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USDA-ARS, J. Phil Campbell, Sr., Natural Resources Conservation Center, 1420 Experiment Station Rd., Watkinsville, GA 30677-2373 USA
hschomberg{at}ag.gov
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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modify nutrient cycling within grazed systems by significantly influencing nutrient removal and redistribution (Wilkinson and Lowrey, 1973; Mott, 1974; Haynes and Williams, 1993). Sixty to ninety percent of nutrients consumed by grazing animals are recycled back to soil and plants in dung and urine patches, which cover 30 to 40% of the pasture surface annually (Barrow, 1967; Haynes and Williams, 1993). Nutrients in excreta patches are subject to gaseous and leaching losses as well as chemical fixation and immobilization, which together act to reduce nutrient cycling efficiency within grazed systems.
Tall fescue was introduced and widely adopted in humid areas of the eastern USA during the 1940s because of its high yield and persistence (Stuedemann and Hoveland, 1988). Observations of poor animal performance on tall fescue have been directly associated with the alkaloid-producing fungal endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum (Morgan-Jones & W Gams) Glenn, Bacon & Hamlin (syn. Acremonium coenophialum Morgan-Jones & Gams) (Stuedemann and Hoveland, 1988). Animals grazing high endophyte-infected fescue have lower levels of intake, daily gain, and heat tolerance than animals grazing low-endophyte fescue. Because of poor heat tolerance, animals grazing high endophyte-infected fescue tend to spend more time in the shade during hot periods of the day, consume more water, and urinate more frequently (Stuedemann et al., 1986). Nutrient redistribution may therefore be related to endophyte effects on animal behavior (West et al., 1989; Wilkinson et al., 1989).
Few studies have investigated nutrient distribution following grazing of endophyte-infected tall fescue. Wilkinson et al. (1989) found two to three times greater K near shade and water sources in high than in low endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures after the first 3 yr. Accumulation was confined to the area within 13.5 m of the shade and water sources. In the same pastures, but after 15 yr grazing, accumulation of soil organic matter was 7% greater in high than in low endophyte-infected tall fescue (Franzluebbers et al., 2000). West et al. (1989) found that after 5 yr of grazing, elevated K and P levels extended 10 to 20 m from watering areas in two tall fescue pastures in southcentral Iowa.
Although not on fescue, Mathews et al. (1994) observed accumulations of N, P, and K near shade and water sources after 2 yr of cattle grazing bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] in Florida. They found no effect on nutrient distribution between rotational and continuous stocking, even though they had expected more even distribution of nutrients under the rotational stocking. In a second study, Mathews et al. (1999) found significant accumulations of N, P, and K within 15 m of shade sources (trees) but no significant accumulation within 15 m of water sources in a Hawaiian kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum Hochst. ex Chiov.) grassland grazed for 2 yr.
Long-term effects of grazing animals on nutrient redistribution have received limited attention but could be important for site-specific fertilizer recommendations and management changes to reduce effects of animals on nutrient losses through runoff, leaching, and atmospheric transfer from localized accumulation zones. Understanding plantanimal interaction effects on nutrient cycling within the soilplantanimal system could help improve sustainability. Our objectives were to determine the effects of fertilizer rate and level of endophyte infection on lateral and vertical distribution of soil minerals in long-term (i.e., 8 and 15 yr) grazed tall fescue pastures.
| Materials and methods |
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20 m apart along one end (a diagram of one paddock is included in Wilkinson et al., 1989). Eight pastures were established in the fall of 1981 and grazing began in the spring of 1983 (15 grazing yr). The pastures were previously described by Wilkinson et al. (1989). These eight pastures composed a two by two factorial experiment with two levels of endophyte infection (low, 29% and high, 65%) and two levels of fertility (low, 1341556 and high, 33637139 kg NPK ha-1 yr-1) with two replications. Four additional pastures were established in 1988 and grazing began in 1989 (8 grazing yr). Fertilization levels were the same as in the high-fertility treatment above with two pastures having low (0%) and two having high (94%) endophyte infection. Because the second set of pastures was established 7 yr after the first set, and there was no low-fertility treatment in the second set of pastures, fertility and age were considered a combined effect (fertilityage) in this study. This results in a two factor experimental design, with three levels of fertilityage (high 15 yr; low 15 yr, and high 8 yr) and two levels of endophyte infection (high and low). Following establishment, pastures were continuously stocked with yearling Angus steers (Bos taurus) weighing about 240 kg, with the predominate grazing periods in the spring and fall. A put-and-take system of animal management was used to maintain available forage near 1600 to 1800 kg ha-1 in all pastures using variable stocking during animal response measurement periods. Available forage approached 500 kg ha-1 at the end of the grazing season. Steer numbers were adjusted biweekly to maintain comparable levels of available forage for all treatments. No forage was removed from the pastures by means other than grazing.
Soil samples were collected on an arc extended around the shade and water sources in each pasture at distances of 1, 10, 30, 50, and 80 m from the shade and water sources during a 3-wk period in late January and early February 1997. At each distance, eight cores (41-mm diam.) separated by
5 m near the shade and water sources and 8 to 15 m at greater distances were composited within depths of 0 to 25, 25 to 75, 75 to 150, 150 to 300, 300 to 600, 600 to 900, 900 to 1200, and 1200 to 1500 mm. Soil was oven-dried (55°C, 48 h), weighed, and crushed to pass a 4.75-mm screen to partially homogenize the sample and remove stones (<1% of weight). Bulk density was calculated from soil oven-dry weight and volume of the coring device. Soil for mineral analysis was further ground to pass a 2-mm sieve. A 10-g sample was extracted with 40 mL dilute double acid (0.05 M HCl + 0.025 M H2SO4) for determination of extractable K, P, and Mg by inductively coupled plasma spectrophotometric analysis (Plank, 1985). Soil nutrient content for each depth, expressed on a mass per volume basis (g m-3), was calculated from the measured concentration in the soil (g kg-1) and bulk density (kg m-3) of each soil layer.
Endophyte, fertilityage, and animal effects, expressed as nutrient distribution from shade and water sources, were determined using the general linear models (GLM) procedure in SAS (SAS Institute, 1988) and included depth as a repeated measure (Freund et al., 1986). A test for sphericity was used to determine the appropriate univariate or multivariate analysis for the depth effect (Freund et al., 1986). Distance from shade and water sources was treated as a fixed effect. Where significant distance effects were indicated in the repeated measures analysis, regression analysis using distance as a continuous variable was used to determine if distribution of nutrients were different at distances greater than 1 m because of the large accumulations of nutrients at this distance.
A second GLM analysis of endophyte, fertilityage, and distance from shade and water sources effects on whole-profile P, K, and Mg contents was also performed. Whole-profile ion contents (g m-2) were calculated by multiplying concentration (g m-3) times layer thickness (m) for each depth and summing the values (data are presented as kg ha-1 or Mg ha-1). As in the previous analysis, distance from shade and water sources was considered a fixed effect but regressions were determined as appropriate. Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) was calculated for comparison of means where F statistics were significant at
< 0.10 (Ott, 1977).
| Results |
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Extractable P distribution was influenced by animal behavior as indicated by a large accumulation near the water and shade sources and decreasing concentrations of extractable P as distance from the shade and water sources increased (Fig. 1 and 2 , Table 1) . This indicates a greater potential for P loss to surface water sources in areas where cattle are allowed free access to streams and ponds. The redistribution of extractable P was influenced by the level of endophyte infection and a fertilityage effect (Table 1). Concentrations of extractable P down to 300 mm were greater at 1 m from shade and water sources than at other distances (Fig. 1 and 2). Below 300 mm, extractable P concentration remained less than 5 g m-3 across pastures. At all depths down to 300 mm, extractable P was greater in high than in low endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures at 1 m from the shade and water sources (Fig. 1). A similar endophyte effect was also present for the 0- to 25-mm depth 10 m from the shade and water sources but not at greater depths or distances. When summed for the 0- to 300-mm depth, the content of extractable P was 64% greater in high than in low endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures at 1 m from the shade and water sources (703 vs. 428 kg ha-1, LSD = 93) and averaged 252 kg ha-1 for remaining distances.
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Animal influences on extractable K distribution were similar to those for P (Fig. 3 , Table 1). However, there was greater movement of K through the soil profile as shown by an accumulation of K in depths below 300 mm at 1 m (Fig. 3). Accumulation of K below 300 mm occurred under both fertility regimes in the 15-yr-old pasture but not in the 8-yr-old pastures receiving the high-fertility treatment (Fig. 3). Extractable K concentrations 1 m from the shade and water sources were 2.5 to 15 times greater than those in the rest of the pasture depending on profile depth and fertilityage. Even with the significant transfer of K deep into the profile, concentrations were greatest at the soil surface across the pasture reflecting deposition, fertilization, attachment to cation exchange sites on clays, and greater surface organic matter content. Arifin et al. (1973) found that K fixation in these soils was several times greater than the cation exchange capacity of similar soils, which probably contributed to our observed significant accumulation of K. Extractable K in the 0- to 25-mm depth increased 9.79 kg ha-1 m-1 from 10 to 80 m in the 15-yr-old pastures (Fig. 3) but no increases were determined for the low-fertility 15-yr-old pasture or the 8-yr-old high-fertility pasture. Even when summed for the 0- to 300-mm depths, only the fertilityage effect was significant (Table 1) with greater K accumulation near the shade and water sources in the 15-yr-old pastures and no difference between the two fertility levels (Fig. 3). In contrast to the results observed with P, endophyte level had no influence on K distribution across grazed pastures or within the soil profile (Table 1). These results are different from those of Wilkinson et al. (1989) and are further discussed below.
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| Discussion |
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Results for K distribution across the pasture are similar to those observed by Wilkinson et al. (1989) after 3 yr of grazing in these same pastures (15-yr-old pastures). However, K levels near the shade and water sources are about three to four times greater than those measured in 1986 while concentrations in the remaining pasture approximately doubled. Additionally, Wilkinson et al. (1989) also found a much stronger effect of endophyte and fertility level on the distribution of K. Much of the difference between the two evaluations is attributed to continued inputs of fertilizer and animal behavior effects. However, some of the differences may be attributed to different sampling patterns between the two studies. Our samples were collected at specific distances from the shade and water sources while those of Wilkinson et al. (1989) were collected within 10- to 15-m zones across the pastures. Their sampling pattern may have resulted in a greater dilution of nutrient concentrations because of mixing samples taken near the shade and water sources with samples taken up to 10 m away. Large accumulations of K near the shade and water sources were expected because of the tendency for cattle to congregate in these areas. That the effect was greatly diminished at 10 m was a surprise since significant loafing of cattle and deposition of cattle excreta are observed in this area (Seman et al., 1997). Grazing animals retain only small quantities of K and since plants are heavy accumulators of K, the net effect of grazing is to concentrate K into areas where cattle congregate. The depth of the effect is more surprising but could be attributed to the low cation exchange capacity of kaolinitic clays in these soils, high rainfall (1250 mm yr-1), and the limited vegetation and plant uptake near the shade and water sources due to trampling of vegetation by animals.
Mineral contents for the whole profile were about 5.0 times greater for K, 2.4 times greater for P, and 1.1 times greater for Mg at 1 m from the shade and water sources compared with the remaining pasture. Mineral contents in areas of the pastures away from the shade and water sources were similar, indicating that animal effects were limited to less than 10 m of the shade and water sources. In other studies, concentrations of P and K within 10 m of water sources have been found to exceed by five times those of the remaining pasture after four or five grazing seasons (West et al., 1989; Gerrish et al., 1993) and the zone of influence may extend 30 to 45 m when grazing activity is managed in a similar pattern for more than 20 yr (Gerrish et al., 1993). Excretal deposition patterns are influenced primarily by water, shade, and topography (Haynes and Williams, 1993). Soil properties, clay type, organic matter content, climate, and animal behavior may further moderate the effect. Results from this location indicate that in a soil with predominately kaolinitic clay, effects of animal behavior may occur after 3 yr (Wilkinson et al., 1989) for some nutrients (K) but may take more than 8 yr for other nutrients (P).
Endophyte effects on nutrient cycling and distribution required a longer period of time to detect than animal management effects. Wilkinson (unpublished data, 1986) observed no effect of endophyte level on P or Mg distribution when these pastures were sampled following 3 yr of grazing. We found a greater effect in the 15-yr-old pastures than in the 8-yr-old pastures. In addition, we observed some limited effects of endophyte levels on Ca and Zn distribution that were similar to those observed for P and Mg (unpublished data). Endophyte-infected fescue may result in greater accumulation of some nutrients near the soil surface because of lower grazing pressure. Grazing animals increase the rate of plant residue decomposition and the potential for nutrient losses because of a reduced capacity of the plants to take up nutrients. In nongrazed systems, nutrient cycling rates are more dependent on the slower process of plant residue decomposition (Wedin, 1996) and accumulation of biomass may act as a reservoir of nutrients. The presence of the endophyte causes the gazing animal to be more selective and forage consumption is reduced during certain periods of the year. Thus in the presence of the endophyte, rates of nutrient cycling may be depressed and could be related to slower rates of organic matter decomposition and more continuous periods of vegetation. In contrast, the greater effect of animal behavior on nutrient redistribution appears to result in localized accumulation of nutrients near congregating areas and potential for losses in runoff and leaching.
| Summary |
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Concentrations of P and Mg were greatest with high endophyte-infection levels for several depths. Endophyte levels also influenced the whole-profile amounts of P and Mg but the magnitude of the effect was moderated by fertility. The indirect influences of endophyte infection on nutrient redistribution become increasingly apparent with time (comparison with observations made by Wilkinson et al., 1989) but pasture management (stocking rate, movement of animals, and fertilizer and lime applications) may mask these effects. Movement of shade and water sources and ensuring that these are not located in areas subject to runoff should increase nutrient use efficiency and reduce the risk of nutrient loss to the environment.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Received for publication January 3, 2000.
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