The Effect of Grazing Intensity on the Elements of N, P and K in GardanehZanbouri Rangeland of Arsanjan, Iran

Livestock as one of the main elements of range ecosystems has different effects on its different parts. An effective factor is the number of livestock when it is beyond the capacity of the range. This has different effects on soil and plants with different intensities in the range. To study the effect of grazing intensity on the N, P and K soil properties in the three critical, reference and key areas of Gardaneh Zanboori rangeland in Arsanjan, systematic random soil sampling was conducted at two horizons of 0 -15 and 15 -30 cm. 5 samples were selected per horizon and factors of total nitrogen, percentage of soil absorbable phosphorus and potassium were measured in each sample. Results of the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test showed that there was no significant difference between critical, reference and key areas in terms of N value. However, in the key area, the N value was less than that of critical area. Meanwhile, the increased grazing intensity was associated with a decrease in the P and K values.