SCHRIFTENREIHE Institut für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde ...

Chapter 2 Spatial variability of soil properties affected by grazing intensity in Inner Mongolia grassland
Table 2.3. Descriptive statistics of Ln (WDPT) measured on three sampling soil water
statuses in 2004.
Treatment
Sampling soil
water
statuses
Min. Max. Mean SD CV Skewness Kurtosis
UG 79 Dry 0.47 3.44 1.93 0.69 35.46 0.20 -0.04
Wet 0.90 2.52 1.34 0.25 18.01 1.26 3.36
Medium 1.11 5.45 3.16 1.01 31.84 0.05 -0.75
UG 99 Dry 1.01 4.01 2.07 0.70 33.62 0.57 -0.11
Wet 1.12 2.36 1.48 0.26 17.36 1.11 1.51
Medium 1.74 5.99 3.56 0.82 22.92 0.40 1.24
WG Dry 0.38 2.36 0.97 0.47 47.94 0.96 0.49
Wet 1.15 2.73 1.93 0.33 17.25 0.30 -0.17
Medium 1.13 4.98 3.02 0.84 27.72 0 -0.40
CG Dry 0.36 3.43 1.09 0.63 58.07 1.47 2.36
Wet 0.59 4.38 2.60 0.72 27.74 0.01 0.15
Medium 1 2.63 1.78 0.33 18.54 0.09 -0.01
HG Dry - - - - - - -
Wet 0.56 2.34 1.24 0.44 35.13 0.62 -0.40
Medium 0.80 3.24 1.47 0.50 34.31 1.47 2.16
Min.: Minimum (s); Max.: Maximum (s); SD: Standard deviation (s); CV: Coefficient of
variation (%); -: No data available.
continuous grazing might lead to a more homogeneous spatial distribution of SS
owing to the animal trampling. However, this trend was interrupted for very high
stocking rate (HG) where spatial dependence increased again at the heavy
grazing plot. A similar trend was also observed for the range values, which firstly
increased and then decreased with increasing grazing intensity. This trend
implies that heavy grazing initiated strong compaction effects with a partial
heterogeneity likely caused by non-random repeated trampling. Similar to that of
the SS, the order of spatial dependence for WDPT was higher in the ungrazed
plots than in the grazed plots and the lowest in CG (Table 6). This result
indicated an interaction of organic compounds and cohesion is to be assumed
and hence an influence of the vegetation on soil surface strength (r = -0.68**,
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