Overgrazing in the fragile Himalayan alpine grassland ecosystems is a major cause of substantial loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). The current study was conducted to analyze the effects of grazing on SOC in seven alpine grasslands of Kashmir. SOC was found to be greatly influenced by severe grazing and varied between 43.1 and 120 Mg/ha. Average SOC was found to be 70.5 Mg/ha; it was 90.6 Mg/ha in non-grazed areas (NGAs) and 50.4 Mg/ha in highly grazed areas (HGAs). The highest value of SOC was 139.1 Mg/ha (in NGA) whereas the lowest was 30.3 Mg/ha (HGA). An average of 1632.7 domestic animals reserved by 278 households were recorded per site. The study determined that an increased herd size results in a decreased SOC level. Grazing regime was a countering factor for SOC at all study sites and caused SOC loss of up to 103.3 Mg/ha. Besides intensive grazing, SOC was also found to be influenced by site physiognomy and microclimatic variations. Grazing management is urgently needed in the Western Himalayan alpine grasslands to enhance SOC levels.

在脆弱的喜马拉雅高山草原生态系统中过度放牧是土壤有机碳（SOC）大量损失的主要原因。当前的研究是为了分析放牧对克什米尔7个高山草原上SOC的影响。SOC被严重放牧严重影响，在43.1至120 Mg / ha之间变化。发现平均SOC为70.5 Mg / ha。在非放牧区（NGAs）为90.6 Mg / ha，在高放牧区（HGAs）为50.4 Mg / ha。SOC的最高值为139.1 Mg / ha（在NGA中），而最低的为30.3 Mg / ha（HGA）。每个站点平均记录了278户保留的1632.7头家畜。该研究确定，增加牛群大小会导致SOC水平降低。放牧制度是所有研究地点SOC的抵消因素，导致SOC损失高达103.3 Mg / ha。除了大量放牧外，还发现SOC还受场地地貌和微气候变化的影响。西部喜马拉雅高山草原迫切需要放牧管理，以提高SOC水平。