Author(s)

Hermias Cornelius van der Westhuizen¹, Christiaan Cornelius du Preez^2*, Hendrik Andries Snyman³

¹Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Glen, South Africa.
²Department of Soil, Crop and Climate Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
³Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

The negative effect of soil erosion and soil compaction is well documented for the purpose of optimum rangeland functioning, while the impact of rangeland degradation on effective soil depth is seldom quantified. The aim of this study was to quantify the response of vegetation cover and soil properties, particularly effective soil depth and soil texture to rangeland degradation. Forty-one farms were sampled in the arid and semi-arid climate of South Africa. Within these farms, data was collected over a vegetation degradation gradient. Results showed a significant decline in relative basal cover (94% ± 15% to 39% ± 17%) and soil depth (90% ± 14% to 73% ± 24%) as rangeland degraded. Soil texture changes over the degradation gradients vary for different homogeneous vegetation types. Indications regarding the loss of a functioning rangeland ecosystem were also demonstrated, using objective long-term relations between rangeland conditions and grazing capacity. The study highlights the importance of sustainable rangeland management practices to reduce the loss in effective soil depth and to ensure the sustainable utilization of the rangeland ecosystem. These results can probably extrapolate to other arid and semi-arid rangelands worldwide.

Rangeland Condition, Soil Degradation, Effective Soil Depth, Soil Erosion, Soil Compaction, Ecosystem Functioning

Westhuizen, H. , Preez, C. and Snyman, H. (2022) Rangeland Degradation Impacts on Vegetation Cover, Soil Properties and Ecosystem Functioning in an Arid and Semi-Arid Climate, South Africa. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 10, 10-32. doi: 10.4236/gep.2022.102002.