Growth Pattern and Nutrient Cycling in a Trifolium alexandrinum (Clover) Agroecosystem Under Rotational Grazing in the Mediterranean Desert of Egypt PDF

Keywords

clover, nutrients, Egypt

Abstract

The productivity and nutrient cycling are evaluated in a clover desert agroecosystem under the conventional rotational grazing. A descriptive model of the state of the system that integrates the collected information is presented. The annual total production of clover is estimated as 16.65 tonnes per hectare, while that of the associated weeds is about 2.41 tonnes per hectare. The temporal variations in biomass and nutrient content in different system components are promoted by defoliation by grazing animals. Most resources are manipulated by both shoots and roots during the growing season, which allows for a turnover ration of about 30% of annual production (surplus for long term ecosystem maintenance), and consequently to positive net ecosystem production levels. Therefore, clover with minimum subsidy of irrigation water may be one of the best crops to be raised under arid conditions. It serves a multiple conservation purpose by releasing grazing pressure on natural range lands and fields of the Nile Delta and improving the nutrient status and soil structure of the desert lands