Application of Soil Multiparametric Indices to Assess Impacts of Grazing in Mediterranean Forests

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

I am not able to revise the article properly due to its poor English. Authors should revise the paper thoroughly and I will be happy to revise it.

I have started the revision with the following comments and then stopped it:

The title is not expressing well the content of the article: The impacts are not on the stocking rate variations.

The FAO soil classification is recommended.

Use points as decimal separators.

Abstract:

L19: Revise English writing of the sentence.

Mediterranean always starts with capital letter.

L21 instead of saying “without stocking rates”, I suggest “without livestock”.

L25 Revise English writing.

When describing the stocking rates, authors mention sheep. Later in the Abstract they say “cattle alteration”. Authors should explain clearer the type of livestock in the study area.

Figure 1: What is the red area in the map showing Spain? In the air photo the different points with similar colour cannot be differentiated. It would be easier to include in the legend the abbreviations.

Table 1: In the title you speak of colour intensity. This is not shown in the table. The information on soil type and climate is the same for all the study areas and should, therefore, not be included in the table.

I am not able to revise the article properly due to its poor English. Authors should revise the paper thoroughly and I will be happy to revise it.

Author Response

In the attached are the responses to your comments,

Thank you for your suggestions.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Kind regards

Manuela Andrés

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

1. What is the main question addressed by the research?

R: The idea behind the article is to compare sites and stocking rates.
How far apart are the sites?
2. What parts do you consider original or relevant for the field? What
specific gap in the field does the paper address?  

R:  The idea of the article is to compare sites, stocking rates. Adjust with this objective  

3. What does it add to the subject area compared with other published
material?  

R: The title does not express the idea of the article: Application of a Soil Quality Index (SQI) to assess impacts on stocking rate variations in Mediterranean forests.

4. What specific improvements should the authors consider regarding the methodology? What further controls should be considered?  

 R: It is not linked to the title: The main objective is to advance the development and application of multi-parametric indices to assess soil conditions.  

5. Please describe how the conclusions are or are not consistent with the
evidence and arguments presented. Please also indicate if all main questions
posed were addressed and by which specific experiments.

R: The conclusion suggests a new soil quality index for livestock areas as a function of stocking rate.

I suggest changing the article's central idea to a proposal for a soil quality index for livestock land since the management of this land is much more closely linked to the physical and microbiological factors of the soil.

suggested change title: soil quality index for pasture land in the Meditarreno

6. Are the references appropriate? 

YES  

7. Please include any additional comments on the tables and figures and
quality of the data.  

R: images should be improved  

The article is good and original, but it needs some adjustments to the main subject: soil quality in pastures.  

I recommend accepting with corrections 

I agree with the writing of the manuscript

Author Response

In the attached file are the responses to your comments

Thank you for your suggestions

If you have any cquestions, please contact us.

Kind regards

Manuela Andrés

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Authors

In this article, the effect of different intensities of livestock grazing on some soil characteristics has been investigated in the mountain areas in the east-central Spain. For this purpose, two indexes "SQI" and "SSI" have been used. Each of these indexes includes a number of soil characteristics. But contrary to expectation, the most important physical characteristics of soil, which include bulk density and penetration resistance, have not been investigated in this article.

The land use of the studied area is incomprehensible to me. It seems that the entire study area is not a forest and parts of it are pastures. As mentioned in the article (section of the studied area, lines 101-102). If there are both forest and pasture land use in the study area, then the title should be modified and the discussion will be different.

In my opinion, the difference between research treatments, especially in terms of livestock grazing intensity, should be clearly presented in another table in addition to Table 1.

The sampling method (lines 117-123) is incomprehensible to me. How were the distance, depth and tools of collecting soil samples? The sampling plots are not showed in the Fig. 1.

The objectives of the research should be stated more clearly.

How can you generalize this index used for all types of soils?

Title:

The title is a bit vague and could be made clearer. In my opinion, the word "various livestock grazing intensity" and the word "soil Status index-SSI" should be added in the title in addition to the word "SQI".

 Keywords:

In my opinion, more suitable keywords should be used instead of "Stocking rate unit, and Environmental impact assessment”. I think is suitable: Soil multiparametric index.

Introduction:

Line 41: What is “(UE-27)”? Please provide references for these data.

Line 89: “1,440 m” please correct

Line 90: What is your mean by “9,10 “, “-3,70”?

Line 64: what is your mean by “shrub influence”?

Line 165-166: Please type the decimal numbers correctly. 0.25, 0.50, 0.75

Line 167: Table 1: Please type the decimal numbers correctly, and remove the "greater than" mark (>) in the first column.

Line 208-231: Please type the decimal numbers correctly.

Line 232: Table 3: Please type the decimal numbers correctly.

Author Response

In the attached file are the responses to your comments

Thank you for your suggestions

If you have any questions, please contact us

Kind regards

Manuela Andrés

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Dear Authors

Extensive corrections have been made in the revised article. But still, in my opinion, the issue of forest soil compaction (bulk density and penetration resistance) due to livestock grazing remains unknown. This issue can be raised in the discussion and conclusion.

Thank you

Author Response

In the attached file are the responses to your coments

Thank you for your suggestions.

Kind regards.

Manuela Andrés

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf