Conversion of Communal Grazing Lands into Exclosures Restored Soil Properties in the Semi-Arid Lowlands of Northern Ethiopia

In semi-arid vineyard agroecosystems, highly vulnerable in the context of climate change, the soil organic matter (OM) content is crucial to the improvement of soil fertility and grape productivity. The impact of OM, from compost and animal manure, on soil properties (e.g., pH, oxidisable organic C, organic N, NH4+-N and NO3−-N), grape yield and direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in vineyards was assessed. For this purpose, two wine grape varieties were chosen and managed differently: with a rain-fed non-trellising vineyard of Monastrell, a drip-irrigated trellising vineyard of Monastrell and a drip-irrigated trellising vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon. The studied fertiliser treatments were without organic amendments (C), sheep/goat manure (SGM) and distillery organic waste compost (DC). The SGM and DC treatments were applied at a rate of 4600 kg ha−1 (fresh weight, FW) and 5000 kg ha−1 FW, respectively. The use of organic amendments improved soil fertility and grape yield, especially in the drip-irrigated trellising vineyards. Increased CO2 emissions were coincident with higher grape yields and manure application (maximum CO2 emissions = 1518 mg C-CO2 m−2 d−1). In contrast, N2O emissions, mainly produced through nitrification, were decreased in the plots showing higher grape production (minimum N2O emissions = −0.090 mg N2O-N m−2 d−1). In all plots, the CH4 fluxes were negative during most of the experiment (−1.073−0.403 mg CH4-C m−2 d−1), indicating that these ecosystems can represent a significant sink for atmospheric CH4. According to our results, the optimal vineyard management, considering soil properties, yield and GHG mitigation together, was the use of compost in a drip-irrigated trellising vineyard with the grape variety Monastrell.

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Climatic Zone and Soil Properties Determine the Biodiversity of the Soil Bacterial Communities Associated to Native Plants from Desert Areas of North-Central Algeria

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9071359 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 1359

Author(s):

Elisa Bona ◽

Nadia Massa ◽

Omrane Toumatia ◽

Giorgia Novello ◽

Patrizia Cesaro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Bacterial Communities ◽

Arid Environment ◽

Climatic Zone ◽

Indigenous Plants ◽

North Central ◽

The North ◽

Desert Areas ◽

Plant Microbiota ◽

Semi Arid

Algeria is the largest country in Africa characterized by semi-arid and arid sites, located in the North, and hypersaline zones in the center and South of the country. Several autochthonous plants are well known as medicinal plants, having in common tolerance to aridity, drought and salinity. In their natural environment, they live with a great amount of microbial species that altogether are indicated as plant microbiota, while the plants are now viewed as a “holobiont”. In this work, the microbiota of the soil associated to the roots of fourteen economically relevant autochthonous plants from Algeria have been characterized by an innovative metagenomic approach with a dual purpose: (i) to deepen the knowledge of the arid and semi-arid environment and (ii) to characterize the composition of bacterial communities associated with indigenous plants with a strong economic/commercial interest, in order to make possible the improvement of their cultivation. The results presented in this work highlighted specific signatures which are mainly determined by climatic zone and soil properties more than by the plant species.

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Effect of Senna obtusifolia (L.) invasion on herbaceous vegetation and soil properties of rangelands in the western Tigray, northern Ethiopia

Ecological Processes ◽

10.1186/s13717-018-0121-0 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maru G. Gebrekiros ◽

Zewdu K. Tessema

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Northern Ethiopia ◽

Herbaceous Vegetation ◽

Senna Obtusifolia

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Continuous cropping under elevated CO2: Differential effects on C4 and C3 crops, soil properties and carbon dynamics in semi-arid alfisols

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment ◽

10.1016/j.agee.2015.11.016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 218 ◽

pp. 73-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Ch. Srinivasarao ◽

Sumanta Kundu ◽

Arun K. Shanker ◽

R. Prakash Naik ◽

M. Vanaja ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Elevated Co2 ◽

Carbon Dynamics ◽

Continuous Cropping ◽

Differential Effects ◽

Semi Arid

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COMPARISON ON VEGETATION COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF EXCLOSURES VS. OPEN GRAZING LANDS IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA

International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH ◽

10.29121/granthaalayah.v9.i8.2021.4154 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 70-99

Author(s):

Samson Shimelse Jemaneh

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Woody Species ◽

Soil Parameters ◽

Northern Ethiopia ◽

Indigenous Species ◽

Regeneration Status ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

Grazing Lands

This study was conducted with the objectives of study investigates, compare, and try to describe the floristic composition and structure of the vegetation of exclosures and open grazing lands. A stratified preferential sampling design technique with flexible systematic model was used for data collection. Data on vegetation and environmental parameters were gathered from 120 quadrants (90 from restorations or exclosures of different ages and 30 from adjacent open grazing lands), of 20 m x 20 m (400 m2) size. Species richness and the presence or absence of herbaceous plants were recorded like soil samples in a 2 m x 2 m (4 m2) subplot inside each main quadrant from five points, one at each corner and one at the center. A total of 142 plant species belonging to 118 genera and 52 families were identified. All exclosures displayed higher plant species richness, diversity, and aboveground standing biomass compared to the adjacent open grazing lands. Consideration of edaphic (e.g. soil total nitrogen, available phosphorus, CEC, exchangeable bases, soil pH and soil texture) and site (e.g. Stoniness, Grazing) variables will help to optimize the selection of areas for the establishment of future exclosures. Moreover, our study suggests that with time exclosures may increasingly obtain an important role as refugees and species pool similar to church forests and should be protected and managed in a sustainable manner. However, economic and social impacts of exclosures should be included in feasibility studies before establishing exclosures in the future. Altitude, Grazing and some soil parameters like Mg were the major environmental factors in the division of the vegetation into plant community types. The result of the frequency distribution of woody species showed a high proportion of small-sized individuals in the lower diameter classes indicating good recruitment potential of the forest patches and the rare occurrence of large individuals. Such trend was probably caused by past disturbance of the original vegetation resulting in a succession of secondary vegetation. In addition, the analysis of species population structure indicated that some tree species had abnormal population structure with no or few individuals at lower size classes. Moreover, assessment of regeneration status on the basis of age classes indicated that significant proportion of woody species were represented by few or no seedlings, entailing that they were under threat. Substantial numbers of forest species were found to have irregular population structure and are in reduced regeneration status. To prevent local extinction of these species, present efforts of nursery establishment and plantation of indigenous species in the exclosures should be strengthened and extended.

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How does agro-pastoralism affect forage and soil properties in western Serengeti, Tanzania?

Tropical Grasslands - Forrajes Tropicales ◽

10.17138/tgft(9)120-133 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 120-133

Author(s):

Pius Yoram Kavana ◽

Ephraim J. Mtengeti ◽

Anthony Sangeda ◽

Christopher Mahonge ◽

Robert Fyumagwa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Nutritive Value ◽

C:N Ratio ◽

Grazing Pressure ◽

Average Density ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Herbaceous Plants ◽

Standing Biomass ◽

Grazing Lands

The impacts of agro-pastoral activities on soil properties, plus nutritive value and residual standing biomass of herbaceous plants in areas of different land uses in western Serengeti, were evaluated. Vegetation and soil were sampled along 4,000 m transects laid across fallow land, areas grazed only by livestock, mixed grazing (livestock and wildlife) and wildlife grazing only. A total number of 123 plant species were encountered during sampling. Analyses of soil and vegetation samples were conducted at Sokoine University of Agriculture laboratories. The estimated average density of grazing animals encountered was 160 TLU/km2 on transects within livestock-dominated grazing lands, 129 TLU/km2 for mixed grazing and 83 TLU/km2 for wildlife grazing only. Results indicated that ADF, IVDMD, IVOMD, ME and TDN in residual herbaceous forage at flowering were significantly (P<0.05) affected by land use type but CP, NDF and ADL were not affected. Soil pH, OC, CEC, C:N ratio and Ca differed significantly (P<0.05) between land use types. An overall evaluation indicated that regardless of climatic conditions, residual biomass of herbaceous plants in western Serengeti is determined by intensity of grazing, soil C:N ratio and concentrations of Ca and P in the soil. We conclude that agro-pastoral practices conducted in western Serengeti affected residual standing biomass of herbaceous plants and soil properties. We recommend that grazing pressure in communal grazing lands be reduced by either reducing number of grazing animals or duration of grazing in a particular grazing area, and specific studies be conducted to establish stocking rates appropriate for specific communal grazing lands in villages.

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