Abstract
Relevance. Pastures of West Kazakhstan occupy more than 70% of the land of economic use and are the main source of feed for farm animals. In recent years, as a result of unsystematic intensive grazing of farm animals, there has been degradation of pasture lands of West Kazakhstan. In order to prevent degradation and desertification and to manage grazing ecosystems, it is important to undertake research to identify the effects of grazing technology on the soil and plant cover of grazing lands. Methods. To determine the impact of grazing on indicators, soil samples were taken on 3 farms with moderate, weak and intensive pastures located in 3 zones of Western Kazakhstan with dark chestnut, chestnut and light chestnut soil types in a layer of 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm. To identify changes in soil indicators by comparison in each zone, soil samples were taken on the reference areas in the layer of 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm. Results. As a result of the carried out studies, experimental data on the current state of soil and plant cover of pastures of 1st, 2nd and 3rd climatic zones of West Kazakhstan with different types of chestnut soils were obtained. Researches determined negative influence of an excessive intensive pasture of farm animals on physical and chemical indicators of pastures of dark chestnut, chestnut and light chestnut soils and also on a projective covering and efficiency of their herbages.