Limited long-term effects of moderate livestock grazing and prescribed early fire on soil and root processes in Sudanian savanna-woodlands, West Africa

Savadogo, Patrice; Diawara, Sata; Dayamba, Sidzabda Djibril; Sawadogo, Louis; Nacro, Hassan B.

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.07.002

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…No significant differences were found in some of the studied variables (pH, N, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + ), which corroborates other results (Savadogo, Diawara, Dayamba, Sawadogo, & Nacro, 2017; Zhao, Wang, Xu, & Fu, 2015), and was probably due to the low‐intensity burning (Neill, Patterson III, & Crary Jr, 2007; Sherman, Brye, Gill, & Koenig, 2005) as other studies (Alcañiz et al, 2016; Kennard & Gholz, 2001; Shakesby et al, 2015) have shown significant changes after higher‐intensity prescribed burns. We assumed that the low‐burn intensity would not generate conditions leading to ash incorporation or would not promote changes in oxidation of organic matter or the release of cations (Arocena & Opio, 2003; Mataix‐Solera et al, 2009; Pereira et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…T A B L E 3 Biological soil indicators (mean ± standard deviation, n = 9 samples) before, just after, and 1 year after a prescribed fire , magnesium; N, total nitrogen; Na + , sodium; P, available phosphorus; pH, potential for hydrogen; PHP, acid phosphatase activity; SOC, soil organic carbon; UR, urease activity. (Savadogo, Diawara, Dayamba, Sawadogo, & Nacro, 2017;Zhao, Wang, Xu, & Fu, 2015), and was probably due to the low-intensity burning (Neill, Patterson III, & Crary Jr, 2007;Sherman, Brye, Gill, & Koenig, 2005) as other studies (Alcañiz et al, 2016;Kennard & Gholz, 2001;Shakesby et al, 2015) have shown significant changes after higher-intensity prescribed burns. We assumed that the lowburn intensity would not generate conditions leading to ash incorporation or would not promote changes in oxidation of organic matter or the release of cations (Arocena & Opio, 2003;Pereira et al, 2014).…”

Section: Prescribed Burning Effects On Vegetation and Physico-chemical Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 61%

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Early spring prescribed burning in mixedPinus halepensisMill. andPinus pinasterAit. stands reduced biological soil functionality in the short term

et al. 2020

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This study evaluates the effects of prescribed burnings on soil physico‐chemical and biological properties in the short term. This practice is still in the process of evaluation and its effect on Mediterranean pine forests is not understood completely. Prescribed burning was carried out in three plots of mixed Pinus halepensis and Pinus pinaster stands in Castilla‐La Mancha (Spain) while monitoring soil temperature. Vegetation coverage was measured and soil samples were taken before, immediately after and 1 year after burning. Texture, pH, soil electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, potassium, basal soil respiration, microbial biomass carbon content and enzymatic activities of urease, dehydrogenase, phosphatase, and β‐glucosidase were evaluated by generalized linear models, and a principal component analysis was used to reveal the relations between variables. The vegetation cover was reduced by 85% after fire. Soil organic carbon increased immediately after burning to return to the previous values one year later. Phosphorous and cationic exchange capacity increased immediately after burning and remained high one year later, while electrical conductivity and sodium were significantly lower after a year. Basal soil respiration and glucosidase were not affected by prescribed burning. Microbial biomass carbon, urease, phosphatase, and dehydrogenase had significantly lowered one year after burning. Our results show that prescribed burning managed to decrease the vegetation cover of the understory while it also reduced soil biological functions in areas with poorly developed soil and a dry climate, where recovery periods can be longer than expected.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Prescribed Burning Effects On Vegetation and Physico-chemical Soil Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 61%

Early spring prescribed burning in mixedPinus halepensisMill. andPinus pinasterAit. stands reduced biological soil functionality in the short term

et al. 2020

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“…Y. Odum singles out the changes of ecosystems after a fire in a separate group of post-pyrogenic successions, calling them "pulsating stable successions". Peculiarities of pyrogenic changes and demutational processes are caused both by the specifics of ecosystem components and by the scale, intensity, time of occurrence of fires and other factors (Scherbina et al, 2014;Savadogo et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-pyrogenic changes in vegetation cover and biological soil crust in steppe ecosystems

Shcherbyna

Maltseva

Maltsev

et al. 2017

Regul. Mech. Biosyst.

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The study of the processes of restoration of species richness and productivity of steppe ecosystems after fires is an urgent problem that affects not only the conservation of biodiversity but also the maintenance of pasture resources. This article presents the results of a study of post-pyrogenic effects in steppe ecosystems, taking into account changes in the species composition of cyanoprokaryotes and algae that are art of the biological soil crust, which performs ecologically important functions in xerophytic ecosystems. The investigations were carried out in virgin and postpyrogenic steppe ecosystems of the "Troitsk Clough" reserve (Zaporizhia region, Ukraine). For three years, the dynamics of the projective cover and the height of the vegetation cover in virgin areas of herbs-fescue-feather-grass and fescue-feather-grass steppes was studied as well as within two ecosystems of post-pyrogenic development after fires that occurred in the spring and winter periods. We discovered that restoration of the herbs-fescue-feather-grass and fescue-feather-grass steppes after fires occurs at different rates. The cause of the slow restoration of vegetation cover can be its severe damage by fire at the beginning of the vegetation season and the development of erosion processes. The number of species of cyanoprokaryotes and algae in the biological soil crust of virgin and post-pyrogenic ecosystems is not significantly different. It varies from 35 to 49 species. The greatest diversity is noted for Cyanoprokaryota. Chlorophyta is in the second place. Among the dominants, the filamentous forms of Cyanoprokaryota prevail. Nostoc edaphicum was noted as a nitrogen fixing representative. The similarity of the species lists of cyanoprokaryotes and algae of post-pyrogenic and virgin ecosystems, according to the calculated Jaccard coefficient, varies from 49.1% to 55.3%. This indicates a strong specificity of the composition of cyanoprokaryotes and algae in post-pyrogenic biological soil crusts. Changes in their composition reflect different stages of post-pyrogenic succession. In the first year after a fire, there is a slight increase in species richness, which is a consequence of the favorable effect of increasing the amount of mineral substances in the soil after the organic matter has burned out. The "pioneer" group includes: Phormidium autumnale, Ph. dimorphum, Ph. retzii, Ph. (Leptolyngbya) henningsii, Luticola mutica, Hantzschia amphioxys. Gradually this effect is leveled and the species richness of cyanoprokaryotes and algae is stabilized at a level peculiar for this type of ecosystem.

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“…The soil of the savanna ecosystem of Yuanjiang China is seriously degraded, especially owing to livestock grazing. Grazing‐based animal activities have numerous negative environmental consequences, such as biodiversity reduction (Savadogo et al, 2017), compacted soil structure (Zhang et al, 2019), decreased soil fertility (Liu et al, 2016; Pulido et al, 2018), excessive soil erosion (Wine et al, 2012), and impaired hydrological characteristics (Hoshino et al, 2009). In response to these problems, the Chinese Government and scientists have proposed the establishment of exclosures, which is widely regarded as an efficient, effective, and inexpensive practice for the restoration of degraded soils (Feyisa et al, 2017; Tóth et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of grazing exclusion on soil infiltrability and preferential flow in savannah livestock grazing systems

et al. 2022

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Although the establishment of grazing exclosures is often considered an important strategy of reducing soil degradation, their effect on hydrological functions is still poorly understood, particularly in dry‐hot savanna systems with heavy livestock grazing. In addition, the different roles played by the herb roots and the niche differentiation of woody plant roots induced by the grazing and exclosure in soil hydrological functions are still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of exclosure management on hydrological functions and services and assess the role of different functional vegetation types in improving these functions and services. The experiments were conducted in the continuous grazing areas and exclosure areas in a savanna ecosystem in Yuanjiang, southwest China. The root biomass of herb and woody plants, soil physical properties, water infiltration, and preferential water flow were measured in each study site. The results showed a significant improvement in soil physical properties with more termite holes, lower soil bulk density, and higher total and non‐capillary soil porosity in exclosure areas compared with grazing ones. As a result, the initial and average water infiltration, and preferential flow significantly increased by 132.76%, 185.31%, and 30.29%, respectively, in exclosure areas compared with the grazing ones. The results also showed that the exclosure significantly improved the soil surface water content by increasing the root biomass of herb and woody plants in the shallow soil layers. Herb plants probably improved water infiltration and insulated evaporation, while woody plants improved lateral preferential water flow paths and accelerated the water exchange between vertical and horizontal soil layers, thereby improving the water availability for different plants. This study demonstrated that the exclosure‐induced restoration and niche differentiation of herb and woody plants, coupled with improved soil structure in exclosures, could promote hydrological function and services and improve water management in savanna systems. Therefore, the grazing exclosures could be expanded periodically and cautiously to prevent soil degradation in the present savanna systems.

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Limited long-term effects of moderate livestock grazing and prescribed early fire on soil and root processes in Sudanian savanna-woodlands, West Africa

Cited by 11 publications

References 76 publications

Early spring prescribed burning in mixedPinus halepensisMill. andPinus pinasterAit. stands reduced biological soil functionality in the short term

Early spring prescribed burning in mixedPinus halepensisMill. andPinus pinasterAit. stands reduced biological soil functionality in the short term

Post-pyrogenic changes in vegetation cover and biological soil crust in steppe ecosystems

Effects of grazing exclusion on soil infiltrability and preferential flow in savannah livestock grazing systems

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