Establishment of native plant species on degraded environments, followed by a period of exclosure, is a practice increasingly used in southwestern parts of Ethiopia for land restoration and soil and water conservation purposes. To assess its effectiveness, and the complementary benefits of combining establishment of Chomo grass (Brachiaria humidicola) with land exclosure for restoration of degraded lands have been studied. Soil samples were collected in two soil depth (0–10 cm and 10–30 cm) from open sites, from 4-, 8-, and 15-year-old exclosures, and three different land cover types (open land with bare soil, grasslands, and wood/bush lands). Soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) increased in open land with bare soils to 15 years old and wood/bush land-based exclosures. The mean SOC in wood/bush land-based exclosure soils was 16.4 t ha⁻¹ and 26 t ha⁻¹ higher than grasslands and bare lands, respectively. The protection of degraded lands from direct animal interference coupled with establishment of Chomo grass appears to be effective in restoring SOC and TN. Therefore, the exclosure and Chomo grass sowing practices and functions have improved vegetation recovery, soil fertility, and water retention capacity. In addition to the restoration enhancement effect of Chomo grass, the grass has been used as the source of livestock feed through cut-and-carry system by the local community. Therefore, integration of exclosure with ecologically adaptive Chomo grass planting appears to enhance the restoration of degraded lands and may bring the land back to its previous better status for livestock feed and crop production.

中文翻译：

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埃塞俄比亚退化土地上长毛草（Bracharia humidicola）和排泄物在恢复土壤有机质，总氮和相关功能中的作用

在埃塞俄比亚西南部越来越多地在退化的环境中建立本土植物物种，然后进行一段时间的禁闭，这是一种用于土地恢复和水土保持目的的做法。评估其有效性，以及结合建立长毛草（Brachiaria Humicola）以开荒方式恢复退化土地。从开阔地，4年，8年和15年的排泄物和两种不同的土地覆被类型（裸露的空旷土地）以两种土壤深度（0–10 cm和10–30 cm）从露天场所采集土壤样品，草原和树林/灌木丛土地）。在裸土到15岁的裸露土地和以木材/灌木丛为基础的裸露土地上，土壤有机碳（SOC）和总氮（TN）有所增加。木材/灌木丛土地基土壤的平均SOC为16.4 t ha ^-1和26 t ha ^-1分别高于草原和光秃秃的土地。保护退化土地免受直接动物干扰以及建立乔莫草似乎对恢复SOC和TN有效。因此，排泄物和乔莫草的播种方式和功能提高了植被的恢复能力，土壤肥力和保水能力。除长毛草的恢复增强作用外，该草还被当地社区通过割接系统用作牲畜饲料的来源。因此，将排泄物与具有生态适应性的乔莫草种植结合起来，似乎可以增强退化土地的恢复，并可能使土地恢复到以前更好的牲畜饲料和农作物生产状态。