Effects of trampling by cattle on the hydraulic and mechanical properties of soil

doi:10.1016/j.still.2004.08.004

Soil and Tillage Research

Volume 82, Issue 1, May 2005, Pages 99-108

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2004.08.004 Get rights and content

Abstract

Destroyed soil structure can increase surface runoff water, with adverse environmental impacts. The effects of trampling by cattle on physical parameters of a heavy clay (a Typic Cryaquept) were studied at the followings four Site types of a pasture after grazing for three seasons: (1) grass with no visible trampling; (2) pasture with some trampling; (3) vicinity of a drinking site with some signs of penetrated hooves, and; (4) a drinking site with totally homogenized surface soil and destroyed vegetation. Additionally, Site types 1 and 4 were studied on sandy loam (an Aquic Cryothent) derived from glacial till after one grazing season. Steady state infiltration rates were reached after 15–35 min of infiltration, depending on the degree of trampling and soil texture. On the sandy loam the infiltration rate at the drinking site was only 20% of that under natural pasture with no visible trampling. When the trampling occurred for longer periods in a soil with higher clay content, the infiltration rate of drinking site was only 10–15% of that in non-trampled pastures. These findings could be explained by a reduced porosity for both soils. In heavy clay at the depth of 10–15 cm, macropores (Ø > 30 μm) decreased from 5 to 1.5% (v/v) by the most severe trampling and mechanical strength was lost near the soil surface (cohesion ≈ 1 kPa). Deeper at 10–13 cm, cohesion (at water potential of −6 kPa) was near 30 kPa at the drinking site but around 20 kPa in non-trampled sites. At the 20–23 cm depth of Site 4, the angle of internal friction value (35) for smaller stresses (<150 kPa) was reduced to smaller values (9) at greater strengths (150–300 kPa) due to a stress dependent aggregate strength and the conversion of a structured soil system to a mostly texture dependent one. The data showed that even a low intensity of grazing will reduce infiltration and hence increase susceptibility to erosion at the drinking sites.

Introduction

Research on soil compaction has been heavily concentrated on arable agriculture. It is less commonly recognized that animals may also destroy soil structure. Trampling by animals causes soil deformation through soil compaction by the high-ground pressure of hooves and soil homogenisation by shear effects (Warren et al., 1986). Destruction of soil structure has been shown to occur by cattle trampling even on coarse-textured soils (Mulholland and Fullen, 1991), by the grazing of sheep on clay loam (Proffitt et al., 1995), by cattle trampling on pastures in the Alps (Horn, 1985a, Horn, 1986) or by reindeer herding in Northern Scandinavia (Peth et al., 2003). With respect to soil structure deterioration, shearing effects are most disadvantageous, as shearing causes soil homogenisation. In combination with water it also induces greater soil swelling followed by normal shrinkage behaviour and a complete loss of soil strength. These processes also result in soil puddling. Thorough homogenisation and puddling of the soil at drinking sites of pastures finally result in a reduction of pore sizes and a complete weakening, which contributes to increased surface runoff.

Macropores are the main paths for infiltration into wet soils (Dixon and Peterson, 1971, Thomas and Phillips, 1979). Under Nordic conditions, a high infiltration capacity through macropores is crucial during early spring or late autumn when high water fluxes occur in nearly saturated soils. Destroyed soil structure, however, increases the ponding of water and surface runoff (Duley, 1939, Proffitt et al., 1995) and, consequently, it increases the vulnerability to water erosion. In pastures with high P status at the soil surface due to animal excreta and surface application of fertilizers, delayed infiltration can result in increased P transport in runoff. P accumulated in a thin surface layer of soil remarkably increases dissolved P concentration in surface runoff water (Turtola and Yli-Halla, 1999) and the P release potential of eroded soil. Thus, it can be speculated that smaller infiltration, due to surface soil compaction, promotes surface runoff and desorption of P from soils.

The present study was undertaken to demonstrate how water infiltration into grass-covered soil is affected by grazing cows. The study aimed to show the effect of cattle trampling on water infiltration, soil structure and mechanical properties. Some measurements of soil P were also carried out. Pastures on both clay and sandy loam were examined in early spring (i.e. before the growing period) when soils are most susceptible to runoff.

Section snippets

Material and methods

One experimental field was located at Jokioinen in Southern Finland (60°49′N; 23°28′E) on a heavy clay (72–78% of clay, 3% of organic C), which according to soil taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff, 1998) has been classified as a Typic Cryaquept (Yli-Halla and Mokma, 2001) of illitic or mixed mineralogy. Data for a sandy loam (6% of clay, 46% of fine sand of 0.06–0.2 mm, 2% of organic C), classified as an Aquic Cryorthent, were collected from a second experimental field in Maaninka (63°09′N; 27°02′E),

Heavy clay

The steady-state infiltration rate K_s ( $= 0.5 v_{i}$ ), recorded after two reservoirs had been infiltrated, decreased from 7.2 cm h⁻¹ at Site 1 to 2.9 cm h⁻¹ at Site 2, and 1.7 and 1.0 cm h⁻¹ were recorded at Sites 3 and 4, respectively (LSD_0.05 = 2.0). Initial infiltration rates ( $0.5 v_{i}$ ) did not significantly differ between the different site types (Fig. 1). High fluctuations in the infiltration rates were recorded during the first 15 min for disturbed Sites 2–4, while the infiltration rate of Site 1 increased

Discussion

The most striking observation of the study was the significant difference in water infiltration between trampled and non-trampled soils, although the grazing intensity had been low. After only one grazing season on the sandy loam (Aquic Cryothent) the infiltration rate at a drinking site was only 20% of that under natural pasture with no visible trampling. When the trampling occurred for longer periods in a soil with a high clay content (Typic Cryaquept) the infiltration rate of drinking site

Conclusions

The obtained data have shown that

•
water infiltration into a heavy clay and a sandy loam was severely restricted by cattle trampling, and
•
the surface of trampled heavy clay soil lost mechanical strength and bindings between particles due to dynamic kneading effects in combination with high water contents during stressing.

Therefore, it can be concluded that soils that have been homogenized by trampling are much more susceptible to erosion.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Stefan Becker, Teemu Halme, Olga Nikolenko, Leila Räty, Ari Seppänen and Satu Tammilehto for their technical support. The Finnish Drainage Foundation is acknowledged for funding this study.

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Effects of trampling by cattle on the hydraulic and mechanical properties of soil

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Material and methods

Heavy clay

Discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Soil Till Res.

Catena

Persistance of soil compaction due to high axle load. I Short term effects. II Long term effects

Soil Till Res.

New methods of studying soil detachment due to waterdrop impact

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.

Determination of Soil Structure at Various Scales

Intake rate; cylinder infiltrometer

Water and solute movement in a coarse-textured water-repellent field soil

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Water repellency in the dunes with special reference to The Netherlands

Catena Suppl.

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Water Resour. Res.

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Soil Sci. Am. Proc.

Surface factors affecting the rate of intake of water by soils

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Adv. Geoecol.

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New Phytologist

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