Studying the Effect of Exclosure and Pit-Seeding on Soil Properties of Rangelands (Case study: Darani Rangelands, Tuyserkan City, Hamadan Province)
Subject Areas : forestry
Maryam Ahmadvand
1
,
Davoud Akhzari
2
1 - Post graduate student of Rangeland Management, Department of Nature Engineering, Malayer 6571995863, Iran.
2 - Associate Professor, Faculty Member of Malayer University, Department of Nature Engineering, Malayer 6571995863, Iran. *(Corresponding Author)
Keywords: Electrical Conductivity, Organic Carbon, Soil Acidity, Livestock Grazing.,
Abstract :
Background and Objective: Today, there are concerns related to the increase in livestock and its destructive effects, including soil compaction, soil degradation, erosion, and water pollution. One of the common ways to rangeland rehabilitation and restore it ability is plantation and exclosure. Material and Methodology: To conduct this research, 10 transects of 100 meters were established in study area (each transect was 50 meters away from the previous transect). Along each transect, ten 1×1 meter plots were determined and a 100 gr soil sample was taken from 3 depths of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 cm in each plot. Similarly, the same number of samples were also taken in the adjacent region which was not cultivated and wsa considered as a control area. The samples were taken to the laboratory to measure bulk density, soil moisture content, pH, EC, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and soil organic carbon. Then, they were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (P≤0.05). Findings: The results showed that in the grazed region, the bulk density, EC, total nitrogen, total phosphorus and organic carbon of the soil were significantly higher than those of pit-seeding area. The results also showed that the soil moisture and pH were not significantly differed in the two studied regions. Discussion and Conclusions: The soil bulk density increased with grazing and trampling due to soil compaction. The electrical conductivity of the exclosure area was also lower than those of grazed area due to the increase in vegetation and the reduction of evaporation and transpiration in the exclosure region. The increase in the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon in the soil in the grazed area is probably due to their absorption by the roots of plant species and the return of these nutrition to the surface layers of the soil through the excrement of the livestock.
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