Impact of land-use on nutrient availability

Nutrient cycling will be measured via transplantation experiments and using small-scale manipulative exclosures in locations varying in precipitation across the region; inside protected areas compared to pastures outside the park (NTNU, SUA). For the transplant experiment, whole grass turfs will be moved to other regimes of land use or precipitation and compared to each other and to non-moved vegetation. Also the nutrient contents of the soils will be compared. The small-scale manipulative exclosures will make it possible to harvest and analyse nutrient contents in leaves in the different land use types during different periods of the year. In this way NTNU, SUA and UDSM will determine how land-use influences nutrient contents in soils and the temporal variation in grass nutrient levels during the year and dependent on different grazing regime or region.