Recent debates about the condition of Mongolia’s rangelands and possible causes of
rangeland change highlight the need for greater understanding of changes in grassland
soil fertility and physical characteristics associated with grazing. As part of a large
observational study of grazing effects on different Mongolian ecological zones and soil
types (ecological sites), we studied soil characteristics along grazing gradients from
winter shelters in the mountain and forest steppe, steppe and desert steppe ecozones of
Mongolia. Our objective was to determine how grazing affects soil properties in winter
pastures in different ecological zones and ecological sites within zones, based on grazing
gradients. Our findings did not support our hypothesis that livestock grazing along a
grazing gradient from winter shelters would lead to increased concentrations of nutrients
(C, NO3
-, P, K and humus) near the shelters. Instead, where soil chemical properties
differed with distance, they were lowest close to winter shelters and higher with
increasing distance. As hypothesized, we observed greater bulk densities nearer to
winter shelters than farther away. Our hypothesis that grazing effects on soil properties
would vary among ecological sites also was not supported. Further experimental and
observational studies are needed to understand grazing effects on soil properties at
different spatial scales and to examine feedbacks between livestock-induced changes in
plant communities and soil quality.
