Optimizing Beef Cow-Calf Grazing across Missouri with an Emphasis on Protecting Ecosystem Services

Soil health is an emerging paradigm for which much research in row crop agriculture has been undertaken. Research involving grazing lands and soil health has not been as active, a feature partially attributed to (i) greater erosional rates in cropland, (ii) loss of soil organic matter and reduced soil structure attributed to annual tillage practices, (iii) cash flow from cropland is easier to visualize than the value-added nature of grazing lands, and (iv) there exists more competitive grant funding sources for croplands. Grazing lands do require soil quality augmentation and investment in soil health to optimize their ecosystem services potential. This manuscript, with an emphasis on beef cattle grazing in the central USA, attempts to survey the literature to (i) identify the influence of grazing on important ecosystem services provided by Mollisols and Alfisols, (ii) develop a listing of soil indicators that may be selected to quantify and credential soil quality, and (iii) develop guidelines that align soil indicators and changes in grazing management to support the restoration of ecosystem services.

The current state of mountain meadow soils of subalpine pasture ecosystems of the Central Caucasus (elbrus altitudinal zonality)

Intensive recreational, agricultural and logistics land use in uplands leads to their transformation and degradation. Subalpine meadow ecosystems of Central Caucasus are traditionally used for grazing and mowing. The work determined the current state of soils on pastures (mountain meadow-steppe subalpine soil and mountain meadow subalpine soil) and the level of changes of their properties under different stages of pasture degradation were defined. The efficacy of 4-stage assessment system for evaluating the pasture degradation of grasslands dominated by Bromus variegatus M. Bieb. was shown for the assessment of soil cover condition. The reduce of estimated soil indicators and degradation of soils under pastures with maximal degradation stage (DS3) of meadow ecosystems was statistically significant.

The Short-Term Impact of Different Silvicultural Thinnings on Soil Nematode and Microarthropod Biodiversity in Artificial Black Pine Stands

Soil invertebrates represent almost a quarter of the total diversity of living organisms and their activity affects the entire soil ecological process. The choice of adequate thinning systems may differently affect soil nematode and microarthropod biodiversity in artificial black pinewoods. In this work, the results of the impact of different thinnings on the structure of nematode and microarthropod communities was reported. In a short-term experiment, thinning from below and selective thinning were compared to unmanaged stands to provide indications at the regional scale in central Italy. Soil nematode and microarthropod biodiversity was explored by examining community structure, assessing biodiversity. The interaction between environmental variables (crown volume, Photosynthetically Active Radiation, soil texture, soil temperature, and moisture) with taxa abundance of nematodes and microarthropods were also reported. The results indicated that the effects of thinning practices were temporary and varied between years. Soil nematode community shifted during the first and third years of thinning managements only in the Pratomagno site, while soil microarthropod community shifted in both sites only in the second year. The total nematode abundance was minimally affected by thinning practices, while the nematode community composition showed a decrease of omnivores and predators in the first years. Soil indicators showed inconsistent results. In microarthropods, mites and collembola were the least affected by thinning in terms of abundance and species biodiversity, while eu-edaphic taxa of Chilopoda, Diplopoda, and Pauropoda were not influenced by thinning, hemi-edaphic and epi-edaphic taxa of Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Tysanoptera, and Hemiptera were negatively affected. Soil indicators such as Shannon-Weiner and Simpson indices and soil biological quality (QBS-ar) improved in thinning from below in both sites. Soil temperature and moisture were the main driving factors in affecting soil nematode and microarthropods communities. Thinning from below probably allowed a more rapid recovery than selective thinning.

Changes in the Strength Characteristics of Glinistx Soils under the Influence of Dynamic Forces

In order to study in depth the impact of vibration on the strength characteristics of clay soils, as well as to develop methods that increase the strength characteristics and contribute to the elimination of seismic shrinkage deformations of clay soils, we conducted research in the field. In field experimental studies, the svaw-12 trailed, smooth vibration roller, manufactured in Germany, was used. We paid special attention to the further behavior of the soil after the vibration and made observations and measurements of soil indicators for two months. The experiments in the field with vibration column showed an increase of soil deformation with increasing duration of the fluctuations, i.e. there is a linear relationship between the increases in soil density on the duration of oscillations. In the process of vibration, there is a sharp decrease in the force of adhesion and the angle of internal friction, which is apparently associated with a violation of the structure of the soil and its compaction. And then at the end of the vibration process, over time, there is an increase in the adhesion (1.5-2 times) and the internal friction angle (1.2 times) of the soil, obviously as a result of the soil acquiring new strength and compaction under the influence of its own weight. This circumstance is also associated with the humidity state of the soil.