John Libbey Eurotext




Stocks of organic carbon in the soils of the arid Coquimbo region (Chile): Consequences of goat grazing practices
Science et changements planétaires / Sécheresse. Volume 22, Number 4, 233-43, Octobre-Novembre-Décembre 2011, Articles de recherche
Résumé Article gratuit
Author(s) : Gerardo Soto-Mundaca, Ary Bruand, Jean-Robert Disnar, Audrey Gallaud
Summary : The stocks of soil organic carbon were studied under moderate (6 SRU ha ^-1·year ^-1) and intensive goat grazing (10 SRU·ha ^-1·year ^-1) and compared with the stock present under native vegetation in the experimental station of Las Cardas (Coquimbo region, Chile). Results show that under moderate goat grazing (6 SRU ha ^-1·year ^-1), the organic carbon stock to 1m of depth would not be affected with 24.3 to 29.3 Mg·ha ^-1 compared to 31.1 to 42.6 Mg·ha ^-1 under native vegetation. These stocks are not significantly different ( P\=0.95) and the differences can be attributed to the variability between replications. On the other hand, under intense goat grazing, the organic carbon stock was only 10.2 to 15.5 Mg·ha ^-1. Finally, our results show that it is possible to predict the stock of soil organic carbon by using the stock of soil organic carbon within the 0-30cm top layer alone (R ²\=0.89) with a bias of <0.1 Mg·ha ^-1 and a precision of 3.6 Mg·ha ^-1.
Keywords : Chile, dry land, grazing, organic matter, soil, stock prediction

Stocks of organic carbon in the soils of the arid Coquimbo region (Chile): Consequences of goat grazing practices