New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts
Effects of sheep night penning on soil nitrogen and plant growth
Y. J. ZHANG
Department of Grassland Science
Gansu Agricultural University
Lanzhou City, China 730070
Present address: Department of Grazing Management, National Institute of
Livestock and Grassland Science, Nishinasuno, Tochigi 329-2793 Japan.
Email: zhangyj@ngri.affrc.go.jp
W. L. JIANG
J. Z. REN
Gansu Grassland Ecological Research Institute
Lanzhou City, China 730020
Abstract A study on effects of sheep treading and excreta on
soil and vegetation during night penning at 8 sheep nights m-2 was
carried out at Guizhou Weining Pasture Experimental Station from July to
October 1998 with four treatments (UDT (urine+dung+treading), T (sheep
treading), U (sheep urine), and D (sheep dung)) and an untreated control.
Salix inamoena var. tetradenia was the dominant species in the
natural vegetation. Sheep grazing and trampling removed almost all of the
above-ground natural vegetation, but did not significantly affect soil bulk
density, penetration resistance, and air permeability. The peak concentrations
of ammonium-N (maximum 377 mg kg-1) and nitrite-N (maximum 56.1 mg
kg-1) in soil for UDT were potentially toxic to plants. The
concentrations of ammonium-N and nitrite-N for U were 139 mg kg-1
and 28.1 mg kg-1, respectively, and were significantly (P
< 0.05) higher than those of D and the control. Crude protein (N
<-> 6.25) in the leaves of Salix inamoena var. tetradenia
in treatments UDT and U was significantly higher than in treatment D and
the control (P < 0.01). The number of germinating branches of
Salix inamoena var. tetradenia was fewer in UDT than in T after
night penning, but those of two other shrubs (Elaeagnus uitidis var.
delaragi and Hypericum detulum) did not differ between
treatments. Herbage accumulation of the established pasture was much higher for
UDT than for T.
Keywords sheep night penning; urine; dung; treading; soil
inorganic nitrogen
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 2001, Vol. 44: 151-157
0028-8233/01/4402&3-0151 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
2001
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (538K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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