The Effect of Grazing Intensity on Properties of Mountain Steppe Pasture Vegetation and Soils

Purpose Delivering sustainable management of mountain pasturelands with steppe vegetation is a concern to many nations including Armenia. Yet, to date, no unambiguous answer has been generated about the limiting impact domestic animal grazing has on the ecological status of such pastures. This research was designed to study the effect of different grazing management strategies (free grazing, reduced grazing, no grazing) on pastureland productivity including below-ground biomass and biodiversity, nutrient content of plants and soils. Methods ANOVA (Тukey’s test), Pearson correlation coefficient and the Redundancy analysis (RDA) was employed. Results The studies have indicated that livestock grazing has a strong impact upon biomass and diversity of plant groups., and the nutritive value of forages. Both below-ground biomass and root-to-shoot ratio are less dependen on the management strategy and increase the reduced grazing and free grazing sites. The effect of grazing on the nutrient contents of soils and vegetation is less pronounced; as a result of trampling the bulk density of soil and the contents of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in above-ground and below-ground biomass increase. Conclusions The conducted studies and outcomes of grazing-imitation models allows us to conclude that regulation of grazing intensity and grazing regime in the ecosystems of mountain pasturelands are an effective approach to maintain and increase the capacity of natural fodder resources. The research results have already been used to develop measures to preserve the studied ecosystems.