Publication Date
1997
Description
Two trials were conducted to differentiate the direct (exposure) from the indirect (modified soil fertility due to nutrient transfer by grazing animals) effects of farm shelterbelts on associated pasture growth.Soil from close to “unmanaged”shelterbelts with dense shelter to ground level had relatively high potassium (K) levels and, in a glasshouse situation, provided more pasture growth than soil from further distances, or from adjacent to “managed” shelterbelts. Pasture grown in boxes of a common soil implanted at increasing distances from a shelterbelt also produced highest growth rates close to shelter. These results generally explain the pattern of resident pasture growth, except for the closest (5 metre) distance which had the lowest pasture growth.This appears related to relatively low soil moisture levels at these sites, due either to rain shelter or tree root competition effects.
Citation
Gillingham, A G. and Hawke, M F., "The Effects of Shelterbelts on Adjacent Pastures and Soils in a Temperate Climate" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 20.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1997/session6/20
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
The Effects of Shelterbelts on Adjacent Pastures and Soils in a Temperate Climate
Two trials were conducted to differentiate the direct (exposure) from the indirect (modified soil fertility due to nutrient transfer by grazing animals) effects of farm shelterbelts on associated pasture growth.Soil from close to “unmanaged”shelterbelts with dense shelter to ground level had relatively high potassium (K) levels and, in a glasshouse situation, provided more pasture growth than soil from further distances, or from adjacent to “managed” shelterbelts. Pasture grown in boxes of a common soil implanted at increasing distances from a shelterbelt also produced highest growth rates close to shelter. These results generally explain the pattern of resident pasture growth, except for the closest (5 metre) distance which had the lowest pasture growth.This appears related to relatively low soil moisture levels at these sites, due either to rain shelter or tree root competition effects.
