Fuhlendorf et al. evaluated restored and native sites in Oklahoma, within long-term heavy and moderate grazing regimes, to determine if soil nutrients from reseeded cultivated land have recovered after 30 years of management. Authors assessed the similarities to the surrounding prairie and identified the interactive influence of different levels of grazing and history of cultivation on plant functional group composition and soils in mixed prairies. Analyses of soil nutrients among grazing treatments were only significantly different for NO3-N, with higher levels in moderate than heavily grazed grasslands. Within grazing treatments, soil carbon, total nitrogen, organic matter, NO3-N, and K were all significantly higher on sites that had not been cultivated and restored. It appears that grazing alters the extent of recovery of these grassland soils as indicated by the significant interaction between grazing intensity and cultivation history for soil nitrogen and soil carbon. Management of livestock grazing is likely to be a critical factor in determining the potential restoration of mixed prairies. However, it is evident from this study that regardless of grazing intensity, restoring native prairie soils requires many decades and possibly external inputs to restore organic matter, soil carbon, and soil nitrogen.
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