Impact of Grazing Intensity on Soil Properties in Teltele Rangeland, Ethiopia

Frontiers in Environmental Science

Tihunie Fentahun¹  Wang Yong-dong²  You Yuan²  Xu Xinwen²  Yeneayehu Fenetahun⁴  Vincent Nzabarinda⁴ 

[1] Mekdela Amba University, College of Natural and Computational Science, Department of Chemsitry, TuluAwliya, Ethiopia;National Engineering Technology Research Center for Desert-Oasis Ecological Construction, Xinjiang Institution of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, China;State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institution of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Science, Urumqi, China;University of China Academy of Science, Beijing, China;

关键词: stocking rate;    soil depth;    elevation;    soil indicators;    management practice 2;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fenvs.2021.664104

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Grazing intensity (GI) is a major determining factor that controls the functioning of rangelands and the overall nutrient cycle. The Teltele rangeland is used for communal grazing area by the local pastorals; however, to date, there is no documented study data about the impact of GI. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of grazing intensity on selected soil properties in the Teltele rangeland, Ethiopia. Soil samples were collected from different GI sites using different elevation gradient and soil depth from both open grazing and bush-encroached grazing land sand-assessed soil properties. Grazing intensity, elevation, and soil depth significantly (p < 0.05) affected both soils’ physical and chemical properties but rangeland types had no significant effect. The correlation analysis of soil characteristics with the principal component analysis axes showed significant variation. The highly weighted and correlated properties under principal component 1 (PC1) were electrical conductivity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and potassium, and under principal component 2, sand and bulk density with equal loaded value (r = −0.998), clay and silt, with silt (0.962) a more loaded one. Soil pH (0.743) demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05) positive correlation with sodium (−0.960) at PC1 (r = 0.610). Based on our results, we recommend further model-based studies on spatial–temporal change of soil properties due to impact of grazing intensity, combined with GIS and remote sensing data to be developed for sustainable rangeland management.

【 授权许可】

Unknown