Effect of Grazing and Cultivation on Some Chemical Properties of Soils in the Mixed Prairie

Abstract

Components of the organic matter were studied in soil under 3 Mixed Prairietypes: grasslnd dominated by needle-and-thread/blue grama (Stipa comata Trin. and Rupr./Bouteloua gracilis (HBK.) Lag. ex Steud.) in good range condition; grassland significantly modified by grazing, dominated by blue grama and in poor range condition; and grassland, dominated by needle-and-thread/blue grama in good range condition, but converted to cropland and under continuous wheat for 4 years. The soils were sampled on 13 April 1988. Concentrations of total organic carbon in the upper 2 cm were 1.39, 2.70, and 1.87%, respectively. The higher organic carbon under blue grama was caused by an active, ramified, fine rootmass which gave rise to most of the monosaccharides being of microbial origin. The monosaccharides in the lower Ap horizon in the cropland were generally of plant origin from incorporated