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2. Soil Fundamentals
Trampling
The following series of questions are useful for considering the impact of trampling
on soil ecosystems.
1.
What animals (species and breeds) are trampling?
2.
How long are they on the soil? What season?
3.
How many of them?
4.
With what frequency do the animals revisit the area?
5.
What types of soil are they trampling?
6.
In which seasons are they visiting?
7.
What is the land management history of the area?
Overall, grazing management impacts vary hugely, depending on management
strategies and environments. For example, moving heavy livestock across a clay soil
when it’s wet will inevitably cause it to be badly disrupted, whereas moving livestock
across wet sandy soil will be much less disruptive.