Effects of livestock and wildlife grazing intensity on soil carbon dioxide flux in the savanna grassland of Kenya

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and developing country instituteen_US
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Helsinkien_US
cg.contributor.affiliationUniversity of Kabiangaen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationLund Universityen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Livestock Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationAgroscopeen_US
cg.contributor.crpLivestocken_US
cg.contributor.donorEuropean Unionen_US
cg.contributor.donorAustralian Centre for International Agricultural Researchen_US
cg.contributor.donorIrish Aiden_US
cg.contributor.donorInternational Fund for Agricultural Developmenten_US
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Developmenten_US
cg.contributor.donorFederal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germanyen_US
cg.coverage.countryKenyaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KEen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierLutz Merbold: 0000-0003-4974-170Xen_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107713en_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn1873-2305en_US
cg.journalAgriculture, Ecosystems and Environmenten_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.ilriLIVESTOCKen_US
cg.subject.ilriSOILSen_US
cg.subject.ilriWILDLIFEen_US
cg.volume325en_US
dc.contributor.authorWachiye, S.en_US
dc.contributor.authorPellikka, P.en_US
dc.contributor.authorRinne, J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorHeiskanen, J.en_US
dc.contributor.authorAbwanda, Sheila O.en_US
dc.contributor.authorMerbold, Lutzen_US
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-05T10:19:15Zen_US
dc.date.available2022-09-05T10:19:15Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/121085en_US
dc.titleEffects of livestock and wildlife grazing intensity on soil carbon dioxide flux in the savanna grassland of Kenyaen_US
dcterms.abstractAlthough grazing is the primary land use in the savanna lowland of southern Kenya, the effects of grazing on soil carbon dioxide flux (RS) remain unclear. A 12-month study was conducted from January to December 2020 on the effects of six grazing intensities sites (overgrazed (OG), heavily grazed (HG), moderately grazed (MG), moderately to lightly grazed (M-LG), lightly grazed (LG) and no grazing (NG)) on RS on. A camera trap was used to monitor the total number of animals at each site, indicating the grazing intensity. Weekly measurements of RS were taken using static greenhouse gas chambers along with simultaneous measurements of soil temperature (TS) and volumetric soil water content (WS) (depth of 5 cm). Mean RS at HG, MG, M-LG and LG sites was approximately 15–25% higher than at NG and OG sites (p < 0.001). Mean WS increased with decrease in grazing especially in the dry season, while TS increased with increase in grazing. We observed bimodal temporal variation in RS and WS due to two wet seasons in the year. Thus, variation in RS across the study period followed the changes in WS rather than those in TS. Mean values of RS in the wet seasons were significantly higher (> 45%) than those in the dry seasons, and WS accounted for 71% of the temporal variability in RS (p < 0.05). In addition, the enhanced vegetation index (EVI, interpreted as a proxy for vegetation cover) explained 60% of the variance of RS, and WS and EVI together explained 75%. EVI showed a negative relationship (p < 0.05) with animal intensity, indicating that more grazing reduced vegetation cover and, consequently, soil organic carbon and biomass. Soil bulk density was lower at less grazed sites. While RS variability was unaffected by total nitrogen content, pH, and texture, correspondence analysis demonstrated that the main factors influencing RS dynamics across the year under different grazing intensities were WS and vegetation cover. Our results contribute to closing the existing knowledge gap regarding the effects of grazing intensity on RS in East Africa savannas. Therefore, this information is of great importance in understanding carbon cycling in savanna grassland, as well as the identification of the potential consequences of increasing land pressure caused by rising livestock numbers, and will assist in the development of climate-smart livestock management in East Africa.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceScientistsen_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationWachiye, S., Pellikka, P., Rinne, J., Heiskanen, J., Abwanda, S. and Merbold, L. 2022. Effects of livestock and wildlife grazing intensity on soil carbon dioxide flux in the savanna grassland of Kenya. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 325:107713.en_US
dcterms.issued2022-02en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherElsevieren_US
dcterms.subjectlivestocken_US
dcterms.subjectwildlifeen_US
dcterms.subjectsoilen_US
dcterms.subjectgrasslandsen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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