Impact of grazing on soil, vegetation and ewe production performances in a semi-arid rangeland
ISI journal
Impact factor: 1.135 (Year: 2018)
Author(s)
Citation
Muhammad Islam, Abdul Razzaq, Shamim Gul, Sarfarz Ahmad, Taj Muhammad, Sawsan Hassan, Barbara Rischkowsky, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mounir Louhaichi. (12/4/2018). Impact of grazing on soil, vegetation and ewe production performances in a semi-arid rangeland. Journal of Mountain Science, 15 (4), pp. 685-694.
Abstract
Controlled grazing is considered a good management strategy to maintain or increase the live weight of livestock and to reduce vegetation degradation of rangelands. The present study investigated soil characteristics, aboveground vegetation biomass dynamics and controlled grazinginduced changes in the live weight of local ewes in the semi-arid rangeland of Ahmadun, Ziarat, Balochistan province of Pakistan. An area of 115 ha was protected from livestock grazing in April 2014. In June 2015, soil characteristics within 0-30 cm depth i.e. soil organic matter (SOM), mineral nitrogen, pH and texture in controlled and uncontrolled grazing sites were assessed. Aboveground vegetation biomass measured in early (June) and late summer (August) in 2015 and 2016. The nutritional value i.e. crude protein, phosphorus (P), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) of dominant plant species were assessed at the beginning of experiment in 2015. Vegetation cover of controlled and uncontrolled grazing sites was also measured during the two years of the study period using the VegMeasure software. From June to November in 2015 and 2016, controlled and uncontrolled livestock grazing sites were grazed on a daily basis by local ewes with a stocking rate of 2 and 1 head ha-1 respectively. Results reveal that the organic matter contents of coarse-textured, slightly alkaline soil of the study site were in the range of 9.4 - 17.6 g kg-1 soil and showed a strong positive correlation with aboveground vegetation biomass. The biomass of plants was 56.5% and 33% greater at controlled than uncontrolled grazing site in 2015 and 2016 respectively and plant cover was also higher at controlled than uncontrolled grazing site in both years. The nutrient contents were significantly (P<0.05) lower in grasses than shrubs. In both years, the controlled grazing increased the weight gain of ewes about two folds compared to the uncontrolled grazing. The results indicate that controlled grazing improved the vegetation biomass production and small ruminant productivity.
Author(s) ORCID(s)
Islam, Muhammadhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9889-8960
Hassan, Sawsanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5057-8957
Rischkowsky, Barbarahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0035-471X
Louhaichi, Mounirhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4543-7631
Subject(s)
AGROVOC Keywords
Click to enable
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Title: The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
Author(s)Hudson, Lawrence N.; Newbold, Tim; Contu, Sara; Hill, Samantha; Lysenko, Igor; De Palma, Adriana; Phillips, Helen; Alhusseini, Tamera; Bedford, Felicity; Bennett, Dominic; Booth, Hollie; Burton, Victoria; Chng, Charlotte; Choimes, Argyrios; Correia, David L. P.; Day, Julie; Echeverria-Londono, Susy; Emerson, Susan; Gao, Di; Garon, Morgan; Harrison, Michelle; Ingram, Daniel; Jung, Martin; Kemp, Victoria; Kirkpatrick, Lucinda; Martin, Callum D.; Pan, Yuan; Pask-Hale, Gwilym; Pynegar, Edwin; Robinson, Alexandra; Sanchez-Ortiz, Katia; Senior, Rebecca; Simmons, Benno; White, Hannah; Zhang, Hanbin; Aben, Job; Abrahamczyk, Stefan; Adum, Gilbert; Aguilar-Barquero, Virginia; Aizen, Marcelo; Albertos, Belén; Alcala, E.; del Mar Alguacil, Maria; Alignier, Audrey; Ancrenaz, Marc; Andersen, Alan; Arbeláez-Cortés, Enrique; Armbrecht, Inge; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Aumann, Tom; Axmacher, Jan; Azhar, Badrul; Azpiroz, Adrián; Baeten, Lander; Bakayoko, Adama; Báldi, András; Banks, John; Baral, Sharad; Barlow, Jos; Barratt, Barbara; Barrico, Lurdes; Bartolommei, Paola; Barton, Diane; Basset, Yves; Batáry, Peter; Bates, Adam; Louhaichi, Mounir; Katovai, Eric; Kellner, Klaus; Kessler, Michael; R Kirby, Kathryn; E Knight, Mairi; Knop, Eva; Koivula, Matti; Kolb, Annette; Kone, Mouhamadou; Korosi, adam; Krauss, Jochen; J. Fonte, Steven; Fournier, Anne; E Fowler, Robert; Franzen, Markus; H Fraser, Lauchlan; M. Fredriksson, Gabriella; B Freire Jr, Geraldo; L. M. Frizzo, Tiago; Furlani, Dario; Gaigher, Rene; U Ganzhorn, Jorg; P. Garcia, Karla; C. Garcia R, Juan; G. Garden, Jenni; Garilleti, Ricardo; Ge, Bao-Ming; Gendreau-Berthiaume, Benoit; J. Gerard, Philippa J. Gerard; Gheler-Costa, Carla; Gilbert, Benjamin; Giordani, Paolo; Giordano, Simonetta; Golodets, Carly; G. L. Gomes, Laurens; K. Gould, Rachelle; Goulson, Dave; Granjon, Laurent; Grass, Ingo; L. Gray, Claudia; Grogan, James; Guardiola, Moises; R Gunawardene, Nihara; G Gutierrez, Alvaro; L Gutierrez Lamus, Doris; H Haarmeyer, Daniela; E Hanley, Mick; R Hashim, Nor; N. Hassan, Shombe; G. Hatfield, Richard; E. Hawes, Joseph; W Hayward, MattDate: 2017-12-31Type: Journal ArticleStatus: Open accessThe PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples ... -
Title: Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: A Synopsis of Coordinated National Crop Wild Relative Seed Collecting Programs across Five Continents
Author(s)Eastwood, Ruth; Tambam, Beri B.; Aboagye, Lawrence M; Akparov, Zeynal; Aladele, Sunday E.; Allen, Richard G.; Amri, Ahmed; Anglin, Noelle; Araya, Rodolfo; Espinoza, Griselda Arrieta; Asgerov, Aydin; Awang, Khadijah; Awas, Tesfaye; Barata, Ana Maria; Boateng, Samuel Kwasi; Brehm, Joana Magos; Braidy, Joelle; Breman, Elinor; Angulo, Arturo Brenes; Burle, Marília L.; Álvarez, Nora P. Castañeda; Casimiro, Pedro; Chaves, Nestor; Clemente, Adelaide S; Cockel, Christopher; Davey, Alexandra; De la Rosa, Lucía; Debouck, Daniel; Dempewolf, Hannes; Dokmak, Hiba; Ellis, David; Faruk, Aisyah; Freitas, Cátia; Galstyan, Sona; García, Rosa M; Ghimire, Krishna H; Guarino, Luigi; Harker, Ruth; Hope, Roberta; Humphries, Alan W; Jamora, Nelissa; Jatoi, Shakeel Ahmad; Khutsishvili, Manana; Kikodze, David; Kyratzis, Angelos C.; Lobos, Pedro León; Liu, Udayangani; Mainali, Ram P; Mammadov, Afig T.; Manrique, Norma; Manzella, Daniele; Ali, Mohd Shukri Mat; Medeiros, Marcelo B; Guzman, María A. Mérida; Pantsulaia, Tsira Mikatadze; Mohamed, El Tahir Ibrahim; Altamirano, Álvaro Monteros; Morales, Aura; Muller, Jonas V; Mulumba, John; Nersesyan, Anush; Nobrega, Humberto; Nyamongo, Desterio; Obreza, Matija; Okere, Anthony U; Orsenigo, Simone; Klose, Fernando Ortega; Papikyan, Astghik; Pearce, Timothy R; Pinheiro de Carvalho, Miguel A. A.; Prohens, Jaime; Rossi, Graziano; Salas, Alberto; Singh, Deepak; Siddiqui, Sadar Uddin; Smith, Paul P; Sotomayor, Diego A; Tacán, Marcelo; Tapia, César; Toledo, Álvaro; Toll, Jane; Vu, Dang Toan; Dang Vu, Tuong; Way, Michael J; Yazbek, Mariana; Zorrilla, Cinthya; Kilian, BenjaminDate: 2022-07-13Type: Journal ArticleStatus: Open accessThe Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change Project set out to improve the diversity, quantity, and accessibility of germplasm collections of crop wild relatives (CWR). Between 2013 and 2018, partners in 25 countries, heirs ... -
Title: Peer-Reviewed Literature on Grain Legume Species in the WoS (1980–2018): A Comparative Analysis of Soybean and Pulses
Author(s)Magrini, Marie-Benoit; Cabanac, Guillaume; Lascialfari, Matteo; Plumecocq, Gaël; Amiot, Marie Josephe; Anton, Marc; Arvisenet, Gaëlle; Baranger, Alain; Bedoussac, Laurent; Chardigny, Jean-Michel; Duc, Gérard; Jeuffroy, Marie-Hélène; Journet, Etienne-Pascal; Juin, Hervé; Larre, Colette; Leiser, Hugues; Micard, Valérie; Millot, Dominique; Pilet-Nayel, Marie-Laure; Nguyen-Thé, Christophe; Salord, Tristan; Voisin, Anne-Sophie; Walrand, Stephane; Wery, JacquesDate: 2019-12-02Type: Journal ArticleStatus: Open accessGrain-legume crops are important for ensuring the sustainability of agrofood systems. Among them, pulse production is subject to strong lock-in compared to soya, the leading worldwide crop. To unlock the situation and ...