In this North Dakota study, Bauer et al. compared organic C, total N, total P, organic P, and inorganic P contents, and bulk density of grazed and nongrazed (relict) grasslands to assess the effect of grazing. The organic C content, to 0.457 m of the soils of each textural group, was consistently larger in relict than in grazed grasslands; and over all soils, the difference averaged about 13%. The largest difference between management among textures to 0.457 m, 22%, was in the sandy soils and the smallest, 6%, in medium-textured. Total N content, to 0.457 m of the soils of each textural group, was larger in grazed than relict grasslands. Total P and organic P contents to 0.457 m were both larger in relict grasslands. The average bulk density was higher in the grazed than the relict sites at the 0- to 0.076-m depth, differing by 0.10 Mg m-3; while at deeper depths it was higher in the relict sites. Overall, differences occurred between management at all depths of sandy soils, but not at all depths in medium and fine-textured. These data show that the effects of herbivory extend to the soil resource.
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