Livestock redistribute runoff and sediments in semi-arid rangeland areas

Abstract

Abstract. Semi-arid areas where grazing is the main land use exhibit a "three-phase-mosaic" pattern of dominant surface patches: shrubs, trampling routes, and intershrub areas. This pattern differs from the "two-phase mosaic" seen in grazing-free semi-arid areas. The patches might create a positive feedback process in which enhanced infiltration beneath shrubs minimizes overland flow from under their canopies, thereby strengthening the sink-source mechanism by which overland flow generated between shrubs rapidly infiltrates into the soil beneath them, where it deposits soil particles, litter, nutrients and organic matter, thereby enhancing infiltration by changing the local microtopography, and improving soil properties. To analyze sink-source relationships among the patches in grazed areas in rangelands of the semi-arid northern Negev region of Israel, we constructed small runoff plots, 0.25-1.0 m 2 in area, of five types: shrub (Sarcopoterium spinosum), intershrub, route, route-shrub combination, and intershrub-shrub combination. The shrubs always occupied the downslope part of the plot. Overland flow and sediment deposits were measured in all plots during 2007/8 and 2008/9. The combined plots yielded much less overland flow and sediments than intershrub, routes and shrub ones, indicating that the shrubs absorbed almost all the yields of the upper part of their plots. The shrubs generated less runoff and sediments than routes and intershrubs; runoff flows from the routes and intershrubs were similar; sediment yield was highest in the intershrubs. Thus, runoff yield exhibited a twophase mosaic pattern, and sediment yield, i.e., soil erosion, a three-phase mosaic pattern.

Soil erosion in sloping vineyards assessed by using botanical indicators and sediment collectors in the Ruwer-Mosel valley

“…However, very little research has been done on the impact of human trampling as much of the research has focused on animal trampling Schnabel et al, 2013). Eldridge (1998) found that trampling on biological crusts contributes to high erosion rates, and Sarah and Zonana (2015) demonstrated the impact of livestock on runoff and sediment yields. Deluca et al (1998) researched the impact of different animals, including humans, on soil erosion due to trampling.…”

Soil Restoration after seven Years of Exclosure Management in Northwestern Ethiopia

“…Talore et al, 2015) further explained that such soil properties influence rate of biomass recycling back to the soil, soil structure, water holding capacity and turnover and dynamics of SOM. In exclosures, the improvements in such soil properties compared with the communal grazing land (Figure 3, Tables II and III) can be partly explained by reduced livestock trampling effect (Mekuria et al, 2007;Taboada et al, 2011), change in vegetation structure (Taboada et al, 2011), higher rate of biomass recycling back to the soil (Mekuria et al, 2011) and reduced run-off and soil erosion (Sarah & Zonana, 2015). A study conducted in the arid Eastern Cape, South Africa (Talore et al, 2015) found a similar result in that grazing exclosures improved soil physical and chemical properties such as bulk density, infiltration, soil pH and CEC compared with heavy (stocking rate of 1·18 livestock units, LSU ha À1 ) and light (LSU 0·78 ha -1 ) grazing treatments.…”

Modeling Sediment Yield in Semi‐Arid Pasture Micro‐Catchments, NW Iran

“…The system in terms of erosion processes because of low vegetation cover is very close to the threshold condition in which large scale gully erosion is initiated. Because the construction of check dams was estimated to be more expensive and effective only for a restricted time period (Quiñonero-Rubio et al, 2016), protection of vegetation cover through the management of grazing and prevention of land use change can be the effective management practices in controlling soil erosion and sediment yield in the micro-catchments (Cerdà & Lavee, 1999;Novara et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2014;Palacio et al, 2014;Palacio et al, 2014;Sarah & Zonana, 2015;Costa et al, 2015). This result proved the significance of vegetation cover to curb soil erosion, and it may help the planners and managers to take proper decision for the conservation of soil (Shit et al, 2014).…”

“…Soil erosion by water is the most serious form of land degradation in many areas of the world particularly in arid and semi‐arid regions (IPCC, ;Sarah & Zonana, ; Turgut, ; Laudicina et al ., ; Ochoa et al ., ; Prosdocimi et al ., ) where the soil formation rate is usually lower than the rate of soil erosion by water because of the accelerated soil erosion as a consequence of human misuse and abuse of the soils (Lieskovský & Kenderessy, ; Erkossa et al ., ; Dai et al ., ; Biswas et al ., ; Seutloali & Beckedahl, ). This is why it is necessary to develop soil erosion control strategies such as organic farming (Keesstra et al ., ), Mulch (Cerdà et al ., ; Prosdocimi et al ., ), organic amendments (Yazdanpanah et al ., ), or promote land abandonment to avoid high erosion rates in agricultural lands (Novara et al ., ).…”