BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 247 IHSS&IWA26 / BRNO / CZECHIA / 23–28 August 2026 Hall A Poster Session / Environment, Agriculture, and Forestry P4.19 Managed Grazing Creates Short-Term Carbon and Water-Retention Hotspots in Sandy Arenosols of Western Zambia Jiří Volánek1, Tomáš Vichta1, Kamila Hejlíková Tembo2, Jana Tulková2 1 Mendel University in Brno, Department of Geology and Soil Science, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic, volanek@gmail.com 2 Mendel University in Brno, Department of Forest Botany, Dendrology and Geobiocoenology, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic Managed grazing and short-term livestock concentration are increasingly promoted in sub-Saharan Africa as low-input strategies for restoring soil functionality in coarse-textured agroecosystems. Previous work on kraals, bomas and manure-enriched sandy soils shows that concentrated livestock impact can generate localized hotspots of carbon, nutrients and enhanced soil functioning, although responses vary with soil texture and time since impact [1–5]. This study evaluated the effects of managed grazing (“biofertilization” of cropland by cattle overnight herding) on hydrophysical and physicochemical properties of sandy Arenosols in western Zambia, with particular focus on total carbon stocks and available water capacity. Field sampling was conducted in July–August 2024 on 11 farms in the wider Zambezi floodplain region, where four management situations were distinguished: recently impacted fields (A), older impacted fields (B), nonimpacted cultivated fields (C), and nearby pasture (D). The core statistical analysis was based on 93 observations from treatments A–D and on farm-level paired comparisons of treatment means. Recently impacted fields showed the strongest response. Relative to nonimpacted cultivated controls, treatment A had significantly higher total carbon concentration (+91.7%), total carbon stock (+62.5%), lower bulk density (−10.3%), higher available water capacity (+76.7%), and markedly soil organic matter (SOM; +161.7%). Similar positive trends were observed for total nitrogen concentration and total nitrogen stock, although these became only marginal after multiple-testing correction. Correlation analysis further showed that SOM and carbon-related variables were strongly associated with lower bulk density, higher total porosity, and higher available water capacity, indicating that recent organic matter inputs improved both carbon status and the physical conditions controlling water storage in these sandy soils. These findings are consistent with earlier studies showing that short-term cattle corrals and manure additions can rapidly increase soil carbon and fertility [1,2], while hydrophysical responses
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