Soil functional analysis under different grazing managements (case study: Sahand mountains ragelands, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran)

Overgrazing affects the functionality of rangeland ecosystems. One method for monitoring an ecosystem is landscape function analysis (LFA). In this method, using 11 soil surface indices, three functional properties including soil stability (soil ability to resist erosion and reform after disturbance), infiltration (soil capacity to retain rainfall for plant-available water) and nutrient cycling (how efficiently organic matter is cycled back into the soil) are assessed. In this order, the current study aimed at assessing soil functional properties under various grazing intensities in Sahand mountains rangelands in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. The result showed that soil stability, infiltration and nutrient cycling were significantly different in different grazing intensities (p < 0.01). An increase in grazing intensity led to the reduction of functional properties. In rangelands with hight, moderate and light grazing intensity, the average soil stability index was 36.66%, 48.26% and 52.85%, respectively, the average infiltration index was 31.11%, 34.9% and 37.62%, respectively. The average nutrient cycling index was 20.85%, 27.85% and 30.68%. In general, based on the results of the present study, with increasing the intensity of livestock grazing, soil functional properties decrease, so controlling the balance of livestock and rangeland and reducing the intensity of livestock grazing in the study area is recommended.