The Effect of Bush Clearing on Soil Restoration in North Central Namibia: Cheetah Conservation Funds And Erichsfelde

ABSTRACT 

Changes in vegetation or land use that affects soil respiration are a major concern for global climate change. Bush clearing in north-central Namibia has been used as a solution to problems of bush encroachment. However, the effect of bush clearing on soil processes, such as the carbon cycle and soil CO2 efflux has not yet been quantified in Namibia. The main aim of this study was to determine and compare the amount of soil respiration between the cleared and uncleared sites at different seasons and also to determine the effect of soil temperature and moisture on soil respiration in two farms; Erichsfelde and CCF located in the Otjozondjupa region. Soil respiration was measured using a soil respiration chamber connected to the Infrared Gas Analyzer LI-COR 6400 XT. The results showed no significant difference in soil respiration between the cleared and uncleared sites at CCF in both seasons (P>0.05). This could be due to an equal amount of soil respiration between root respiration (as a result of high root biomass of woody vegetation) in the uncleared site and microbial respiration from increased litter decomposition together with root respiration of grass and herbaceous plants in the cleared site. On the other hand, both seasons at Erichsfelde showed that soil respiration was significantly higher in the uncleared site than in the cleared site (P