Livestock are a threat to forest regeneration. Moreover, soil quality and fertility is degraded under their hooves. Livestock grazing in natural forests of the Zagros Mountains, in western Iran, create or maintain temporal or permanent transit paths through valuable oak stands. We surveyed the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the soils on a permanent path that has been used for livestock daily transit for 80 years. We sampled soils on a 1 km transect along this path, using a random systematic design. Moreover, soils were sampled along another transect inside of the adjacent, undisturbed oak stand. There was little litter on the path used by the cattle, and the bulk density of the soil was 35% higher in the intact soils of the forest-stand, proving soil compaction under livestock hooves. Despite these differences, pH, EC values and the concentration of Na didn't differ between the two transects. Percentages of N, P, K, and organic matter, however, were higher in the intact soils of the forest-stand. On the other hand, the activity of urease, acid phosphatase, and alkaline phosphatase was more than three-fold higher in the forest-stand. Soil salinity didn't change after 80 years, but soil nutrients, organic matter, and enzyme activities dramatically decreased. Phosphorus concentration and soil enzyme activities are sensitive to soil compaction by livestock and are good indicators of livestock trampling.
