A comparison of soil chemical characteristics in modified rangeland communities
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Authors: J. F. Dormaar, and W. D. Willms
Date: 2000
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 53
Number: 4
Pages: 453-458
Summary of Methods: A study was initiated at 4 locations: a mixed prairie with Stipa comata dominant in the brown soil zone (1994), a mixed prairie with Stipa comata and Stipa viridula dominant in the dark brown soil zone (1993), and 2 in the fescue prairie with Festuca campestris dominant in the black soil zone (1993). At each of the 4 sites, 5 treatments representing common production systems were seeded as monocultures [2 grass species, alfalfa (Medicago sativa, 'Beaver'), and 2 spring wheat (triticum aestivum, 'Katepwa') seeded as either continuous or as wheat-fallow], and 1 treatment consisting of abandoned cultivation were compared with a native community in a randomized complete block design with 4 replicates. Modifying the community through cultivation and seeding usually caused a reduction in the measured variable except for NaHCO3 inorganic phosphorus that increased. Cultivation rather than the plants of the new community was believed responsible for most of the observed changes in C, N, and various P fractions and the loss of water-stable aggregates remaining on the 2.0 and 1.0 mm sieves.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: steady state, monoculture, mixed prairie, fescue prairie, phosphorus, soil-plant interaction
Annotation: One of the Fescue Prairie sites was grazed at 2.4 AUM/ha since 1949 and the second was mostly ungrazed for the prior 50 years but experienced occasional light grazing in fall. All plots were established in spring by cultivating and seeding. At the end of each growing season, the above ground biomass for all seeded plots was mowed to a 5-cm height and removed.
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