Overgrazing of rangeland and continuous cultivation of cropland are among human activities contributing to the deterioration of soil properties. To elucidate the effect of agro-pastoral activities on soil properties in western Serengeti, we examined soil properties in four land use types, namely fallow land, communal grazing land, mixed grazing land and wildlife dominated grazing land. The soil sampling sites were along the landscape from village lands towards protected areas while crossing all four land use types. Soil pH was not significantly different (p≥0.05) although it was relatively low in fallow and communal grazing lands. Clay content in soils was not affected by land use types whereas sand and silt contents were significantly different (p≤0.05) among land use types. In terms of soil nutrients, OC, CEC and soil P showed a significant difference (p≤0.05) among land use types but land use did not affect TN and Ca2+. Bare land within quadrats was highest in communal grazing lands (1233 cm2/quadrat) and lowest in wildlife dominated grazing lands (906 cm2/quadrat). Protected areas represented by wildlife grazing sites had the highest soil stability expressed in terms of soil structure stability index. Soil quality declined with increase in bare land. Further, high density of grazing animals caused a decline in soil properties. The study demonstrated that the four land use types had negative influence on soil properties. It was further noted that the current practices of livestock grazing and cultivation had higher negative effects on soil properties than the other land use types. Long term monitoring study on impacts of agro-pastoralism in western Serengeti is needed so as to establish proper stocking rates to avoid reaching an irreversible soil properties deterioration situation.
| Published in | Earth Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19 |
| Page(s) | 130-141 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Animal Density, Degradation, Grazing Animals, Land Use Type, Soil Properties, Quadrat
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APA Style
Pius Yoram Kavana, Ephraim Japhet Mtengeti, Anthony Zizimus Sangeda, Christopher Mahonge, John Bukombe, et al. (2022). Repercussions of Agro-Pastoralism on Soil Condition in Western Serengeti, Tanzania. Earth Sciences, 11(3), 130-141. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19
ACS Style
Pius Yoram Kavana; Ephraim Japhet Mtengeti; Anthony Zizimus Sangeda; Christopher Mahonge; John Bukombe, et al. Repercussions of Agro-Pastoralism on Soil Condition in Western Serengeti, Tanzania. Earth Sci. 2022, 11(3), 130-141. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19
AMA Style
Pius Yoram Kavana, Ephraim Japhet Mtengeti, Anthony Zizimus Sangeda, Christopher Mahonge, John Bukombe, et al. Repercussions of Agro-Pastoralism on Soil Condition in Western Serengeti, Tanzania. Earth Sci. 2022;11(3):130-141. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19
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author = {Pius Yoram Kavana and Ephraim Japhet Mtengeti and Anthony Zizimus Sangeda and Christopher Mahonge and John Bukombe and Stephen Nindi and Robert Fyumagwa},
title = {Repercussions of Agro-Pastoralism on Soil Condition in Western Serengeti, Tanzania},
journal = {Earth Sciences},
volume = {11},
number = {3},
pages = {130-141},
doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20221103.19},
abstract = {Overgrazing of rangeland and continuous cultivation of cropland are among human activities contributing to the deterioration of soil properties. To elucidate the effect of agro-pastoral activities on soil properties in western Serengeti, we examined soil properties in four land use types, namely fallow land, communal grazing land, mixed grazing land and wildlife dominated grazing land. The soil sampling sites were along the landscape from village lands towards protected areas while crossing all four land use types. Soil pH was not significantly different (p≥0.05) although it was relatively low in fallow and communal grazing lands. Clay content in soils was not affected by land use types whereas sand and silt contents were significantly different (p≤0.05) among land use types. In terms of soil nutrients, OC, CEC and soil P showed a significant difference (p≤0.05) among land use types but land use did not affect TN and Ca2+. Bare land within quadrats was highest in communal grazing lands (1233 cm2/quadrat) and lowest in wildlife dominated grazing lands (906 cm2/quadrat). Protected areas represented by wildlife grazing sites had the highest soil stability expressed in terms of soil structure stability index. Soil quality declined with increase in bare land. Further, high density of grazing animals caused a decline in soil properties. The study demonstrated that the four land use types had negative influence on soil properties. It was further noted that the current practices of livestock grazing and cultivation had higher negative effects on soil properties than the other land use types. Long term monitoring study on impacts of agro-pastoralism in western Serengeti is needed so as to establish proper stocking rates to avoid reaching an irreversible soil properties deterioration situation.},
year = {2022}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Repercussions of Agro-Pastoralism on Soil Condition in Western Serengeti, Tanzania AU - Pius Yoram Kavana AU - Ephraim Japhet Mtengeti AU - Anthony Zizimus Sangeda AU - Christopher Mahonge AU - John Bukombe AU - Stephen Nindi AU - Robert Fyumagwa Y1 - 2022/06/30 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19 DO - 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19 T2 - Earth Sciences JF - Earth Sciences JO - Earth Sciences SP - 130 EP - 141 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5982 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.19 AB - Overgrazing of rangeland and continuous cultivation of cropland are among human activities contributing to the deterioration of soil properties. To elucidate the effect of agro-pastoral activities on soil properties in western Serengeti, we examined soil properties in four land use types, namely fallow land, communal grazing land, mixed grazing land and wildlife dominated grazing land. The soil sampling sites were along the landscape from village lands towards protected areas while crossing all four land use types. Soil pH was not significantly different (p≥0.05) although it was relatively low in fallow and communal grazing lands. Clay content in soils was not affected by land use types whereas sand and silt contents were significantly different (p≤0.05) among land use types. In terms of soil nutrients, OC, CEC and soil P showed a significant difference (p≤0.05) among land use types but land use did not affect TN and Ca2+. Bare land within quadrats was highest in communal grazing lands (1233 cm2/quadrat) and lowest in wildlife dominated grazing lands (906 cm2/quadrat). Protected areas represented by wildlife grazing sites had the highest soil stability expressed in terms of soil structure stability index. Soil quality declined with increase in bare land. Further, high density of grazing animals caused a decline in soil properties. The study demonstrated that the four land use types had negative influence on soil properties. It was further noted that the current practices of livestock grazing and cultivation had higher negative effects on soil properties than the other land use types. Long term monitoring study on impacts of agro-pastoralism in western Serengeti is needed so as to establish proper stocking rates to avoid reaching an irreversible soil properties deterioration situation. VL - 11 IS - 3 ER -
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