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- Title
SOIL PROPERTIES AND PERCEIVED DISTURBANCE OF GRASSLANDS SUBJECTED TO MECHANIZED MILITARY TRAINING: EVALUATION OF AN INDEX.
- Authors
Althoff, D. P.; Althoff, P. S.; Lambrecht, N. D.; Gipson, P. S.; Pontius, J. S.; Woodford, P. B.
- Abstract
Mechanized maneuver training impacts the landscape by creating depressions, compacting soils, producing bare ground areas, transporting seeds of invasive plants, and crushing vegetation. We measured 3 physical, 13 chemical, and 2 biological soil properties and used a disturbance index (DI) based on perceptions of soil conditions on a military installation to assess the condition of 100 x 100 m plots (1 ha): 10 in 2002 and L0 in 2004. Potential DI scores range from 0 (no appreciable evidence of disturbance) to 1 (>95 per cent of the plot disturbed). Bulk density, porosity (%), and water content (%)--all at 5.1-10.0cm depth, and nematode family richness (NFR) were significantly, negatively correlated (Spearman coefficients, rs) with the DI of both years. The strong negative correlation (rs = -0.69 in 2002, -0.79 in 2034) of NFR with the DI appears to reflect the status of nematode diversity and, therefore, may serve as a useful, inexpensive approach to rapidly assessing grassland is subjected to mechanized military training.
- Subjects
MILITARY training camps; MECHANIZED warfare; LAND degradation; GRASSLANDS; INVASIVE plants; NEMATODES; ANTHROPOGENIC effects on nature
- Publication
Land Degradation & Development, 2007, Vol 18, Issue 3, p269
- ISSN
1085-3278
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/ldr.773