Little is known about how basic soil properties respond to contrasting grazing intensities in the Karoo biome, South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate impacts of long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term (>75 years) grazing at 1.18 heads ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921 (heavy; CGH), 0.78 heads ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921 (light; CGL), and exclosure on selected soil properties. Soil samples were collected to a depth of 60 cm from the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term experimental site of Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute, Eastern Cape. The samples were analyzed for C, N, bulk density and infiltration rate, among others.
RESULTSGenerally, heavy and light grazing reduced soil N storage by 27.5% and 22.6%, respectively, compared with the exclosure. Animal exclusion improved water infiltration rate and C stocks significantly (P < 0.05), which was 0.128, 0.097, and 0.093 Mg ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921 yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921 for exclosure, CGL and CGH, respectively. Soil penetration resistance was higher for grazing treatments in the top 3\uffe2\uff80\uff937 cm soil layer but for exclosure at the top 1 cm soil surface.
CONCLUSIONAlthough livestock exclusion has the potential to improve C sequestration, a sufficient resting period for 1\uffe2\uff80\uff932 years followed by three consecutive grazing years at light stocking rate would be ideal for sustainable livestock production in this arid region of South Africa. \uffc2\uffa9 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
", "keywords": ["570", "Livestock", "Time Factors", "Nitrogen", "[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]", "continuous grazing", "01 natural sciences", "630", "nitrogen", "Soil", "South Africa", "arid lands", "Animals", "exclosure", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "carbon", "Feeding Behavior", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Carbon", "6. Clean water", "[SDV] Life Sciences [q-bio]", "soil properties", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.7302"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20the%20Science%20of%20Food%20and%20Agriculture", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/jsfa.7302", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/jsfa.7302", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/jsfa.7302"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-07-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "1807/47622", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-19T16:21:30Z", "type": "Journal Article", "title": "Estimating Leaf Area Index for an arid region using Spectral Data.", "description": "Leaf Area Index (LAI) is one of the important crop parameters that can be used to assess crop conditions or drought severity. Estimating LAI for arid regions presents challenge due to the high spatial variability in precipitation and in crop canopies found in such regions. In this study, spectral reflectance of pearl millet was computed at various wavelengths and at different times during the cropping season, using a spectroradiometer. Three main indices (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, Ratio Vegetation Index, and Perpendicular Vegetation Index)were derived from the spectral data. These indices were then correlated with the leaf area index in order to identify the index that gave the strongest relationship. A polynomial relationship, with the coefficient of correlation of 0.70, was found between LAI and NDVI indicating that NDVI is a potential index for estimating LAI for aridregions.Key Words: Arid lands, Leaf area index, vegetation indices", "keywords": ["vegetation indices", "Arid lands", " Leaf area index", " vegetation indices", "Leaf area index", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Terres arides", "indices de v\u00e9g\u00e9tation", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "indice de la surface foliaire", "Aridlands"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Boken, Vijendra K., Chandra, Satish,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/1807/47622"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/African%20Crop%20Science%20Journal", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "1807/47622", "name": "item", "description": "1807/47622", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/1807/47622"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-12-04T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=arid+lands&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=arid+lands&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=arid+lands&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=arid+lands&offset=2", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 2, "numberReturned": 2, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-09-20T16:01:42.968973Z"}