Savanna land use and its effect on soil characteristics in southern Ethiopia

Angassa, Ayana; Sheleme, B.; Oba, Gufu; Treydte, Anna C.; Linstädter, Anja; Sauerborn, J.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.01.006

Cited by 40 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…As the sites included in our study are mostly arid (MAP 130-540 mm), our results imply a crossover point at the more arid side of this range. More generally, our findings support previous studies, showing that soil texture has considerable effects on ANPP (Paruelo et al 1999;Diouf & Lambin 2001;Huxman et al 2004;Angassa et al 2012), which may even mask effects of grazing intensity (Lauenroth et al 2008;Fensham et al 2010).…”

Section: Differences Across Soil Typessupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The crossover point of the inverse texture effect was originally estimated to be at a MAP of 300-500 mm (Noy-Meir 1973). More generally, our findings support previous studies, showing that soil texture has considerable effects on ANPP (Paruelo et al 1999;Diouf & Lambin 2001;Huxman et al 2004;Angassa et al 2012), which may even mask effects of grazing intensity (Lauenroth et al 2008;Fensham et al 2010). As the sites included in our study are mostly arid (MAP 130-540 mm), our results imply a crossover point at the more arid side of this range.…”

Section: Differences Across Soil Typessupporting

confidence: 90%

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Meta‐analysis of ANPP and rain‐use efficiency confirms indicative value for degradation and supports non‐linear response along precipitation gradients in drylands

Ruppert

Holm²,

Miehe

et al. 2012

J Vegetation Science

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Questions In drylands above‐ground net primary production (ANPP) and rain‐use efficiency (RUE) are common ecological indicators for assessing ecosystem state, including degradation and supply of key ecosystem services. However, both indicators have been criticized as ‘lumped’ parameters, since they aggregate complex information. Their value as ecological parameters in decision‐making and their use in ecological modelling therefore have been challenged and their explanatory power remains unclear. Furthermore, there is no consensus about the response of ANPP and RUE along precipitation gradients. Methods Taking advantage of several long‐term studies in (semi‐)arid environments where ANPP and RUE were recorded, we compiled a data set of 923 yr. We used meta‐analysis to disentangle the effects of different ecological layers (climate, soil and land use) on ANPP and RUE. Linear piece‐wise quantile regression (LPQR) was used to analyse the response of maximum and median ANPP and RUE as functions of precipitation. We assumed that looking at maximum response (instead of ‘average’ response) stratified for land‐use intensity was an ecologically more plausible way to understand ANPP constrained by precipitation and land use. Results We separated the impact of different environmental factors into distinct, quantitative effect sizes with the aid of meta‐analyses. ANPP was affected by recent and previous precipitation, land use, soil and biome. LPQR revealed that both parameters displayed several sequential linear intersects, which together formed a unimodal trend, peaking around precipitation of 200 mm yr−1. Unimodal response was more pronounced for maximum values (ANPPmax, RUEmax) than for median values. Peak ANPPmax and RUEmax, as well as post‐peak decline (>200 mm yr−1) were affected by land use: higher land‐use intensity decreased intercepts and increases post‐peak decline. Conclusions Our results have important consequences for the use of RUE as an ecosystem indicator and a tool in ecosystem monitoring and decision‐making. Most importantly, grasslands, shrublands and savannas significantly differ in their primary production, with a biome‐specific importance of precipitation, land use and previous year's precipitation. We thus propose to establish biome‐specific reference values of maximum and average RUE. Our study also contributes to reconcile contradictory findings for ANPP and RUE response along precipitation gradients of varying length.

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Section: Differences Across Soil Typessupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Differences Across Soil Typessupporting

confidence: 90%

Meta‐analysis of ANPP and rain‐use efficiency confirms indicative value for degradation and supports non‐linear response along precipitation gradients in drylands

Ruppert

Holm²,

Miehe

et al. 2012

J Vegetation Science

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“…The findings in the current study are in line with similar studies on the pastoral systems of Ethiopia which reported the existence of higher herbage mass and basal cover in the enclosure area [7,9]. The high diversity, richness and biomass measured in the enclosures might be attributable to increased litter accumulation, improved soil organic matter and other nutrients inside the enclosures [23,54].…”

Section: Interaction Of Management and Vegetation Attributessupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The rangeland ecosystems in the arid and semi-arid areas of Ethiopia have suffered from huge land and vegetation degradation due mainly to poor management, population growth, traditional open grazing systems, deforestation, continuous heavy grazing, as well as land use and climate changes [5,6]. These problems have led to a huge decline in rangeland resources and degradation of biodiversity, thereby having negative impacts on the rangeland ecosystems, livestock production, and the livelihoods of the pastoral communities [7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Vegetation Phytosociological Characteristics and Soil Physico-Chemical Conditions in Harishin Rangelands of Eastern Ethiopia

Hailu

2017

Land

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Abstract:The objective of this study is to analyse the phytodiversity, distribution, herb biomass and physico-chemical conditions of the vegetation system in the context of communal continuous open grazing and enclosed grazing management practices in the Harishin rangelands of Eastern Ethiopia. A total of 58 herbaceous species and 11 woody species were recorded in the study area. Analysis of Importance Value Index for two management practices was represented by different combinations of species with varied dominance. The herbs' diversity-dominance curve revealed a lognormal distribution in both managements practices. The overview of distribution patterns for most of the species layer showed contiguous growth and a clumped distribution pattern. Species diversity, richness, herb biomass, basal cover and soil physico-chemical attributes showed a distinct separation in relation to grazing management practices. Based on the findings, one can conclude that the establishment of enclosures has a positive impact in restoring rangeland vegetation diversity, distribution, in increasing herb productivity and in boosting soil fertility.

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“…Soils in the focal SES's piospheres were highly degraded, indicated by soil compaction attributable to animal trampling, aggregate disruption, and associated decomposition of soil organic carbon, and a decoupling of biological soil processes (Lauer et al 2011). Physico-chemical and biological degradation were most likely caused by low litter production due to the removal of biomass (Angassa et al 2012). Comparatively high soil temperatures due to a high proportion of bare ground may have accelerated the decomposition of soil organic matter (Parton et al 1987, Amelung et al 2008).…”

Section: Soil Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system

Linstädter¹,

Kuhn²,

Naumann³

et al. 2016

E&S

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. Assessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system. Ecology and Society 21(3):35. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08737-210335 SynthesisAssessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system ABSTRACT. In the past decades, social-ecological systems (SESs) worldwide have undergone dramatic transformations with often detrimental consequences for livelihoods. Although resilience thinking offers promising conceptual frameworks to understand SES transformations, empirical resilience assessments of real-world SESs are still rare because SES complexity requires integrating knowledge, theories, and approaches from different disciplines. Taking up this challenge, we empirically assess the resilience of a South African pastoral SES to drought using various methods from natural and social sciences. In the ecological subsystem, we analyze rangelands' ability to buffer drought effects on forage provision, using soil and vegetation indicators. In the social subsystem, we assess households' and communities' capacities to mitigate drought effects, applying agronomic and institutional indicators and benchmarking against practices and institutions in traditional pastoral SESs. Our results indicate that a decoupling of livelihoods from livestockgenerated income was initiated by government interventions in the 1930s. In the post-apartheid phase, minimum-input strategies of herd management were adopted, leading to a recovery of rangeland vegetation due to unintentionally reduced stocking densities. Because current livelihood security is mainly based on external monetary resources (pensions, child grants, and disability grants), household resilience to drought is higher than in historical phases. Our study is one of the first to use a truly multidisciplinary resilience assessment. Conflicting results from partial assessments underline that measuring narrow indicator sets may impede a deeper understanding of SES transformations. The results also imply that the resilience of contemporary, open SESs cannot be explained by an inward-looking approach because essential connections and drivers at other scales have become relevant in the globalized world. Our study thus has helped to identify pitfalls in empirical resilience assessment and to improve the conceptualization of SES dynamics.

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Savanna land use and its effect on soil characteristics in southern Ethiopia

Cited by 40 publications

References 52 publications

Meta‐analysis of ANPP and rain‐use efficiency confirms indicative value for degradation and supports non‐linear response along precipitation gradients in drylands

Meta‐analysis of ANPP and rain‐use efficiency confirms indicative value for degradation and supports non‐linear response along precipitation gradients in drylands

Analysis of Vegetation Phytosociological Characteristics and Soil Physico-Chemical Conditions in Harishin Rangelands of Eastern Ethiopia

Assessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system

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