@article{fdi:010066766,
  title = {{P}otential of grassland rehabilitation through high density-short duration grazing to sequester atmospheric carbon},
  author = {{C}haplot, {V}incent and {D}lamini, {P}. and {C}hivenge, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{A}ccording to the {W}orld {R}esources {I}nstitute (2000), a relative increase of carbon ({C}) stocks in world soils by 0.4% per year would be sufficient to compensate all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. {S}everal land management practices such as the suppression of tillage in agroecosystems and livestock exclusion in grasslands had initially been thought to store more carbon into the soil, but recent research puts this into question. {I}n a context where finding effective {C} sequestration methods is urgent, the main objective of this study was to assess the ability of an innovative grassland management practice based on high density and short duration ({HDSD}) grazing to sequester atmospheric {C} into soils. {T}he study was performed in a degraded communal rangeland in {S}outh {A}frica where soil organic {C} ({SOC}) depletion ranged from 5 to 95% depending on the degradation level, which varied from non-degraded ({ND}; with grass above ground coverage, {C}oy of 100%), degraded ({D}1; 50 < {C}oy < 75%), {D}2 (25 < {C}ov < 50%) and {HD} (highly degraded: {C}oy < 5%). {T}he ability of {HDSD} (1200 cows ha(-1) for 3 days a year) to replenish {SOC} stocks was compared to four commonly used strategies: (1) livestock exclosure ({E}); (2) livestock exclosure with topsoil tillage ({ET}); (3) livestock exclosure with {NPK} fertilization (2:3:3, 22 at 0.2 t ha(-1)) ({EF}); (4) annual burning ({AB}); all treatments being compared to traditional free grazing control. {A} total of 540 soil samples were collected in the 0-0.05 m soil layer for all treatments and degradation intensities. {A}fter two years, topsoil {SOC} stocks were significantly increased under {EF} and {HDSD}, by an average of 33.4 +/- 0.5 and 12.4 +/- 2.1 g {C} m(2) y(-1), respectively. {I}n contrast, {AB} reduced {SOC} stocks by 3.6 +/- 3.0 g {C} m(2) y(-1), while the impact of {E} and {ET} was not significant at {P} < 0.05. {HDSD} replenished {SOC} stocks the most at {D}1 and {D}2 (6.7 and 7.4% y(-1)) and this was explained by grass recovery, i.e. a significant increase in soil surface coverage by grass and grass production. {HDSD} is cost-effective, and thus has great potential to be widely adopted by smallholder farmers.},
  keywords = {{G}rassland ; {D}egradation ; {R}ehabilitation ; {G}razing ; {C}limate change ; {S}equestration ; {AFRIQUE} {DU} {SUD}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{G}eoderma},
  volume = {271},
  numero = {},
  pages = {10--17},
  ISSN = {0016-7061},
  year = {2016},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.02.010},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010066766},
}