Abstract

BAJOUCO, Rui et al. The Iberian Montado/Dehesa in face of climate change: Soil effects (bulk density and hydraulic conductivity). Rev. de Ciências Agrárias [online]. 2022, vol.45, n.4, pp.1261-1270.  Epub Dec 01, 2022. ISSN 0871-018X.  https://doi.org/10.19084/rca.28395.

A sustainable management of the soil is an imperative for all land use systems. The LIFE Montado-Adapt project proposed to implement several soil conservation and protection practices, in order to fight landscape and climate change in the Montado/Dehesa Iberian agro-silvo-pastoral system. This work showcases an evaluation of the effect of some soil protection measures, such as soil reduction/zero tillage and improvement of the pastures, in 4 pilot areas of the project, on 2 soil physical parameters: soil hydraulic conductivity (ks) and soil bulk density (BD). After 3 years, a ks decrease was observed, 22% (0.61 Log10 ks), being more accentuated in areas with livestock cattle exist, reaching to 37% (0.83 Log10 ks). Contrary to ks, BD increased in areas where livestock pasture occurs, between 12 and 4%, a consequence of livestock trampling. In areas where pastures do not occur, a decrease was observed, 3 and 4%, consequence of the no-tillage policy of soils, which promotes a better root development, accumulation of organic matter and soil aggregation. Even after 3 years, the soil conservation and protection practices seem to promote changes both ks and BD of the soils.

Keywords : cattle traffic; soil compaction; under trees canopy; open field; sustainable soil management.

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