ABSTRACT:
This study was conducted to determine the influences of short-duration grazing, continuous grazing, and grazing exclusion from cattle on soil erosion as expressed by sediment concentration and total suspended sediment on two range sites in New Mexico. Sediment concentration was the same for all treatments near Ft. Stanton. But total sediment production was greater on all grazed treatments than on the exclosure; there were no differences among grazed treatments. Doubling the stocking rate and applying a shortduration system near Ft. Sumner resulted in significantly greater sediment concentration. Total sediment production in the grazed, short-duration pasture was triple that in the moderate, continuous pasture. These increases were attributed to reduced biomass and increased bare ground. Reduced plant biomass and groundcover offset any benefits from increased soil surface roughness and destroyed crusts.
Footnotes
Mark Weltz was a graduate student and M. Karl Wood is an associate professor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences and a member of the Range Improvement Task Force, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces 88003. This article is published as journal article 1210, Agricultural Experiment Station, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.
- Copyright 1986 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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