Soil disturbance by native animals along grazing gradients in an arid grassland

Eldridge, David J.; Whitford, Walter G.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.06.005

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Others (Landsberg et al 2002;Angassa et al 2010;Angassa 2014) have shown that increased grazing intensity and trampling effect in the vicinity of water source point can affect soil stability and vegetation condition, often leading to substantial reductions in ecosystem services and functions. A similar conclusion was reached by previous studies (Shahriary et al 2012;Eldridge and Whitford 2009), suggesting that more soil disturbance can occur due to the effects of trampling and year-round grazing in the vicinity of water source point.…”

Section: Effects Of Grazing Intensity On Range Conditionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Effects of grazing intensity to water source on grassland condition, yield and nutritional content of selected grass species in Northwest Ethiopia

2019

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Background: Savanna grasslands are globally important ecosystems consisting of one of the most extensive grazing lands with unique biodiversity. The objectives of the study were to assess the effect of grazing intensity on grassland ecosystem condition, herbaceous plant biomass production, and nutritional content of selected grass species. Methods: The study was conducted at Chagni Ranch, Northwest Ethiopia. Four transects to water source point at regular intervals of 20 m between sampling plots along transects were used for data collection. The distance between the four transects was 200 m in radius. Data were collected on grass composition, basal cover, litter cover, number of seedlings, and age distribution of dominant grasses (i.e., young, medium, or old in terms of stage of maturity), soil condition in terms of soil compaction, and soil erosion linked to the effects of trampling by grazing animals along transects (hereafter referred to as transect) to water source point. The total sample size for grass species was 160 plots. The grassland ecosystem condition, herbaceous biomass, and grass nutritional content were used as response variables linked to transect from water source point. The effects of transect on grassland ecosystem condition scores and grass nutritional content were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: Grassland condition factors like grass composition, basal cover, litter cover, age distribution of dominant grasses, and soil condition were significantly (P < 0.05) higher for the furthest transect to water source point than nearest transect. Out of the 28 identified herbaceous species, grasses accounted for 64.3% of the herbaceous community. Within grass species, about 55.6% were highly desirable in terms of palatability and grazing value (as most palatable species are susceptible to heavy grazing intensity). The results showed a significantly (P < 0.05) higher proportion of perennial grasses at the furthest transect to water source point than nearest transect. The dry matter yield at the furthest transect (TD4) and third transect (TD3) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than the nearest transect to water source point (i.e., the first transect (TD1) and second transect (TD2)). Ash, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin contents of Cynodon dactylon, Sporobolus pyramidalis, and Digitaria ternata were significantly (P < 0.05) higher at the furthest transect to water source point than nearest transect. Grazing intensity had no significant effect on the crude protein content of Cynodon dactylon and Sporobolus pyramidalis at different transects.

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Section: Effects Of Grazing Intensity On Range Conditionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Effects of grazing intensity to water source on grassland condition, yield and nutritional content of selected grass species in Northwest Ethiopia

2019

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“…In terrestrial communities of the Boreal Forest and the Arctic, rodents are important components at the base of food webs, and provide significant energy flow via predation to higher trophic level animals, including raptors and mammalian carnivorans (Robinson et al 2014). They are also responsible for numerous ecological services and disturbances including seed dispersal (Lichti et al 2014), symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi (Maser et al 1978;Luoma et al 2003;Frank et al 2009), soil development and fertilization (McKendrick et al 1980;Hallett et al 2003;Eldridge andWhitford 2009), andherbivory (Luoma et al 2003;Gough et al 2007;Olofsson et al 2012). Stomach content analyses of northern rodents have shown a spectrum of dietary sources that include some combination of grasses, seeds, berries, buds, lichen, moss, fungi, and in some cases arthropods (Lensink 1983;Bangs 1984;Batzli and Henttonen 1990;Bergman and Krebs 1993;Luoma et al 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Quantifying trophic niche spaces of small mammals using stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C) at two scales across Alaska

et al. 2015

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Changing climate conditions are causing global distribution shifts, resulting in altered food webs and novel species assemblages in terrestrial systems. How diets of sympatric small mammals overlap and whether this may translate into competitive exclusion among new species interactions remains largely unknown. Monitoring niche overlap in changing arctic and boreal communities can assist in forecasting interspecific competition and species turnover. We quantified the isotopic niche spaces of small mammals, which may reflect dietary niche spaces, at study sites along two megatransects spanning Alaska. Field sampling resulted in the capture of 724 small mammals belonging to 12 species of rodent (10 Arvicolinae and 2 Sciuridae) and 6 species of shrew (genus Sorex L., 1758). We created dietary mixing models based on hair samples for four rodent species using stable isotope (δ15N and δ13C) analyses in R. We also modeled isotopic niche ellipses and quantified niche overlap among species at small and large scales. A varied combination of fungi and herbaceous plants composed the diets of most species. Fundamental niche spaces overlapped considerably between sympatric species statewide, but realized niche spaces were largely segregated at individual sites. We conclude that some degree of dietary plasticity served to partition niche spaces and minimize interspecific competition, allowing sympatric species to co-exist.

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“…This increase may be related to the increased abundance of Petrosimonia sibirica (Table 1), an annual halophyte (Zhao, Song, Feng, Zhao, & Liu, 2011), previous researches in this region found that the growth of halophytes can lead to the accumulation of alkaline ions in surface soil, and increase the soil pH (Xu et al., 2016; Zhang, Xiong, An, & Xia, 2012). The SOM mainly comes from livestock feces and litter decomposition (Eldridge & Whitford, 2009; Fernandez‐Gimenez & Allen‐Diaz, 2001), and functions as a regulator of carbon and nitrogen dynamics in desert ecosystems. Although it is common that exclosure can increase litter accumulation (Vecchio, Bolaños, Golluscio, & Rodríguez, 2019), without trampling by livestock (Naeth, Bailey, Pluth, Chanasyk, & Hardin, 1991), and together with stopping fecal inputs in the 6‐year exclosure, the content of SOM reduced compare with grazing land.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short‐term grazing exclusion does not effectively restore degraded rangeland in the Junggar desert of Xinjiang, China

Yang

2020

Grassland Science

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Exclosure is a simple and effective rangeland restoration approach, which is widely used in China, and is conducive to the recovery of degraded vegetation and soil. Plant and soil properties in a desert steppe on the southeastern edge of the Junggar basin after 6 and 16 years of grazing exclusion were measured and compared with open grazing lands. The results showed that vegetation cover increased with exclosure time, while the abundance decreased over time; the species richness, diversity, and evenness indexes of the annual plants decreased after 6 years of grazing exclusion and recovered after 16 years of grazing exclusion. The soil was significantly restored during the 16‐year exclosure period because soil fertility increased and soil pH decreased; however, the soil was not effectively restored after 6 years of exclosure because the soil pH had increased and soil organic matter and total nitrogen had decreased, even though available nutrients and total phosphorus had significantly increased. Therefore, these results were contrary to previous studies, which reported that rangeland can be restored by a short‐term exclusion system in this region, and that grazing exclosures should be established and widely used in degraded rangelands to restore the vegetation and soil. Long‐term exclosure to improve soil and vegetation conditions is crucial if the restoration and sustainable use of the rangeland in the Junggar desert are to be promoted.

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Soil disturbance by native animals along grazing gradients in an arid grassland

Cited by 14 publications

References 28 publications

Effects of grazing intensity to water source on grassland condition, yield and nutritional content of selected grass species in Northwest Ethiopia

Effects of grazing intensity to water source on grassland condition, yield and nutritional content of selected grass species in Northwest Ethiopia

Quantifying trophic niche spaces of small mammals using stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C) at two scales across Alaska

Short‐term grazing exclusion does not effectively restore degraded rangeland in the Junggar desert of Xinjiang, China

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Soil disturbance by native animals along grazing gradients in an arid grassland

Cited by 14 publications

References 28 publications

Effects of grazing intensity to water source on grassland condition, yield and nutritional content of selected grass species in Northwest Ethiopia

Effects of grazing intensity to water source on grassland condition, yield and nutritional content of selected grass species in Northwest Ethiopia

Quantifying trophic niche spaces of small mammals using stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) at two scales across Alaska

Short‐term grazing exclusion does not effectively restore degraded rangeland in the Junggar desert of Xinjiang, China

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Quantifying trophic niche spaces of small mammals using stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C) at two scales across Alaska