Abstract Globally, the determinants of rangeland dynamics and sustainability have been debated for decades. This study sought to explain the drivers of rangeland ecosystems in semi-arid South Africa by examining the vegetation and soil conditions around animal drinking water points, and their implications for sustainable management and paradigm debates. For this purpose, we selected three land use systems (continuous-communal livestock farms, rotational-commercial livestock farms, and continuous-game reserves), with the livestock farms having either high or low stocking rates. Soil organic carbon (OC), bulk density (p < 0.05), and soil compaction (p < 0.0001) varied greatly at land scales, being greater in the communal farms or game reserves than the commercial farms. Within the communal farms, sites with high stocking rates showed higher (p < 0.05) soil OC and bulk density than sites with lower stocking rates, but in the commercial farms, sites with high stocking rates had lower soil OC. Above ground grass biomass, and the abundance of highly desirable grass species were greater (p < 0.001) in the commercial farms and game reserves. Our results conclude that equilibrium elements, importantly animal density and diversity, seemed to play a major role in soil and vegetation dynamics. We also observed variations in edaphic factors and rainfall across the land use systems and over seasons (rainfall). We assume that these non-equilibrium elements may also influence rangeland ecosystems. To confirm this, however, we recommend future studies to include comparable measures of the vegetation and soil, and their relations with edaphic and temporal long-term rainfall variability across the land use systems.

中文翻译：

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南非半干旱牧场不同土地利用系统水点周围草地和土壤条件的比较以及对管理和当前牧场范式的影响

摘要 在全球范围内，牧场动态和可持续性的决定因素已经争论了几十年。本研究试图通过检查动物饮水点周围的植被和土壤条件，及其对可持续管理和范式辩论的影响，来解释半干旱南非牧场生态系统的驱动因素。为此，我们选择了三种土地利用系统（连续公有畜牧场、轮转商业畜牧场和连续游戏保护区），畜牧场具有高或低的放养率。土壤有机碳 (OC)、容重 (p < 0.05) 和土壤压实度 (p < 0.0001) 在土地尺度上变化很大，公共农场或野生动物保护区比商业农场更大。在公共农场内，放养率高的地点比放养率低的地点表现出更高的 (p < 0.05) 土壤有机碳和容重，但在商业农场，高放养率的地点土壤有机碳含量较低。商业农场和野生动物保护区的地上草生物量和高度理想的草种的丰度更高（p < 0.001）。我们的结果得出结论，平衡元素，重要的是动物密度和多样性，似乎在土壤和植被动态中起着重要作用。我们还观察到土壤因子和降雨量在整个土地利用系统和不同季节（降雨量）的变化。我们假设这些非平衡元素也可能影响牧场生态系统。然而，为了证实这一点，我们建议未来的研究包括植被和土壤的可比测量，