Impact of Traditional Livestock Husbandry on Forest Soil Physical, Chemical and Biological Characteristics (A Case Study: Parchinak Forest - Sari)

The presence of livestock within forest stands in north of Iran, as one of the main hindrances for optimal forest managing influence the productivity of that individual forest ecosystem in a waste area. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of the long lasting presence of cattle on soil properties in Hyrcanian forests. The investigated area was a part of Parchinak district, Mazandaran -Sari (in 4 Livestock husbandry campus and adjacent forest stands). Soil samples were collected from soil depths of 0-10 cm, 10-20 cm using coring method (8 cm diameter) in each site randomly (n=5) for determining soil physical, chemical and biological characteristic. Results showed that some soil physical characteristics (bulk density and moisture content) and many soil chemical properties (carbon and organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and calcium) were higher in husbandry area than the adjacent forest stand. Also, Net N mineralization and net nitrification have been observed only in Livestock campus. Our findings indicated a significant impact of livestock presence (input of a huge amount of cattle dung and high soil compaction) on forest soil.