Vegetation, Soil, and Animal Indicators of Rangeland Health

Whitford, Walter G.; Soyza, Amrita G. de; Zee, Justin W. Van; Herrick, James B.; Havstad, Kris M.

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-4976-1_15

Cited by 28 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Soil chemical gradients around watering point can be a useful indicator to monitor rangeland health (Whitford et al, 1998). Thus when studying the ecological impact of livestock on species composition, it can be more appropriate to sample along key resources like watering points.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species composition and soil characteristics around Iranian piospheres

Shahriary

Palmer

Tongway

et al. 2012

Journal of Arid Environments

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species composition and soil characteristics around Iranian piospheres

Shahriary

Palmer

Tongway

et al. 2012

Journal of Arid Environments

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“…They also highlight the need to describe grazing effects across multiple, especially finer-grained, scales to identify transitions to less-productive states (Noble and Brown 1997). Condition of grazed landscapes in northern Australia should also be monitored with combined plant and soil indicators to better identify such changes (Whitford et al 1998). The best choices for indicators would be those that are easy to measure and insensitive to annual variations in growing conditions, but still sensitive enough to allow early identification of degradation (Northup et al 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proper use of grazing lands in the Australian tropics requires identification of management techniques that are sustainable on an ecosystem basis (Brown and Ash 1996), and the development of useful indicators of land condition (Williams et al 1993;Whitford et al 1998). To examine the usefulness of potential indicators, we undertook a study to describe inter-relationships that might exist between grass tussocks and soil chemical properties, and their responses to grazing during a period of dry growing conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing impacts on spatial distribution of soil and herbaceous characteristics in an Australian tropical woodland

2005

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This study examined effects of different levels of applied grazing pressures on herbaceous vegetation (standing crop, basal area, size and spacing of grass tussocks) and soil properties (total soil C, total N, total P, and soil-borne plant material [roots and surface litter] in the A horizon) around grass tussocks of a dry eucalypt woodland (dominant woody components; Eucalyptus xanthoclada and Corymbia erythrophloia of northern Australia. Grass tussocks influenced total soil C and N at small (<20 cm) spatial scales, and applied grazing pressures significantly ( p<0.05) affected all soil properties except total P. Concentrations of N and C were highest at locations close to plants, and levels in proximity to plants declined under sustained heavy grazing. Paddocks receiving heavier grazing pressures also produced less standing crop and tussocks were smaller and more widely dispersed. Further, areas with high amounts of soil C, N and soilborne plant materials were smaller and more widely dispersed under heavy grazing. Alternatively, conservative grazing pressure in combination with wet season grazing deferments allowed conservation of landscape condition. Eucalypt woodlands in northern Australia have low resistance to disturbance, and limited resilience to recover following disturbance. As such, the effects of disturbance on these areas should be monitored by combinations of plant (basal area, plant spacing) and soil (soil-borne plant material, total N) characteristics capable of detecting degradation at the earliest stages possible.

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“…In conclusion, our results do not indicate that increases in wind erosion due to thinning should preclude restoration, but we do argue that: (1) the increases are sufficient to warrant consideration and additional study, and (2) should be considered as an important component of restoration, salvage, and monitoring plans (Miller, 2004;Whitford et al, 1998).…”

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 66%