Changes in vegetation and soil properties under semi-nomadic animal raising areas in highlands, rangelands of Turkey

Animal raising depending on rangeland is the main economic activity for settlements especially for the semi-nomadic animal raisers, in highlands of Turkey. Overgrazing and erosion are the main problems in this rangeland. The aim of this study was to determine changes in vegetation and soil properties among rangeland sites especially in the highlands of Turkey grazed during different parts of the year due to semi-nomadic animal raising system. Three rangeland sites, near permanent settlement (site I), midpoint between permanent and temporary settlement (site II), and near the temporary settlement (site III) were selected. In each site, botanical composition, canopy coverage, range condition score, and some surface soil properties such as texture, organic matter content, aggregate stability, CaCO3 content, pH, plant available P, and K content were determined. Grass frequency changed from 29 to 50 % among sites and the frequency was the lowest at the site III and the highest at the site I. The canopy coverage was the highest at the site III and the lowest at the site II. All results have indicated that overgrazing is the main problem in the rangelands under semi-nomadic animal raising areas as in throughout Turkey.