Grazing Effect on Carbon Stocks and Fluxes in Soils of the Mountainous Pastures

Grazing is known to have a negative impact on soil C stocks; however, the effects depend on the grazing intensity and management practices. This research aimed to study the effect of grazing on carbon stocks and CO2 emissions in the mountainous pastures in the Northwest Caucasus, Chechenia Republic of Russia. WAYCARBON polygon established in Chechenia Republic aims to support investigation searching for the grazing practices which will not disturb soil C stocks. Soil survey and measurements of soil CO2 emission were organized in summer 2022 at the three research sites representing different intensity of grazing: intensive (grazed zone, GZ), light (transit zone, TZ) and reference site, where sheep are not grazed. Topsoil C stocks at the reference site were 10.4 kg m−2 which was 10 and 40% higher than at the grazing and transit zones correspondingly. Almost 30% of the total topsoil C stocks at the reference site were distinguished by inorganic C. Soil CO2 emissions were 2.8 ± 0.9, 1.7 ± 0.3 and 2.4 ± 0.9 g C m−2 day−1 at the grazed, transit and reference site correspondingly. The sustainability of soil C stocks expressed by T0.5 and T0.95 were similar for the grazed and reference sites, whereas soil C stocks at the transit area were almost three times more vulnerable to biodegradation. The absence of the negative effects of grazing on soil C stocks is a positive message for the land-use planners, which tested and verified by the further investigations. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.