Open AccessShort-term grazing and its impacts on soil and pasture degradation
Author(s) -
Pedro Henrique Dias Batista,
Gledson Luiz Pontes de Almeida,
Jhon Len Bezerra da Silva,
Héliton Pandorfi,
Marcos Vinícius da Silva,
Rodes Ângelo Batista da Silva,
Maria Vitória Neves de Melo,
Frederico Abraão Costa Lins,
José Jairo Florentino Cordeiro
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
dyna
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.164
H-Index - 18
eISSN - 2346-2183
pISSN - 0012-7353
DOI - 10.15446/dyna.v87n213.81853
Subject(s) - grazing , trampling , pasture , environmental science , vegetation (pathology) , agronomy , hydrology (agriculture) , forestry , geography , biology , geology , medicine , pathology , geotechnical engineering
The objective was to verify possible modifications of the soil structure and the pattern of the spectral response of pasture vegetation cover to animal trampling. The study was carried out on a farm in the Agreste region of Pernambuco, Brazil in an area with continuous grazing by heifers. Soil samples were collected at 36 regular points, before and after the grazing period, where the physical properties of the soil were determined at a 0.00—0.10 m depth. Before and after grazing, images of the Sentinel-2A satellite were also obtained to observe the pasture vegetation response pattern over time through Vegetation Indexes. The soil attribute data were submitted to multivariate factorial analysis. The vegetation index maps were evaluated for spatial variability. The results showed that after the grazing, there was a significant change in soil attributes and pasture, which can indicate possible degradation processes.