Hydrologic characteristics of vegetation types as affected by livestock grazing systems, Edwards Plateau, Texas
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Authors: T. L. Thurow, W. H. Blackburn, and C. A. Taylor, Jr.
Date: 1986
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 39
Number: 6
Pages: 505-509
Summary of Methods: The effects of livestock grazing systems on infiltration rate and sediment yield on 3 plant communities (oak mottes, bunchgrasses and sodgrass) was examined at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station of Edward Plateau, Texas (31° N; 100° W) for one spring. Pastures were grazed in one of four systems (livestock exclusion, continuous grazing with heavy stocking, continuous grazing with moderate stocking, and moderately stocked high-intensity low-frequency for 2 years followed by four years of heavily stocked short duration grazing). Infiltration rate, sediment production, total organic cover, bulk density, amount of total cover and aboveground biomass were measured.
Article Summary / Main Points: Total organic cover had the strongest association with infiltration rates, bulk density and sediment production, being highest under oak motte, followed by bunchgrass and sodgrass. Grazing did not affect oak motte, but heavily stocked continuously grazing and short duration grazing reduced organic cover in both grass communities. Bunchgrass cover and total aboveground biomass in the exclosure and under moderately stocked continuous grazing were greater than short duration or heavily stocked continuous grazing, resulting in lower sediment yield in both the exclosed and moderately stocked continuous grazing pastures. Grazing management does not directly affect hydrologic and soil characteristics of pastures, but the effect that grazing has on the plant community structure can indirectly influence infiltration and sedimentation.
Vegetation Types: Oak Woodlands Shortgrass Prairie
MLRA Ecoregions: 86B Texas Blackland Prairie, Southern Part 87A Texas Claypan Area, Southern Part
Agrovoc Control Words: Infiltration Grazing systems Runoff
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Documented Case History
Keywords: filtration, sediment, runoff, cover, bunchgrass, short duration rotation, intensity
Annotation: This non-replicated, one year study and its results are applicable to only oak-grassland communities since the relationship to plant community characteristics and soils are constant. The effects of specific grazing systems on the plant communities will vary from site to site but as organic cover decreases the relationship of decreasing infiltration will probably remain constant but monitoring is always good. This results of this study and a subsequent study by Thurow et al. (1988, J. Range Manage. 41:296-302); also available on the RSIS website) suggest that grazing management practices do not directly affect the hydrologic and soil characteristics of the studied pastures, rather the heavy stocking rate and climate were the primary factors influencing the hydrologic responses.
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