Effects of Vegetation Cover, Grazing and Season on Herbage Species Composition and Biomass: A Case Study of Yabello Rangeland, Southern Ethiopia

Fenetahun, Yeneayehu; Xin-wen, XU; Yuan, You; Wang, Yongdong

doi:10.5814/j.issn.1674-764x.2020.02.004

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Thus, we can argue that the intensity of grazing by cattle and wild animals, at our study sites could be the potential mechanism responsible for determining shift in herbaceous species composition in near future. Our findings in this study are supported by Lin et al (2010) and Fenetahun et al (2020), where they reported significant impact of intensity and distribution of grazing on composition and productivity of herbaceous species.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Disturbance Induced Changes in Diversity of Medicinal Plants in a Dry Tropical Forest of India

Pk¹,

Prajapati

Kumari

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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Due to overexploitation for forest resources, many important medicinal plants are disappearing from the tropical dry forest (TDF) regions. The present study is aimed to investigate the diversity of medicinal plants exposed to different levels of anthropogenic disturbance in TDFs. For this study, we selected six forest regions, covering a radius of 25 km, and exposed to variable intensity of disturbances, in the form of illegal logging, cattle grazing and fire. Based on the intensity of three disturbances, we categorized the study sites as low (LDS) and high (HDS) disturbed sites, and analyzed differences in soil properties and vegetation parameters in the two disturbance categories. We recorded tree density, tree species richness and herbaceous species richness in 100 m2 quadrats at the selected regions. Results exhibited significantly greater soil organic C (LDS, 4.6%; HDS, 0.9%; P < 0.001), water holding capacity (LDS, 47.4%; HDS, 33.6%; P < 0.001), and sand content (LDS, 53.7%; HDS, 48.3%; P < 0.001) across LDS, whereas significantly higher bulk density (LDS, 1.30 gcm–3; HDS, 1.34 gcm–3; P < 0.05) and gravel content (LDS, 14.6%; HDS, 20.0%; P < 0.001) across HDS. We found considerable shift in relationships between vegetation parameters under the two disturbance regimes. The results indicated that many of the important medicinal plants (e.g., Adina cordifolia, Bauhinia vahlii, Holarrhena antidysenterica, Asparagus racemosus, Curculigo orchioides, Hemidesmus indicus, etc.) which are potential constituents of several ayurvedic preparations as well as of traditional medical systems are lacking from the HDS, either due to direct impact of disturbances or indirectly due to disturbance induced changes in soil properties. For instance, the high grazing pressure increased soil compaction, leading to increase in bulk density and decline in water holding capacity of soil. We suggest that forest managers take into consideration the presence of anthropogenic disturbances in their management and conservation efforts of medicinal plants in TDFs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Disturbance Induced Changes in Diversity of Medicinal Plants in a Dry Tropical Forest of India

Pk¹,

Prajapati

Kumari

et al. 2022

Front. For. Glob. Change

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“…Grazing can not only increase grassland productivity and improve forage quality but also increase the WUE of grassland (Fenetahun et al, 2020). Peng et al (2007) found that the WUE of Cleistogenes squarrosa, Agropyron cristatum, and Potentilla acaulis reached the highest value under moderate grazing intensity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grazing can not only increase grassland productivity and improve forage quality but also increase the WUE of grassland ( Fenetahun et al., 2020 ). Peng et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, some studies have reported that grazing has little impact on forage nutritional quality, but forages in grazing land had higher crude protein content in the late rainy season (Mbatha and Ward, 2010). Grazing not only increases the forage yield and improves nutritive quality but also the water use efficiency (Fenetahun et al, 2020). Peng et al (2007) reported that the water use efficiency (WUE) of Cleistogenes squarrosa, Agropyron cristatum, and Potentilla acaulis increased significantly as the grazing intensity increased, reaching the highest value at moderate grazing intensity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grass-legume mixture and nitrogen application improve yield, quality, and water and nitrogen utilization efficiency of grazed pastures in the loess plateau

Shi

Kamran

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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Grazing on cultivated grassland is a green agricultural model. However, in China's Loess Plateau, the type of cultivated grassland suitable for grazing and the amount of nitrogen application is still unclear, which has led to the failure of this model to be widely implemented. In this context, we set up an experiment using three grass planting types, including monoculture of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), monoculture of brome (Bromus inermis L.), and mixed planting of the two forages. Under each planting type, there were six management measures: grazing and no nitrogen application (GN1), grazing and 80 kg ha-1 nitrogen application (GN2), grazing and 160 kg ha-1 nitrogen application (GN3), cutting and no nitrogen application (MN1), cutting and 80 kg ha-1 nitrogen application (MN2), and cutting and 160 kg ha-1 nitrogen application (MN3). To explore the impacts of these treatments on pastures, we studied the effects on the yield, quality, and water use efficiency of the three cultivated grasslands. Results showed that alfalfa monoculture and alfalfa-brome mixed sowing grassland resulted in significantly higher hay yield, crude protein yield, water use efficiency (WUE), precipitation use efficiency (PUE), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), and agronomic efficiency of nitrogen (AEN) as compared to brome monoculture grassland. In addition, the crude protein, ether extract, and crude ash content of alfalfa monoculture and alfalfa-brome mixture were increased significantly while the contents of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were reduced, thereby increasing the relative feed value (RFV) during the two years. The forage hay yield, crude protein yield, ether extract, crude ash content, RFV, PUE, and WUE were significantly higher with GN1, GN2, and GN3 treatments than that with MN1 treatment. In contrast, the NDF and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content was significantly lower than the MN1 treatment. Furthermore, the fresh forage yield, crude protein yield, PUE, and WUE of GN3 treatment were significantly higher than that of GN1 and GN2 treatments in both years, while the NUE and AEN were significantly higher in GN2 and GN3 treatments than that of MN3 treatment. Based on these results, alfalfa-brome mixed cropping with the application of 160 kg ha-1 nitrogen under grazing conditions is an appropriate management practice for improving the forage yield, quality, and water- and nitrogen utilization efficiency of cultivated grassland in the Loess Plateau of China. This integrated management model is applicable to the cultivation and utilization of mixed grassland on nutrient-poor land in the Loess Plateau.

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Dynamics of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus) pastures associated with white clover (Trifolium repens) in small-scale dairy systems in the highlands of central Mexico

Plata-Reyes

Martínez‐García

Hernández–Mendo

et al. 2023

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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Effects of Vegetation Cover, Grazing and Season on Herbage Species Composition and Biomass: A Case Study of Yabello Rangeland, Southern Ethiopia

Cited by 4 publications

References 21 publications

Disturbance Induced Changes in Diversity of Medicinal Plants in a Dry Tropical Forest of India

Disturbance Induced Changes in Diversity of Medicinal Plants in a Dry Tropical Forest of India

Grass-legume mixture and nitrogen application improve yield, quality, and water and nitrogen utilization efficiency of grazed pastures in the loess plateau

Dynamics of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and Kikuyu grass (Cenchrus clandestinus) pastures associated with white clover (Trifolium repens) in small-scale dairy systems in the highlands of central Mexico

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