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The Influence of Grazing upon Certain Soil and Climatic Conditions in Farm Woodlands 1
Author(s) -
Chandler Robert F.
Publication year - 1940
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1940.00021962003200030008x
Subject(s) - citation , woodland , grazing , soil water , agronomy , agroforestry , forestry , environmental science , geography , library science , computer science , ecology , soil science , biology
ROBSRT F. CHANDLER, J~.~ I is widely recognized that the grazing of farm woodlands in the eastern United States is an undesirable practice. Observations as well as experimental data show that intense grazing utlimately results in the destruction of all forest-tree reproduction, as well as considerable crown injury and decreased growth rate in the overstory (~, S, 9, ~o). ~ Many factors have been suggested as being responsible for the general decrease in growth and vigor of the trees. Some of the suggested causes are compaction of the surface soil when trampled by cattle, disintegration and loss of litter due to excessive drying and to having been blown away, and lack of available soil moisture. Adequate experimental data indicating the extent to which grazing has influenced these conditions seem to be lacking in the literature. It is the purpose of this paper to present some actual measurements of certain soil and climatic conditions in ~8 grazed and an equal number of ungrazed farm woodland areas in central New York. The factors studied are listed as follows: Hydrogen-ion concentration (pH), organic matter content, volume weight, moisture equivalent, moisture content, degree of aggregation of soil particles, soil temperature, air temperature, light intensity and relative humidity.