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1.
Reindeer grazing has a great influence on the ground vegetation of nutrient-poor northern boreal forests dominated by Cladonia lichens in Fennoscandia. Grazing may influence the soil processes in these systems either by influencing the quality of plant litter, or by indirect effects through the soil microclimate. In order to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effects of reindeer on boreal forest soils, we analyzed litter decomposition, soil and microbial C and N, microbial community composition, and soil organic matter quality in three forest sites with old reindeer exclosures adjacent to grazed areas. There was no effect of grazing on soil C/N ratio, inorganic N concentrations, microbial biomass C, microbial community structure analyzed by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis, and organic matter quality analyzed by sequential fractionation, in the soil organic layer. However, microbial N was enhanced by grazing at some of the sampling dates and was negatively correlated with soil moisture, which indicates that increased microbial N could be a stress response to drought. The effect of grazing on litter decomposition varied among the decomposition stages: during the first 1.5 months, the litter C loss was significantly higher in the grazed than the ungrazed areas, but the difference rapidly levelled out and, after one year, the accumulated litter C loss was higher in the ungrazed than the grazed areas. Litter N loss was, however, higher in the grazed areas. Our study demonstrates that herbivores may influence soil processes through several mechanisms at the same time, and to a varying extent in the different stages of decomposition.  相似文献   

2.
Increasing grazing intensities of sheep and goats can lead to an increasing degradation of grasslands. We investigated four plots of different grazing intensities (heavily grazed, winter‐grazed, ungrazed since 1999, and ungrazed since 1979) in Inner Mongolia, PR China, in order to study the effects of trampling‐induced mechanical stresses on soil hydraulic properties. Soil water transport and effective evapotranspiration under “heavily grazed” and “ungrazed since 1979” were modeled using the HYDRUS‐1D model. Model calibration was conducted using data collected from field studies. The field data indicate that grazing decreases soil C content and hydrophobicity. Pore volume is reduced, and water‐retention characteristics are modified, the saturated hydraulic conductivity decreases, and its anisotropy (vertical vs. horizontal conductivity) is influenced. Modeling results revealed higher evapotranspiration on the ungrazed site (ungrazed since 1979) compared to the grazed site (heavily grazed) due to wetter soil conditions, more dense vegetation, litter cover, and decreased runoff and drainage, respectively. Grazing modified the partitioning of evapotranspiration with lower transpiration and higher evaporation at the grazed site owing to reduced root water uptake due to reduced evaporation and a patchy soil cover.  相似文献   

3.
《Applied soil ecology》2006,31(1-2):62-72
The aim of this study was to determine whether the spatial heterogeneity of grassland vegetation structure would lead to spatial heterogeneity in the net nitrogen mineralisation process in the soil and therefore in the quantity of mineral nitrogen available for the plants. The net nitrogen mineralisation in the soil was compared between different vegetation patches generated by grazing, on two different types of plant communities: mesophilous and meso-hygrophilous.In ungrazed conditions, the net soil nitrogen mineralisation rates did not vary significantly between the two plant communities and remained relatively constant with time. Grazing by cattle or horses appeared to have two effects on the process of net soil nitrogen mineralisation. Firstly, it significantly stimulated net nitrogen mineralisation compared to ungrazed conditions and secondly, it led to spatial heterogeneity in mineralisation rates in the grazed enclosures. This spatial heterogeneity of nitrogen available for plants occurred both between and within plant communities.In the meso-hygrophilous plant community, net nitrogen mineralisation increased with grazing pressure. We suggest that a decrease of C inputs to the soil, concomitant with increasing grazing pressure, could decrease microbial nitrogen immobilisation.By contrast, in the mesophilous plant community net nitrogen mineralisation did not vary with grazing pressure. These differences in the functional responsiveness to grazing and biomass between the two plant communities could be related to the differences in the functional traits characterizing their dominant species along the grazing gradient. In the meso-hygrophilous community, the species composition switch with grazing intensity gradient led to the replacement of the perennial plant species by annual plant species which could lead to an improvement in the litter nitrogen content and an acceleration in the litter decomposition rate. By contrast, in the mesophilous plant community, the perennial species remained dominant along the grazing intensity gradient and could explain the absence of effect on the net nitrogen mineralisation rates.We suggest that at the scale of the vegetation patch, the decrease in plant biomass linked to grazing could regulate soil microorganism activity, in relation with shift in plant functional traits which improve litter decomposability.  相似文献   

4.
Grassland birds are declining at a faster rate than any other group of North American bird species. Livestock grazing is the primary economic use of grasslands in the western United States, but the effects of this use on distribution and productivity of grassland birds are unclear. We examined nest density and success of ground-nesting birds on grazed and ungrazed grasslands in western Montana. In comparison to grazed plots, ungrazed plots had reduced forb cover, increased litter cover, increased litter depth, and increased visual obstruction readings (VOR) of vegetation. Nest density among 10 of 11 common bird species was most strongly correlated with VOR of plots, and greatest nest density for each species occured where mean VOR of the plot was similar to mean VOR at nests. Additionally, all bird species were relatively consistent in their choice of VOR at nests despite substantial differences in VOR among plots. We suggest that birds selected plots based in part on availability of suitable nest sites and that variation in nest density relative to grazing reflected the effect of grazing on availability of nest sites. Nest success was similar between grazed plots and ungrazed plots for two species but was lower for nests on grazed plots than on ungrazed plots for two other species because of increased rates of predation, trampling, or parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Other species nested almost exclusively on ungrazed plots (six species) or grazed plots (one species), precluding evaluation of the effects of grazing on nest success. We demonstrate that each species in a diverse suite of ground-nesting birds preferentially used certain habitats for nesting and that grazing altered availability of preferred nesting habitats through changes in vegetation structure and plant species composition. We also show that grazing directly or indirectly predisposed some bird species to increased nesting mortality. Management alternatives that avoid intensive grazing during the breeding season would be expected to benefit many grassland bird species.  相似文献   

5.
Improper cropping and overgrazing have led to land degradation in semi-arid regions, resulting in desertification. During desertification, vegetation changes have been widely observed, and are likely controlled to some extent by soil water. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in soil physical properties, organic C, and vegetation induced by land-use changes, with special reference to the dynamics of available soil water. We selected four study sites in a typical Mongolian steppe grassland: grassland protected from grazing, grazed grassland, abandoned cropland, and cultivated cropland. Grazing exclusion increased the cover of perennial grass, with little increase in the root weight. Since there was no difference in available water between the grasslands with and without grazing, there appears to be no serious soil compaction due to overgrazing. On the other hand, vegetation cover and the number of species were poor in both abandoned cropland and cultivated cropland. However, the root weight was greater in abandoned cropland. Although the abandonment of cultivation appeared to increase organic C, available water did not differ significantly in comparison with cultivated cropland. The silt contents were significantly lower in abandoned and cultivated cropland than in both grasslands, suggesting the effects of wind erosion. In addition, the silt contents were positively correlated with the volume fraction of storage pores for available water. Therefore, the lower silt contents may constrain the volume of available water in abandoned cropland. Moreover, the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity results indicated that the diameters of storage pores for available water at the present study sites were smaller than those suggested by previous studies. Although the differences in vegetation cover by different land-use types were observed at every site, differences in the volume of available water were observed at between abandoned cropland and cultivated cropland. The reason why the no differences in available water between grazed grassland and grasslands protected from grazing may be short time of grazing exclusion for 2 years for evaluating the effects of exclusion on soil properties.  相似文献   

6.
We examined the impact of long-term cattle grazing on soil processes and microbial activity in a temperate salt marsh. Soil conditions, microbial biomass and respiration, mineralization and denitrification rates were measured in upper salt marsh that had been ungrazed or cattle grazed for several decades. Increased microbial biomass and soil respiration were observed in grazed marsh, most likely stimulated by enhanced rates of root turnover and root exudation. We found a significant positive effect of grazing on potential N mineralization rates measured in the laboratory, but this difference did not translate to in situ net mineralization measured monthly from May to September. Rates of denitrification were lowest in the grazed marsh and appeared to be limited by nitrate availability, possibly due to more anoxic conditions and lower rates of nitrification. The major effect of grazing on N cycling therefore appeared to be in limiting losses of N through denitrification, which may lead to enhanced nutrient availability to saltmarsh plants, but a reduced ability of the marsh to act as a buffer for land-derived nutrients to adjacent coastal areas. Additionally, we investigated if grazing influences the rates of turnover of labile and refractory C in saltmarsh soils by adding 14C-labelled leaf litter or root exudates to soil samples and monitoring the evolution of 14CO2. Grazing had little effect on the rates of mineralization of 14C used as a respiratory substrate, but a larger proportion of 14C was partitioned into microbial biomass and immobilized in long- and medium-term storage pools in the grazed treatment. Grazing slowed down the turnover of the microbial biomass, which resulted in longer turnover times for both leaf litter and root exudates. Grazing may therefore affect the longevity of C in the soil and alter C storage and utilization pathways in the microbial community.  相似文献   

7.
This study focused on examining the impacts of cattle grazing on belowground communities and soil processes in humid grasslands. Multiple components in the soil communities were examined in heavily grazed and ungrazed areas of unimproved and improved bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flugge) pastures in south-central Florida. By using small (1-m×1-m) sampling plots, we were able to detect critical differences in nematode communities, microbial biomass, and mineralized C and N, resulting from the patchy grazing pattern of cattle. Soil samples were collected on three occasions between June 2002 and June 2003. Microbial C and N were greater (P?0.01) in grazed than in ungrazed plots on all sampling dates. Effects of grazing varied among nematode genera. Most genera of colonizer bacterivores were decreased (P?0.10) by grazing, but more persistent bacterivores such as Euteratocephalus and Prismatolaimus were increased, as were omnivores and predators. Higher numbers of persisters indicated that grazing resulted in a more structured nematode community. Some herbivores, particularly Criconematidae, were decreased by grazing. Abundance of omnivores, predators, and especially fungivores were strongly associated with C mineralization potential. Strong correlation of microbial C and N with nematode canonical variables composed of five trophic groups illustrates important links between nematode community structure and soil microbial resources. Including the analysis of nematode trophic groups with soil microbial responses reveals detection of grazing impact deeper into the hierarchy of the decomposition process in soil, and illustrates the complexity of responses to grazing in the soil foodweb. Although highly sensitive to grazing impacts, small-scale sampling could not be used to generalize the overall impact of cattle grazing in large-scale pastures, which might be determined by the intensity and grazing patterns of various stocking densities at the whole pasture level.  相似文献   

8.
Kobresia grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau comprise the world’s largest pastoral alpine ecosystem. Overgrazing-driven degradation strongly proceeded on this vulnerable grassland, but the mechanisms behind are still unclear. Plants must balance the costs of releasing C to soil against the benefits of accelerated microbial nutrient mineralization, which increases their availability for root uptake. To achieve the effect of grazing on this C-N exchange mechanism, a 15NH4+ field labeling experiment was implemented at grazed and ungrazed sites, with additional treatments of clipping and shading to reduce belowground C input by manipulating photosynthesis. Grazing reduced gross N mineralization rates by 18.7%, similar to shading and clipping. This indicates that shoot removal by grazing decreased belowground C input, thereby suppressing microbial N mining and overall soil N availability. Nevertheless, NH4+ uptake rate by plants at the grazed site was 1.4 times higher than at the ungrazed site, because plants increased N acquisition to meet the high N demands of shoot regrowth (compensatory growth: grazed > ungrazed). To enable efficient N uptake and regrowth, Kobresia plants have developed specific traits (i.e., efficient above-belowground interactions). These traits reflect important mechanisms of resilience and ecosystem stability under long-term moderate grazing in an N-limited environment. However, excessive (over)grazing might imbalance such C-N exchange and amplify plant N limitation, hampering productivity and pasture recovery over the long term. In this context, a reduction in grazing pressure provides a sustainable way to maintain soil fertility, C sequestration, efficient nutrient recycling, and overall ecosystem stability.  相似文献   

9.
The relationship between grazing intensity and qualitative and quantitative changes in Artemisia sieberi Besser essential oil compounds in Kashan province of Iran was evaluated in this study. For this purpose, vegetation sites of Artemisia sieberi under three grazing intensities (heavy, moderate, and ungrazed) with the same ecological conditions based on the distance to the water resource were selected in Kashan-Ghamsar road rangelands and near Natural Essential Oils Institute, University of Kashan, Iran. Within each site, individual plants were sampled at random in the full flowering stage in a completely randomized (CR) design with three replications. The oils were extracted by hydrodistillation of the air-dried samples and were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main constituents of the oils were as follows: ungrazed site; 1,8-cineol (29.9%), myrcene (14.1%), moderate grazed site; myrcene (15.9%), 1,8cineol (15.1%), Eudesm-7(11)-en-4-ol (11.1%), and heavy grazed site; 4-tepinyl acetate (23.3%), davanone (21.9%), p-cymene (19%). Among the compounds from the three sites, 4 thepenyl acetat allocated the highest amount in heavy grazed site. The analysis of essential oils showed that there were significant quantitative and qualitative differences found within the natural populations under the three different grazing sites.  相似文献   

10.
Organic pasture management includes a focus on mixed livestock grazing, restrictions on nutrient inputs and livestock pest control. These are all factors which influence the environment of soil invertebrates. In this study, soil macrofauna, mesofauna and microfauna were collected from duplicate 11 and 20 year old organic and conventional legume-based sheep-grazed pasture systems. Pastures in both systems had received the same annual input of reactive phosphate rock and elemental sulphur and were stocked with the same numbers of sheep. The major difference between the two systems was absence of the chemical control of livestock pests on the organic system, resulting in lower sheep liveweights. Two ungrazed pastures which had not received any nutrient inputs for 20+ years were also sampled as part of the study to provide an additional contrast.No significant differences in either the diversity or abundance of the soil invertebrate community were found between the organic and conventional systems, despite the use of chemicals in the conventional system. The lack of difference suggests that many of the observed and reported responses to organic management reflect altered nutrient inputs and grazing management (which were the same in the current study), rather than the cessation of chemical controls in the organic system. In contrast, the invertebrate community in the unfertilised, ungrazed pasture was distinctly different from both the grazed systems. The ungrazed pasture had a higher diversity with more New Zealand endemic species than the grazed pasture. This included twice as many large Oribatida as soil pore size increased. The lower litter quality from the lack of nutrient inputs in the ungrazed pasture was reflected in both lower earthworm abundance and the Nematode Channel Ratio (indicative of a higher proportion of fungal- than bacterial-feeding nematodes), than the grazed pasture.We conclude that organic management when limited to a comparison of livestock pest control is not beneficial to soil invertebrates. Management practices such as stocking rates and fertiliser regime, by altering the soil physical environment and food resources, are more important in influencing invertebrate populations in this soil. Some would argue these altered management practices are an integral part of an organic production system.  相似文献   

11.
Marine inputs from seabirds (in the form of guano) to terrestrial coastal communities play an important role in supporting aboveground food webs. However, little is known about the importance of seabird-derived nutrient inputs for belowground food webs and their function relative to other factors that regulate belowground communities. Here, we tested the relative importance of nutrient enrichment from seabirds and grazing, a known driver of belowground properties, in determining the structure and function of the soil food web in an island system. This was tested by measuring the size and composition of the microbial community, the abundance of nematode feeding groups and rates of decomposition and net nitrogen (N) mineralisation in soil samples collected from grazed and ungrazed plots at coastal and inland locations, representing sites of high and low seabird influence respectively, on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth, east Scotland. We found that proximity to seabird breeding colonies, and associated greater input of seabird-derived N, stimulated the size of the soil microbial biomass and the abundance of bacteria relative to fungi in the soil microbial community relative to inland areas that received significantly less N. Despite this, proximity to seabird colonies had no detectable effect on rates of decomposition or N-mineralisation. The short-term removal of mammalian grazers, in the form of rabbits, had only limited effects on the structure of the soil food web, mainly affecting the abundance of bactivorous nematodes which were greater in grazed than ungrazed situations. However, cessation of grazing did impact significantly on rates of N-mineralisation and decomposition, which were higher and lower in grazed than ungrazed situations respectively. In conclusion, our study provides evidence that allochthonous nutrient inputs from seabirds have significant impacts on the composition of the soil microbial community, and that these effects outweigh short-term effects of grazers as a driver of soil food web structure in the island system studied. Overall, our results indicate the important roles that natural sources of N and grazing play as drivers of soil food webs and their function.  相似文献   

12.
A paired site study was conducted of communally grazed eutrophic and dystrophic grasslands and adjacent ungrazed areas of varying periods of exclusion from communal grazing. This allowed determination of the rate and extent of change of a number of vegetation and soil variables following the removal of high and continuous grazing pressure characteristic of communal lands. Similarity indices for grass species composition between the grazed and adjacent ungrazed areas showed a significant exponential decrease with increasing time since protection from continuous grazing. Most change in grass species composition occurred within four to nine years of protection from communal grazing in eutrophic grasslands, and in six to nine years in dystrophic grasslands. In both grassland types palatability increased with time since protection. In eutrophic sites the abundance of perennials showed a significant increase with time since protection, while the abundance of annuals showed a concomitant decrease. This relationship was not evident in dystrophic grasslands. Grass species diversity, basal cover and density showed no relationship with time since protection in the eutrophic sites, but a general increase with time since protection was found in dystrophic sites. Soil bulk density, field capacity, pH and soil nutrients showed no evidence of a relationship with time since protection for either grassland type, while soil porosity increased significantly with time since protection at eutrophic sites, but not dystrophic sites. These relatively rapid changes following the removal of the high grazing pressure indicate that these systems are characterized by relatively high resilience. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

13.
It is not clear from the literature how the spatial distribution of topsoil and vegetation properties is affected by grazing cessation. Thus, the objective of this study was to elucidate if long‐term grazing exclosure increases spatial heterogeneity of topsoil and vegetation properties in a steppe ecosystem in NE China. Variograms and crossvariograms were calculated for bulk density, organic carbon (OC), total N, and total S concentration, δ13C, pH, Ah horizon thickness, vegetation cover, and aboveground biomass. Five sites with different grazing intensities (ungrazed since 1979, ungrazed since 1999, winter grazing, continuously grazed, heavily grazed) were sampled with two different grid sizes, allowing the exploration of scale effects. Small grids (15 m spacing, 5 m nested sampling) exhibited a different spatial structure compared to large grids (50 m spacing, 10 m nested sampling). Spatial distribution in small grids changed with grazing intensity. Generally, heterogeneity of topsoil properties increased with decreasing grazing intensity from a homogeneous to a patchy distribution. We attribute this to vegetation recovery/succession and deposition of windblown material in ungrazed areas. The plot ungrazed since 1999 showed different spatial dependencies than continuously and heavily grazed plots, but has not yet reached the high variability of the plot which was ungrazed since 1979. Large grid sampling did not detect small‐scale variability or grazing impacts, but showed spatial dependencies that were attributed to topography or soil erosion/deposition. Low OC concentration and low Ah thickness were associated with hilltop and shoulder positions, resulting in lower OC stocks at these topographic units.  相似文献   

14.
The present study investigated the effects of land-use abandonment on the soil decomposer community of two grazed Mediterranean ecosystems (an annual grassland with scattered holm oaks and a low-density shrubland). To test the influence of grazing abandonment, a set of plots within each site were fenced and kept undisturbed during 4–5 years, during which above-ground plant community structure was monitored. After that, soil samples were collected from grazed and abandoned plots corresponding to the three different soil conditions: away from (“grass”) and below tree canopies (“oak”) within the annual grassland, and from the shrubland (“shrub”). Soil samples were split into two different layers (0–5 and 5–15 cm) and then analyzed for saprotrophic fungal (acetate into ergosterol incorporation) and bacterial (leucine incorporation) growth rates. Ergosterol content (as a fungal biomass estimator) and a standard set of soil chemistry variables were also measured. After 5 years of grazing exclusion, saprotrophic fungal growth rate clearly increased in both grass and oak surface layers whereas bacterial growth rate was not altered. This translated into significantly higher fungal-to-bacterial (F/B) growth rate ratios within the ungrazed plots. Similar trends were observed for the shrub soils after 4 years of exclusion. On the contrary, abandonment of grazing had negligible effects on the ergosterol content, as well as on the soil chemical variables (soil organic carbon, total N, C/N ratio, and pH), in all the three soil conditions assessed. These results indicated a shift toward a more fungal-dominated decomposer activity in soils following cessation of grazing and highlighted the sensitivity of the microbial growth rate parameters to changes associated with land use. Moreover, there were evidences of a faster fungal biomass turnover in the ungrazed plots, which would reflect an accelerated, though not bigger, fungal channel in soil organic matter mineralization.  相似文献   

15.
Spatial inaccessibility of soil organic carbon (SOC) for microbial decay within soil aggregates is an important stabilization mechanism. However, little is known about the stability of aggregates in semiarid grasslands and their sensitivity to intensive grazing. In this study, a combined approach using soil chemical and physical analytical methods was applied to investigate the effect of grazing and grazing exclusion on the amount and stability of soil aggregates and the associated physical protection of SOC. Topsoils from continuously grazed (CG) and ungrazed sites where grazing was excluded from 1979 onwards (UG79) were sampled for two steppe types in Inner Mongolia, northern China. All samples were analysed for basic soil properties and separated into free and aggregate‐occluded light fractions (fLF, oLF) and mineral‐associated fractions. Tensile strength of soil aggregates was measured by crushing tests. Undisturbed as well as artificially compacted samples, where aggregates were destroyed mechanically by compression, were incubated and the mineralization of SOC was measured. For undisturbed samples, the cumulative release of CO2‐C was greater for CG compared with UG79 for both steppe types. A considerably greater amount of oLF was found in UG79 than in CG soils, but the stabilities of 10–20‐mm aggregates were less for ungrazed sites. Compacted samples showed only a slightly larger carbon release with CG but a considerably enhanced mineralization with UG79. We assume that the continuous trampling of grazing animals together with a smaller input of organic matter leads to the formation of mechanically compacted stable ‘clods’, which do not provide an effective physical protection for SOC in the grazed plots. In UG79 sites, a greater input of organic matter acting as binding agents in combination with an exclusion of animal trampling enhances the formation of soil aggregates. Thus, grazing exclusion promotes the physical protection of SOC by increasing soil aggregation and is hence a management option to enhance the C sequestration potential of degraded steppe soils.  相似文献   

16.
It is not clear from the literature whether heavy grazing leads to a deterioration of physical and chemical parameters of topsoils in steppe ecosystems. We sampled five sites in northern China with different grazing intensities, ranging from ungrazed since 1979 to heavily grazed, at 540 sampling points to a depth of 0–4 cm. Each sample was analysed for bulk density, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (N), total sulphur (S) and pH. The dataset was analysed using general statistics and explorative analysis (ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis). As a result of the large number of samples, we were able to detect a change in the mean value of all parameters of less than 10%, with a statistical power of 90% and a level of significance of 0.01. Bulk density increased significantly with increasing grazing intensity. Organic carbon, total N and total S concentrations decreased significantly with increasing grazing intensity. No effect on the pH or C/N ratio was detected. Significant differences in C/S and N/S ratios between differently grazed plots were found. These differences point towards a relative accumulation of sulphur in grazed compared to ungrazed areas following an increased organic matter decline or lower inputs of diluting litter. Elemental stocks of the upper 4 cm were calculated for OC, total N and total S using the measured bulk densities. The data revealed significantly lower amounts for all three elements on the heavily grazed site, but no significant differences for the other areas. In addition, elemental stocks were calculated using an equivalent mass instead of bulk density to take into account changes in bulk density following grazing. This revealed a highly significant decrease for OC, total N and total S with increasing grazing intensity. OC, total N and total S concentrations respond similarly to different grazing intensities, showing highly significant positive correlations. OC concentrations and bulk densities were significantly negatively correlated. We found effects of grazing cessation only in the long-term, as no ameliorating effects of reduced or excluded grazing could be detected five years after grazing cessation. After 25 years of exclusion, significantly different values were found for all parameters. Thus, physical and chemical parameters of steppe topsoils deteriorated significantly following heavy grazing, remained stable if grazing was reduced or excluded for five years, and recovered significantly after 25 years of grazing exclusion.  相似文献   

17.
Limited information is available about the impact of grazing on soil and plant nutrient contents in Mediterranean deciduous oak forests grazed by both livestock and wild life. Thus, the main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of wild boar and small ruminants grazing in a coppice oak forest in N Greece. Eight even‐aged stands of similar canopy cover and site quality were selected: four stands with long‐time grazing mainly by wild boar and four stands with long‐time grazing by sheep and goats. A plot of 150 m2 in each of the stands was fenced in order to be protected from grazing. A similarly sized plot open to grazing was assigned next to the fenced plot. Species composition was recorded in fenced and grazed plots. Soil samples and individual plants of the dominant palatable grass species Dactylis glomerata and Brachypodium sylvaticum were collected in every fenced and grazed plot. These samples were analysed for contents of nutrients. The results indicated that grazing increased organic matter, C, and total N, P and Ca, while it had no effect on the plant nutrients Mg, Na, K and all micronutrients, and pH as well. Wild boar grazing had a significantly negative impact on the concentrations of Na, Fe, Zn, and Mn in the soil. Beside a decrease in K and Mn, grazing had minimal effects on the contents of plant nutrients. Conversely, wild boar grazing increased the contents of several nutrients such as N, Na, Cu and Fe in plant tissue. It seems that species composition was more affected by the topography and management than by the soil features as revealed by RDA analysis. The results of this study indicate that it is important to maintain moderate small ruminant grazing intensity for the sustainable multi‐disciplinary management of coppice oak forests. It is also important to control wild boar population in order to facilitate ecosystem process, soil preservation and forage quality.  相似文献   

18.
Grazing of cover crops in grain cropping systems can increase economic return and diversify agricultural production systems, but the environmental consequences of this intensified management have not been well documented, especially under different tillage systems. We conducted a multiple-year investigation of how cover crop management (grazed and ungrazed) and tillage system [conventional (CT; initial moldboard plowing and thereafter disk tillage) and no tillage (NT)] affected soil physical properties (bulk density, aggregation, infiltration, and penetration resistance) on a Typic Kanhapludult in Georgia. Responses were determined in two cropping systems: summer grain/winter cover crop and winter grain/summer cover crop. Soil bulk density was reduced (P = 0.02) with CT compared with NT to a depth of 30 cm at the end of 0.5 year, but only to a depth of 12 cm at the end of 2, 2.5, and 4.5 years. Grazing of cover crops had little effect on soil bulk density, except eventually with 4.5 years of management. Water-stable macroaggregation was reduced (P ≤ 0.01) with CT compared with NT to a depth of 12 cm at all sampling times during the first 2.5 years of evaluation. Stability of macroaggregates in water was unaffected by grazing of cover crops in both tillage systems. Across 7 sampling events during the first 4 years, there was a tendency (P = 0.07) for water infiltration rate to be lower with grazing of cover crops (5.6 mm min−1) than when ungrazed (6.9 mm min−1), irrespective of tillage system. Across 10 sampling events, soil penetration resistance was greater under NT than under CT at a depth of 0–10 cm (P = 0.001) and the difference was greater in ungrazed than in grazed systems (P = 0.06). Biannual CT operations may have alleviated any surface degradation with animal traffic, but the initially high level of soil organic matter following long-term pasture and conversion to cropland with NT may have buffered the soil from any detrimental effects of animal traffic. Overall, the introduction of cattle to consume the high-quality cover crop forage did not cause substantial damage to the soil.  相似文献   

19.
Overgrazing increasingly affects large areas of Inner Mongolian semi-arid grasslands. Consequences for ecosystem functions and, in particular, for the decomposition as a key process of ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling are still unclear.We studied the effects of grazing on shoot and root decomposition with the litter bag method in a long-term grazing exclosure (UG79), a moderate winter grazed (WG) and a long-term heavily grazed site (HG). We separated the effects of local environmental factors and litter quality as altered by grazing. Growing seasons of average and very low precipitation allowed us to study the effect of inter annual rainfall variability on decomposition.Grazing-induced differences in environmental factors of the three studied grassland sites had no effect on decay rates of shoot and root dry mass. Also differences in litter quality among the grazing sites were not reflected by root decomposition dynamics. The accelerated shoot decay at site HG could not clearly be linked to litter quality parameters. Shoot decay rates were more or less constant, even under very dry conditions. This indicates the possibility of photodegradation (solar UV-B radiation) to control aboveground decomposition in this semi-arid ecosystem. By selecting the best predictors of root decomposition from regression analysis, we found that soil water content was the best parameter explaining the dynamics.Net N immobilization was generally not detected during the decay process of shoot and root. It is likely, when root decomposition is strongly reduced in dry periods, shoot decomposition becomes relatively more important for nutrient cycling. A separate analysis of shoot and root decay dynamics is required in order to describe C and N cycling in this semi-arid grassland. The grazing impact on C and N fluxes through decomposition of plant material likely exhibits a strong interaction with seasonal rainfall pattern.  相似文献   

20.
In order to explore long-term changes in microarthropod communities after introduction of livestock grazing in abandoned fields with herb–grass vegetation at Mols, E. Jutland, Denmark, soil and litter samples were collected from 7 pairs (blocks) of grazed and non-grazed plots over a period of 14 years. Sampling began just before fencing and initiation of cattle and sheep grazing in the spring of 1985. The total material included 76 collembolan species; 65 and 68 species were recorded in the grazed and non-grazed plots, respectively. The number of species recorded at individual sampling dates fluctuated considerably through the period. In the vegetation/litter layer the mean number of species per plot was significantly higher in the non-grazed than in the grazed plots at several sampling dates while in the soil no significant differences were observed. Grazing significantly reduced the abundance of total Collembola, three composite species groups and 12 species at one or more sampling dates. Only three species or species groups (excluding some accidental occurrences) showed significant population increment in response to grazing at one or more sampling dates, most pronounced towards the end of the study period. No species changed from being significantly highest in grazed plots to being significantly highest in the non-grazed plots or vice versa during the study period. Significant relationships between grazing pressure and grazing effect on population density were only found in the vegetation/litter layer and the combined vegetation/litter/soil strata but not in the soil. The three regularly occurring taxa that had highest population densities in the grazed plots were positively correlated with grazing intensity while this was not the case for the majority of those taxa which were most abundant in the non-grazed plots. Canonical correspondence analysis based on species composition suggests separate successional trends for grazed and non-grazed plots. Grazing pressure accumulated through the whole period from start of grazing and precipitation accumulated over one year preceding the sampling date were the most important environmental variables correlated with species composition. According to a permutation test based on a split-plot design water content of the soil measured at each sampling was not significantly correlated with the community development.  相似文献   

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