| attle dung is one of the few inputs available to resource-poor farmers in the tropics. It is collected for use as a fertilizer, fuel, and building material. As a concentrated source of nutrients, organic matter, and seeds, it could also be managed to improve degraded pastures. However, little is known of the impacts of dung decomposition on nutrient availability, soil structure, and seedling establishment. Dung patches produced by cattle fed Centrosema brasilianum and Stylosanthes guianensis seeds were deposited at the beginning of the 1991 dry and wet seasons in a seasonally-dry (1206 mm mean annual precipitation), phosphorus-deficient Hyparrhenia rufa pasture near Canas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Changes in soil bulk density, penetration resistance, temperature, moisture and phosphorus availability, and macroinvertebrate decomposer densities were monitored at up to three depths (0-3, 4-7, and 12-15cm) and four distances (0-7.5, 7.5-13.5, 13.5-21.5, and... |
