Topography and Pasture Management in the Mountainous Slopeland. : 2. Effects of the cattle dung distribution on soil fertility, forage grass production and degree of defoliation.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the cattle dung distribution on soil K, forage grass production and degree of defoliation in sloping pasture. The exchangeable K contents in soil were markedly different from each sampling points ; the exchangeable soil K was much higher at the gentle sloping site than at steep one with the exception of strong concave slope site. In addition, the highly significant positive correlation was found between the exchangeable soil K and the percentage of area occupied by fresh dung pats. The dominant species in the pasture was Kentucky blue-grass (Poa pratensis L.) and it covered about 80% area on the pasture. The forage grass productivity was much higher at the gentle sloping site than at the steep one with exception of the strong concave slope site. And it was concluded that the difference of the productivity was dependent on the soil fertility. The degree of defoliation increased with increasing the angle of sloping site except for the strong concave slope site, and the negative correlation was found between the degree of defoliation and the percentage of area occupied by the fresh and decomposed dung pats. From the results of this study and previous reports, it could be concluded that, in the management of the mountainous sloping pasture except for strong concaved one, careful consideration should be paid to the classification of pasture into three types such as 1) Inclination under 12° : Grazing behavior is not affected by inclination, 2) Inclination 12-16° : Grazing behavior is affected by inclination, 3) Inclination over 16° : Grazing behavior is much affected by inclination.