Short-term grazing and its impacts on soil and pasture degradation

Abstract

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.

Keywords

• animal trampling
• dairy cattle
• soil physics
• vegetation indices
• remote sensing