Effect of grazing intensity and dung on herbage and soil nutrients

Pavlů, Klára; Kassahun, Teowdroes; Nwaogu, Chukwudi; Pavlů, Lenka; Gaisler, J.; Homolka, P.; Pavlů, V.

doi:10.17221/177/2019-pse

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The fostering effects of settlement abandonment on vegetation cover have also been reported in many studies elsewhere (e.g. Mayer et al, 2019;Pavlů et al, 2019) and can be attributed to colonization of grazing-induced degraded areas by disturbance-tolerant plant species that exploit abundantly available resources and to relaxation from damages due to temporary grazing abandonment (Bokdam, 2001;Niu et al, 2019). Our above findings highlight the presence of a synanthropic association of giant root-rats, which has not been revealed…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

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Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover

Asefa

Reuber

Miehe

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Human activities, directly and indirectly, impact ecological engineering activities of subterranean rodents. As engineering activities of burrowing rodents are affected by, and reciprocally affect vegetation cover via feeding, burrowing and mound building, human influence such as settlements and livestock grazing, could have cascading effects on biodiversity and ecosystem processes such as bioturbation. However, there is limited understanding of the relationship between human activities and burrowing rodents. The aim of this study was therefore to understand how human activities influence the ecological engineering activity of the giant root-rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), a subterranean rodent species endemic to the Afroalpine ecosystem of the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia. We collected data on human impact, burrowing activity and vegetation during February and March of 2021. Using path analysis, we tested (1) direct effects of human settlement on the patterns of livestock grazing intensity, (2) direct and indirect impacts of humans and livestock grazing intensity on the root-rat burrow density and (3) whether human settlement and livestock grazing influence the effects of giant root-rat burrow density on vegetation and vice versa. We found lower levels of livestock grazing intensity further from human settlement than in its proximity. We also found a significantly increased giant root-rat burrow density with increasing livestock grazing intensity. Seasonal settlement and livestock grazing intensity had an indirect negative and positive effect on giant root-rat burrow density, respectively, both via vegetation cover. Analysing the reciprocal effects of giant rootrat on vegetation, we found a significantly decreased vegetation cover with increasing density of giant root-rat burrows, and indirectly with increasing livestock grazing intensity via giant root-rat burrow density. Our results demonstrate that giant root-rats play a synanthropic engineering role that affects vegetation structure and ecosystem processes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Finally, livestock dung deposition and urination affect nutrient cycling and can cause nutrient overloading, which affects vegetation structure and diversity by facilitating encroachment of exploitive native and/or non-native plant species that may lead to biotic homogenization (Bokdam, 2001;Dunne et al, 2011;Pavlů et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover

Asefa

Reuber

Miehe

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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“…There, the N:P ratios of below 0.8 (Hejcman et al, 2012) and N:K ratios of below 2.1 (Olde Velterink et al, 2003) indicate N limitation of the present grassland (Table S4). These ratios are at the lower end of ranges reported in other studies (Hrevušová et al, 2014;Pavlů et al, 2019). Our data (Table S4) consequently show that plant growth is generally N limited.…”

Section: Sources Of Variation Of Soc Stocks and Bgb Within Pasturessupporting

confidence: 59%

Soil organic carbon stocks and belowground biomass in patches in heterogeneous grassland

Komainda,

Mohn,

Kajzrová

et al. 2023

Grassland Research

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BackgroundSelective grazing creates stable patches of contrasting sward height, thereby providing different growth conditions for the grass sward above and below ground and potentially affecting soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. We hypothesized that the presence of patches leads to greater spatial variability in belowground biomass (BGB) and SOC stocks than occurs between pastures managed under different stocking intensities.MethodsA long‐term grazing experiment consisting of three stocking intensities was used for this study. We studied BGB, SOC, and soil total nitrogen (Ntot) stocks in the 0–15 cm soil depth. Shannon diversity of plant species, soil bulk density, soil phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium contents were considered.ResultsThere were no significant effects of patch or stocking intensity on BGB, SOC, and Ntot stocks. Short patches had a greater Shannon diversity than tall patches (p < 0.05) and plant‐available nutrients in soil correlated positively with sward height (p < 0.05).ConclusionsWe conclude from the current results and previous studies that higher plant species diversity with lower soil nutrient contents in short‐patch areas and higher nutrient contents together with light competition in tall‐patch areas might balance each other out with respect to BGB and SOC stocks.

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“…Due to the presence of cattle and the site being used as a resting place, high amounts of nutrients through deposition of dung and urine on the site are to be expected. According to [ 55 ] the amount of nutrients supplied from dung on an individual patch are 40–60 g N/m 2 , 14–20 g P/m 2 , 16–25 g K/m 2 , 40–60 g Ca/m 2 and 10–14 g Mg/m 2 . Hence, dung deposition has a significant effect on the chemical status of the soil and thus presents a potential source of available nutrients for plants [ 56 , 57 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoration management of cattle resting place in mountain grassland

Kassahun

Pavlů

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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This study investigated the effect of restoration management of a weed-infested area, previously used as cattle resting place, on herbage production and nutrient concentrations in the soil and herbage. The experiment was undertaken from 2004 to 2011 at the National Park of Nízké Tatry, Slovakia. Three treatments were applied: (i) cutting twice per year, (ii) herbicide application, followed after three weeks by reseeding with a mixture of vascular plant species and then cut twice per year, and (iii) unmanaged. Treatments had significant effect on biomass production and concentration of nutrients in the soil and in herbage. Nutrient concentrations in herbage and in soil declined progressively under the cutting treatments and reached optimum ranges for dairy cattle at the end of the experiment when herbage N was less than 15 g kg-1 and herbage P was 3.4 g kg-1. There was also a strong positive relationship under the cutting treatments between soil nutrient concentrations and herbage nutrient concentrations for N, P, K, Mg and Ca. Although the cutting management as well as the combination of herbicide application with cutting management reduced nutrient concentrations in the soil and in herbage, the nutrient concentrations remained relatively high. We can conclude that restoration of grassland covered with weedy species like Urtica dioica and Rumex obtusifolius, with excessive levels of soil nutrients, cannot be achieved just by cutting and herbicide application.

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Effect of grazing intensity and dung on herbage and soil nutrients

Cited by 11 publications

References 20 publications

Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover

Human activities modulate reciprocal effects of a subterranean ecological engineer rodent, Tachyoryctes macrocephalus, on Afroalpine vegetation cover

Soil organic carbon stocks and belowground biomass in patches in heterogeneous grassland

Restoration management of cattle resting place in mountain grassland

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