Sun, X., Hu, J., Xiao, Y., Zhang, F., 2018. Plant functional group influences arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal abundance and hyphal contribution to soil CO2 efflux in temperate grasslands. Plant & Soil, 1-14.
Chao Yang, Yingjun Zhang, Yuping Rong, Yixian Bei, Yuqi Wei, Nan Liu∗ (2017) Temporal variation of Q10 values in response to changes in soil physiochemical properties caused by fairy rings. European Journal of Soil Biology 86:42-48.
Wenjie Lu#, Nan Liu#, Yingjun Zhang, Jiqiong Zhou, Yanping Guo, Xin Yang. Impact of vegetation community on litter decomposition: Evidence from a reciprocal transplant study with 13C labeled plant litter. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 112 (2017) 248-257
Chao Yang#, Nan Liu#, Yingjun Zhang (2017) Effects of aggregates size and glucose addition on soil organic carbon mineralization and Q10 values under wide temperature change conditions. European Journal of Soil Biology 80:77-84
Yang, G.W., Yang, X., Zhang, W.J., Wei, Y.Q., Ge, G., Lu, W.J., Sun, J.J., Liu, N., Kan, H.M., Shen, Y., Zhang, Y.J., 2016. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect plant community structure under various nutrient conditions and stabilize the community productivity. Oikos 125, 576-585.
Liu, N., H. M. Kan, G. W. Yang, and Y. J. Zhang. 2015. Changes in plant, soil, and microbes in a typical steppe from simulated grazing: explaining potential change in soil C. Ecological Monographs 85:269-286.
Chen, W., Huang, D., Liu, N., Zhang, Y., Badgery, W.B., Wang, X., Shen, Y., 2015. Improved grazing management may increase soil carbon sequestration in temperate steppe. Scientific Reports 5, 10892.
Zhang, Y.J., Huang, D., Badgery, W.B., Kemp, D.R., Chen, W.Q., Wang, X.Y., Liu, N., 2015. Reduced grazing pressure delivers production and environmental benefits for the typical steppe of north China. Scientific Reports 5, 16434.
(B) Book Chapters
Zhang Yingjun, Chen Wenqing, Liu Nan, Huang Ding, Rong Yuping, Zhang Hao, Kan Haiming, David Kemp, 2019. Chapter 9: Managing the typical steppe. Sustainable Chinese Grasslands. Editor Kemp, D.R. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, ACT. 328 pp.
Grant and fellowships
Innovation Talent Plan of National Forestry and Grassland Science and Technology (2019)
Young Elite Development Program of China Agricultural University (2018)
Young Elite Scientist Sponsorship Program, China Association of Science and Technology (2015)
Teaching Experience
Undergraduate student’s courses:
• Practice of Forage Process and Quality Assessment
• Alfalfa Production
• Integrated Practice of Grassland Science 1
• Forage Cultivation Practice and Growth and Development Observation
Graduate student’s courses:
• Research Progress of Grassland Management