Effects of grazing and trampling on primary production and soil surface in North African rangelands

Grazing damages primary production and trampling compacts the soil, thereby reducing organic matter and increase sandy dune. The primary production and soil surface were studied simultaneously in both grazed and protected range sites with two different soil types; sandy and limestone. Vegetation characteristics, in particular productivity cover, differed significantly between the protected and grazed sites and increased significantly in the non-grazed range site. We also observed a significant increase in wind veil rates in the grazed range site compared to the protected range site that is more marked on the sandy soil. Litter content was higher inside and exposed bare soil greater outside the protected area. A comparison of production and soil surface within the ungrazed showed that vegetation condition and soil surface were good and that removal of grazing animals on the sandy soil that on the limestone soil, as in the protected, causes an improvement in rangelands condition in this region. On the other hand the limestone soil supports better overgrazing.