Food Security and Safety Niche Area, North-West University, Mahikeng, North West Province, South Africa.
Department of Animal Science, School of Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mahikeng, North West Province, South Africa.
PeerJ. 2022 Oct 19;10:e13960. doi: 10.7717/peerj.13960. eCollection 2022.
Communal Property Associations (CPAs) rangeland users need more knowledge on the state of their respective grazing lands and also the interaction of soil properties with grazing management implemented. This study aimed to investigate the effect grazing has on the physical and chemical properties of four different soil types found in selected CPAs of the Bela-Bela municipality, they are as follows: Mawela (Hutton-clay loam: HCL), Bela-Bela (Hutton-clay: HC), Moretele (Hutton-loamy sand: HLS) and Ramorula (Ecca sand-clay loam: ESCL).The macro and micro minerals, pH, nitrate-nitrogen, ammonium-nitrogen, organic carbon, soil particle size distribution, acidity and resistance were all measured. All data were subjected to two-way factorial analysis of variance (SAS, 2010). The topsoil was sampled at a depth of 300 mm at an interval of 100 m (100 and 200 m) from the same transect used for woody species data collection resulting in a total of 18 samples per CPA. In each CPA, three camps were selected. In each camp, three transects 200 m apart at the length of 200 m were set. In each transect, soils were drawn at 0, 100 and 200 m making a total of nine soil samples per each camp. The highest ( < 0.05) pH (7.14) recorded on the sub-soil was in HLS. Nitrate nitrogen (2.4 mg/kg) concentration on the topsoil was high ( < 0.05) in HC soil type. Soil organic carbon for both topsoil (0.66%) and subsoil (0.41%) was significantly lower ( < 0.05) in HLS soil type and ESCL soil type respectively. Phosphorus concentration was significantly high ( < 0.05) in ESCL soil type for both topsoil (12.86 mg/kg) and sub-soil (1.59 mg/kg). Iron concentration was high in both topsoil (11.8 mg/kg) and sub-soil (7.3 mg/kg) in ESCL soil type. Sub-soil manganese concentration was found to be higher ( < 0.05) in ESCL soil type (7.58 mg/kg). Soil resistance (2880 Ω ) measured in topsoil was high ( < 0.05) in HCL soil type compared to other soil types. Moreover, for the sub-soil the highest ( < 0.05) resistance (least salts) (3640 Ω) was recorded in ESCL soil type. For most of the soil types, the mineral concentration was higher in topsoil than in sub-soil, this trend explains that the uptake of these minerals by plants took place due to the inconsistencies of grazing management employed in these selected CPA farms. It is of colossal significance to properly manage rangelands, to allow a fair-to-good herbaceous layer in the presence of minerals in the soils and farmer should prioritize having enclosures and keeping N-fixing tree species in the rangelands to achieve the above mentioned conditions.
社区财产协会（CPAs）的牧场使用者需要更多关于各自牧场状况的知识，以及土壤特性与实施的放牧管理之间的相互作用。本研究旨在调查放牧对贝拉贝拉市选定 CPAs 中发现的四种不同土壤类型的物理和化学性质的影响，它们是：Mawela（Hutton-粘土壤土：HCL）、Bela-Bela（Hutton-粘土：HC）、Moretele（Hutton-壤土砂：HLS）和 Ramorula（Ecca 砂-粘土壤土：ESCL）。宏量和微量矿物质、pH 值、硝酸盐氮、铵氮、有机碳、土壤粒径分布、酸度和电阻均进行了测量。所有数据均采用 SAS（2010 年）的双因素方差分析进行处理。在 100 米的间隔（100 和 200 米）从用于木本物种数据收集的相同横断面采集 300 毫米深的表土，每个 CPA 总共采集 18 个样本。在每个 CPA 中，选择了三个营地。在每个营地中，在 200 米长的三个横断面每隔 200 米设置一个横断面。在每个横断面，在 0、100 和 200 米处采集土壤，每个营地共采集 9 个土壤样本。在 HLS 土壤类型下，记录到的亚土层 pH 值（7.14）最高（<0.05）。HC 土壤类型的表层土壤硝酸盐氮（2.4mg/kg）浓度较高（<0.05）。表土（0.66%）和亚土（0.41%）的土壤有机碳含量在 HLS 土壤类型和 ESCL 土壤类型中分别显著较低（<0.05）。磷浓度在 ESCL 土壤类型的表土（12.86mg/kg）和亚土（1.59mg/kg）中均显著较高（<0.05）。ESCL 土壤类型的表土（11.8mg/kg）和亚土（7.3mg/kg）中的铁浓度较高。ESCL 土壤类型中的亚土层锰浓度较高（<0.05）（7.58mg/kg）。与其他土壤类型相比，在表土中测量的土壤电阻（2880 Ω）较高（<0.05），在 HCL 土壤类型中。此外，对于亚土层，ESCL 土壤类型（3640 Ω）的电阻（最小盐度）最高（<0.05）。对于大多数土壤类型，表土中的矿物质浓度高于亚土层，这一趋势表明，由于在这些选定的 CPA 农场中采用了放牧管理的不一致性，这些矿物质被植物吸收。适当管理牧场，在土壤中存在矿物质的情况下允许有公平到良好的草本层，农民应优先考虑在牧场设置围栏并保留固氮树种，以实现上述条件，这具有重要意义。
