How Long Is Enough? Floodplain Soil Recovery and the Effects of Intensive Grazing in Northern Nevada Lake Shores
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Authors
Mills, Graham
Issue Date
2024
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Equids , Grazing , Riparian , Soil Degradation , Soil Health
Alternative Title
Abstract
Understanding soil health is critical to assess effects of ecosystem disturbance. It is important to understand recovery rates of disturbed soils to better forecast soil-driven ecosystem process recovery. Nutrient cycling , water retention and distribution, and plant growth are tied to soil health. This study examines soil characteristic differences between paired wet meadow sites under different historic and current grazing regimes by comparing soil conditions of the surface horizons. Land use history, vegetative community, and vegetation cover were regressed with soil health indicators to determine their effects on soil structure and chemical makeup. Vegetation cover was found to be significantly (p<0.05) correlated with soil penetration resistance, water infiltration, aggregate stability, and bulk density, while community was found to be correlated with pH. Land use history affects aboveground vegetation. These findings indicate that the effects of land use history have not yet overshadowed the effects of vegetation and community because the differences between sites were most correlated with immediate effects of grazing, while the differences between communities described underlying soil characteristics. Soil structure and chemical makeup function as a lagging indicator of grazing, changing after defoliation.