Comparing the impacts of livestock and wildlife grazing on some soil nutrients in a Semi-Arid Rangeland

Rangeland sustainability is altered by animal grazing. As one of the main ecological disturbances, grazing alters the cycle of soil nutrition contents in the soil of rangeland ecosystems. This research was carried out to compare the impact of wildlife and livestock grazing on the soil nutrient content of Lashgar Dar, which is a semi-arid rangeland (Malayer City, Hamadan Province). Based on the ANOVA results, the Cu, K, Fe contents in the two studied areas differed significantly (P<0.01). The Cu content significantly increased to 0.15 and 0.36 mgkg-1, for wildlife and livestock grazing, respectively. The Fe concentrations in the soil were significantly higher in the livestock grazing area (2.58 mgkg-1) than the wildlife grazing area (1.48 mgkg-1). The K concentrations significantly increased in the livestock grazing area (17.51 mgkg-1). The lowest concentration of K (9.48 mgkg-1) was obtained in the wildlife grazed area. The results of comparing Zn, Mg, Mn contents demonstrated that there were significant (P