Effects of intense, short-duration grazing on microtopography in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland

Nash, Maliha S.; Jackson, Erik; Whitford, Walter G.

doi:10.1016/s0140-1963(03)00062-4

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…With the elimination of these grasses, mounds may be subject to enhanced wind erosion and intense solar radiation, and organic debris accumulated in the depressions may be depleted quickly by enhanced wind erosion (Whitford 2002). These factors may have contributed directly to the filling of depressions and leveling of mounds, and the homogenization of the soil in the grass cover reduction plots (Nash et al 2004). However, some of this debris along with airborne particles may also be trapped under mesquites on the plots or nearby, resulting in the reinforcement of large fertile islands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parsons et al (1992) suggest that differential rainsplash, as a result of the dissipation of raindrop energy in the shrub canopy, also results in the directional transport of soil materials toward shrub islands. Similar to the grass cover reduction plots, mounds and depressions associated with the distribution of grasses can affect water infiltration, soil water storage, and erosion by water and wind in the control plot (Nash et al 2004;Whitford 2002). During the experimental period, high variations were mostly found among Na + , Cl -, SO 4 2 , and K + , while low variations occurred generally in PO 4 3-, Mg 2+ , and Ca 2+ .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of wind erosion on the spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients in two desert grassland communities

et al. 2008

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Wind is known to affect the spatial heterogeneity of soil resources in arid and semiarid systems, but multi-year, quantified observations are largely absent. We studied the effects of wind erosion on the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) and other soil nutrients at the Jornada Experimental Range, in southern New Mexico. Enhanced wind erosion was encouraged by grass cover reduction in a Sporobolus-mesquite dominated site (SM) and a Bouteloua-mesquite dominated site (BM). The scale and magnitude of spatial dependence for the soil analytes were quantified using geostatistical analyses. Results of this study show that soil organic matter related analytes such as SOC, TN, N avail , and SO 4 2 are among the first to be eroded and redistributed; cations such as Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ may not be removed and redistributed significantly; and other ions such as K + , Na + and Cl -showed no discernible pattern of change. Geostatistics show that wind appeared to increase the scale of spatial autocorrelation, but decrease the scale of spatial dependence of most soil analytes over 2-3 windy seasons. In the wind enhanced plot of the SM site, up to 99% of the spatial dependence of SOC was autocorrelated at the distance of 1.45 m before the initiation of wind erosion, but the spatial dependence dropped significantly to only 60% at a larger autocorrelation distance of 2.76 m after three windy seasons. Similar but less significant changes were observed for SOC in the BM site. Despite the differential effects of wind on the soil analytes, we conclude that the overall results of wind on the grass cover reduction plots are the disappearance of small, strong fertile islands, which may be related to grasses; and the reinforcement of large fertile islands, which are likely related to mesquite shrubs. In addition, the change of the spatial patterns of SOC and other soil nutrients induced by enhanced wind erosion may persist and reinforce soil islands associated with shrubs, thus allowing a positive feedback for further desertification in this arid grassland.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of wind erosion on the spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients in two desert grassland communities

et al. 2008

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“…Grazing not only removes the protective cover of the vegetation, but may actually increase the erodibility of the surface by disturbing protective surface soil crusts (Baddock et al, 2011) and biological crusts (Belnap, 1995;Belnap and Gillette, 1998). Indeed, intensive grazing may also influence the microtopography of desert grasslands (Nash et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total vertical sediment flux and PM10 emissions from disturbed Chihuahuan Desert surfaces

et al. 2017

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“…These processes enhance subsequent rain splash and thereby increase mechanical crusting and surface sealing of the soil (Wilcox et al, 1988;Bari et al, 1993), which eventually reduces infiltration into the soil and promotes surface runoff (Manzano and Navar, 2000;Sarah, 2002) from the "no shrub" patches, i.e., route and intershrub. Also, these patches vary in their inclination, which is lower in the route than in the intershrub, at 4-6 • and 13-15 • , respectively (Stavi et al, 2008a), because of the animal trampling that smoothes the surface of the former (Nash et al, 2003(Nash et al, , 2004.…”

Section: P Sarah and M Zonana: Livestock Redistribute Runoff And Sementioning

confidence: 99%

Livestock redistribute runoff and sediments in semi-arid rangeland areas

Sarah

Zonana

2015

Solid Earth

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Abstract. Semi-arid areas where grazing is the main land use exhibit a "three-phase-mosaic" pattern of dominant surface patches: shrubs, trampling routes, and intershrub areas. This pattern differs from the "two-phase mosaic" seen in grazing-free semi-arid areas. The patches might create a positive feedback process in which enhanced infiltration beneath shrubs minimizes overland flow from under their canopies, thereby strengthening the sink-source mechanism by which overland flow generated between shrubs rapidly infiltrates into the soil beneath them, where it deposits soil particles, litter, nutrients and organic matter, thereby enhancing infiltration by changing the local microtopography, and improving soil properties. To analyze sink-source relationships among the patches in grazed areas in rangelands of the semi-arid northern Negev region of Israel, we constructed small runoff plots, 0.25-1.0 m 2 in area, of five types: shrub (Sarcopoterium spinosum), intershrub, route, route-shrub combination, and intershrub-shrub combination. The shrubs always occupied the downslope part of the plot. Overland flow and sediment deposits were measured in all plots during 2007/8 and 2008/9. The combined plots yielded much less overland flow and sediments than intershrub, routes and shrub ones, indicating that the shrubs absorbed almost all the yields of the upper part of their plots. The shrubs generated less runoff and sediments than routes and intershrubs; runoff flows from the routes and intershrubs were similar; sediment yield was highest in the intershrubs. Thus, runoff yield exhibited a twophase mosaic pattern, and sediment yield, i.e., soil erosion, a three-phase mosaic pattern.

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Effects of intense, short-duration grazing on microtopography in a Chihuahuan Desert grassland

Cited by 31 publications

References 12 publications

Effects of wind erosion on the spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients in two desert grassland communities

Effects of wind erosion on the spatial heterogeneity of soil nutrients in two desert grassland communities

Total vertical sediment flux and PM10 emissions from disturbed Chihuahuan Desert surfaces

Livestock redistribute runoff and sediments in semi-arid rangeland areas

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