Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Soil nutrients and salinity after long-term grazing exclusion in a flooding Pampa grassland
Author
Chaneton, E. J.
Lavado, R. S.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1996-03-01
Body

Soil organic C, total N, extractable P, and salinity were evaluated after 12-16 years of protection from grazing in 2 native grassland sites which differed in frequency of soil waterlogging in the Flooding Pampa of Argentina. We tested the hypothesis that flooding regime would affect the impact of grazing on soil chemical properties. We sampled soil to 10-cm depth in adjacent grazed and ungrazed plots in each site, and assessed the percentage dissimilarity (PD) in vegetation composition among pastures. Grazing condition significantly interacted with site (p<0.001) in affecting topsoil C, N, and salinity. Soil C and N were higher in grazed grassland (C = 4.8%; N = 0.42%) than in long-term exclosure (C = 3.7%; N = 0.35%) for the more frequently flooded, lowland site, hut did not vary between grassland plots in the upland site (C = 3.1%; N = 0.29%). Soil electrical conductivity (E.C.) was low in both ungrazed plots (< 2 dS/m), yet in grazed condition salinization was higher in the upland (E.C.= 6.85 dS/m) than in the lowland site (3.88 dS/m). Soil extractable P did not change in any consistent way with grazing treatment. Grazing apparently amplified differences in soil chemistry between lowland and upland sites, while differences in botanical composition between topographical positions were smaller for grazed (PD = 44 %) than for ungrazed (64 %) grassland. Moreover, contrasting responses between sites occurred for various soil parameters, whereas compositional differences between grazed and ungrazed plots were similar in each site (PD = 65%). Thus, soil-vegetation changes in response to grazing appeared to be loosely coupled in this rangeland ecosystem The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/4002692
Additional Information
Chaneton, E. J., & Lavado, R. S. (1996). Soil nutrients and salinity after long-term grazing exclusion in a flooding Pampa grassland. Journal of Range Management, 49(2), 182-187.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/644329
Journal Volume
49
Journal Number
2
Journal Pages
182-187
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
flood meadows
submergence
inorganic phosphorus
soil organic matter
electrical conductivity
site factors
ratios
grasslands
soil salinity
soil fertility
forbs
grazing intensity
plant communities
soil chemistry
Argentina
botanical composition
grasses