Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems

Night corralling of livestock directly in crop fields during the dry season contributes to nutrient cycling for the benefit of crops. Rangeland grazing and corralling livestock on selected croplands result in a spatial transfer of organic matter and nutrients from rangelands to the corralling sites....

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Autores principales: Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y., Fernández Rivera, S., Schlecht, Eva, Turner, M., Williams, Timothy O.
Formato: Conference Paper
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Margraf Verlag 1997
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/50811
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author Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y.
Fernández Rivera, S.
Schlecht, Eva
Turner, M.
Williams, Timothy O.
author_browse Fernández Rivera, S.
Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y.
Schlecht, Eva
Turner, M.
Williams, Timothy O.
author_facet Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y.
Fernández Rivera, S.
Schlecht, Eva
Turner, M.
Williams, Timothy O.
author_sort Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Night corralling of livestock directly in crop fields during the dry season contributes to nutrient cycling for the benefit of crops. Rangeland grazing and corralling livestock on selected croplands result in a spatial transfer of organic matter and nutrients from rangelands to the corralling sites. These transfers were measured over a year in three villages of Niger that differ in densities of human and livestock populations and proportion of land that is cropped. In each land unit, nutrient transfers were calculated as the difference between forage intake and excretions. Forage intake by livestock accounted for only 11 to 19 percent of the annual herbage yield of rangelands and 7 to 10 percent of weeds and millet crop residues. Through faecal excretion, livestock recycled 50 percent of organic matter, 48 percent of nitrogen and 85 percent of phosphorus intake. Livestock management led to a manure concentration on selected fields that received 5 to 13 times more manure than average village land. Despite moderate annual stocking rates, 7 to 12 TLU Km-2 (Tropical Livestock Unit = 250 kg live weight), grazing pressure in early wet season reached 68 to 160 TLU d t-1 of forage leading to deterimental effects on rangeland productivity and species composition.
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spelling CGSpace508112025-12-02T10:59:51Z Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y. Fernández Rivera, S. Schlecht, Eva Turner, M. Williams, Timothy O. livestock nutrient transport land use crop residues stocking density cycling soil fertility Night corralling of livestock directly in crop fields during the dry season contributes to nutrient cycling for the benefit of crops. Rangeland grazing and corralling livestock on selected croplands result in a spatial transfer of organic matter and nutrients from rangelands to the corralling sites. These transfers were measured over a year in three villages of Niger that differ in densities of human and livestock populations and proportion of land that is cropped. In each land unit, nutrient transfers were calculated as the difference between forage intake and excretions. Forage intake by livestock accounted for only 11 to 19 percent of the annual herbage yield of rangelands and 7 to 10 percent of weeds and millet crop residues. Through faecal excretion, livestock recycled 50 percent of organic matter, 48 percent of nitrogen and 85 percent of phosphorus intake. Livestock management led to a manure concentration on selected fields that received 5 to 13 times more manure than average village land. Despite moderate annual stocking rates, 7 to 12 TLU Km-2 (Tropical Livestock Unit = 250 kg live weight), grazing pressure in early wet season reached 68 to 160 TLU d t-1 of forage leading to deterimental effects on rangeland productivity and species composition. 1997 2014-10-31T06:21:41Z 2014-10-31T06:21:41Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/50811 en Limited Access Margraf Verlag
spellingShingle livestock
nutrient transport
land use
crop residues
stocking density
cycling
soil fertility
Hiernaux, Pierre H.Y.
Fernández Rivera, S.
Schlecht, Eva
Turner, M.
Williams, Timothy O.
Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems
title Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems
title_full Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems
title_fullStr Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems
title_full_unstemmed Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems
title_short Livestock-mediated nutrient transfers in Sahelian agro-ecosystems
title_sort livestock mediated nutrient transfers in sahelian agro ecosystems
topic livestock
nutrient transport
land use
crop residues
stocking density
cycling
soil fertility
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/50811
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AT turnerm livestockmediatednutrienttransfersinsahelianagroecosystems
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