Soil health responses to long-term grazing intensity gradients in two semiarid rangelands

作者：Kalyn Taylor, Justin Derner, Daniel Liptzin, Lauren M. Porensky, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, David J. Augustine, David L. Hoover · 发表于：Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.agee.2025.109548 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Rangeland and Wildlife Management、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Pasture and Agricultural Systems

Semiarid rangelands constitute nearly 30 % of the world’s grassland ecosystems and livestock grazing is the most widespread land use in these ecosystems. These semiarid rangelands provide a variety of ecosystem goods and services, many of which may depend on soil health. While advances have been made with indicators of soil health for croplands, similar efforts for rangelands are lacking. The North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM) sampled soils to 15 cm from long-term (≥ 40 years) grazing treatments spanning a range of grazing intensity (ungrazed to heavy grazing) in two semiarid rangelands, shortgrass steppe (SGS) and northern mixed-grass prairie (NMP), in fall 2019. Soils were analyzed for chemical (permanganate oxidizable carbon [POXC] and soil organic carbon [SOC]), biological (mineralizable soil carbon [MinC], phospholipid fatty acids [PLFA], ACE protein, and β-glucosidase enzyme activity [BG]), and physical (saturated hydraulic conductivity [SHC], available water capacity [AWC], and aggregate stability) indicators of soil health. Light particulate organic carbon and mineral associated organic carbon fractions were also analyzed at the SGS. Additionally, annual net primary productivity and the relative production of warm-vs cool-season grasses were evaluated from 2010 to 2019. Soil health responses to grazing intensity treatments in these two semiarid rangeland ecosystems were generally inconsistent across and within chemical, biological, a...