Soil water availability and temperature dynamics after one‐time heavy cattle trampling and land imprinting

Abstract

Abstract Soil disturbance by livestock hooves and by mechanical cultivation has been suggested as a way to increase soil water intake on crusted rangeland soils. In conjunction with a seedling establishment study on a sandy loam soil in southern Arizona, soil water content and temperature were measured continuously for the 1988 and 1989 summer rainy seasons on seedbeds that were one‐time intensively trampled by cattle, furrowed with a land imprinter, or left undisturbed. Diurnal surface temperatures (1‐cm depth) fluctuated up to 31°C even when surface soils were wet. Maximum temperatures were lowest at the basin or bottom and highest on the south‐facing slope of the imprint furrows. Soils disturbed by trampling or imprinting wet up more (had a higher maximum water content) than undisturbed soils after summer rains in mid July to early August, but wet up less than undisturbed soils near the end of the rainy season, presumably due to reformation of the surface crust. Increased wetting of trampled or imprinted soils compared to undisturbed soils resulted in longer periods of soil water availability after some storms at some depths. Slightly longer periods of surface soil water availability (1–2 days at 1–3 cm deep) were associated with greater emergence of seeded grasses on trampled and imprinted soils than on undisturbed soils in 1988. Two periods of surface soil water availability of 5–7 days long separated by a dry period of 6–33 h long in July 1988 were associated with successful grass seedling emergence, while available water periods of only 2–3.5 days in July 1989 were associated with limited seedling emergence. One‐time heavy trampling by cattle and land imprinting could be expected to temporarily increase soil water availability and seedling emergence of seeded species on similar soils during some years. These treatments should not be expected to greatly increase the time of soil water availability or ensure revegetation success during dry years.