Goat, sheep and camel footsteps pressure on the pasture soil surface (case study: Baghdar pasture of Bafgh-Yazd)

Grazing affects vegetation in several ways including forage harvesting, food recycling and mechanical compaction on soil surface. This study aimed to investigate the effects of goat, sheep and camel foot pressure on soil surface in Baghdar- Bafgh rangelands in Yazd province. Herd scattering patterns was also studied as it affects soil compaction in rangelands. Twenty animals of each Najdi goat, Kemani sheep and camel were selected randomly from Bagdar-Bafgh herds. Samples were weighted and ink stamper was used to measure selected livestock feet sizes using. Camel foot sizes were measured by footprint on sand. Foot pressure were calculated by dividing livestock weight to its foot surface area.. Herds scattering patterns were studied in five stations during daily grazing. The livestock distances from each other in the time of grazing were measured as herds scattering index.. According to the results, the foot surface area of goat, sheep and camel were about 39.79±6.78, 40.22±7.65 and 753.7±87.08 cm2, respectively. The ANOVA test showed that there was significant differences between goat-sheep and camel foot surface area (p=0.00). No significant difference between goat and sheep foot surface area was found using Duncan test. Foot pressures were 0.5±0.11 kg/cm2, 0.46±0.07 kg/cm2 and 0.6±0.08 kg/cm2 for goats, sheep and camels respectively. Camel foot pressure was significantly greater than foot pressures of sheep and goats (p=0.00). Herd scattering study revealed that the distance between goats, sheep and camels in herds were 30±2.80, 9±6.70 and 246±156.2 meters respectively. According to the results, sheep graze more closely than goats and more in lines. Therefore it was concluded that the potential soil surface compactness of sheep is higher than goat and camel.