Impacts of the Intensive Use of Rangeland on the Vegetation Attributes and Soil Seed Bank of Al-Baja Area, White Nile- Sudan

Al-Baja area, in White Nile State is considered one of the most important rangelands in Sudan as a rainy season grazing area, it used intensively by the herders. The study was conducted in the end of rainy season, November 2019. The study aimed to assess the impacts of intensive use of rangeland on the vegetation attributes and the soil seed bank of Al-Baja area. Parker loop and quadrate were used to determine the vegetation attributes. The number of samples was distributed systematically along line transects. Soil sample was taken from three depths (0-5, 6-10 and 11-15 cm) to assess soil seed bank. The data were analyzed using SAS statistical program, Duncan procedure for mean separation. There were significant differences between the ground cover components. The litters and bare soil recorded high percentage of 40 and 31%, respectively. The species Schoenefeldia gracilis recorded high plant composition 93% with density of 75 plant/m². The study showed that the biomass and carrying capacity of Al-Baja area was very low. The results found that Schoenefeldia gracilis recorded highest presence of seed in the soil (live 68.2% and dead 70.4%). The study revealed that the soil depth had a significant impact on the seed number and density in the study area and the highest values of both live and dead seed were observed in the upper soil layer (0-5 cm). The natural rangelands in Al-Baja area have been severely degraded as a result of intensive use by the herders and their animals.