Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park
Shrub encroachment can be explained by the abandonment of extensive livestock farming and changes to land use, and it is a common problem in the Mediterranean mountain pastures of Europe, with direct effects on biodiversity and landscape quality. In this paper, the effects of livestock exclusion vs....
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2018
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| Acceso en línea: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742413500224 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3140 https://doi.org/10.2111/REM-D-11-00196.1 |
| _version_ | 1855035090291130368 |
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| author | Riedel, José Luis Francisco Bernues, Alberto Casasus, Isabel |
| author_browse | Bernues, Alberto Casasus, Isabel Riedel, José Luis Francisco |
| author_facet | Riedel, José Luis Francisco Bernues, Alberto Casasus, Isabel |
| author_sort | Riedel, José Luis Francisco |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Shrub encroachment can be explained by the abandonment of extensive livestock farming and changes to land use, and it is a common problem in the Mediterranean mountain pastures of Europe, with direct effects on biodiversity and landscape quality. In this paper, the effects of livestock exclusion vs. grazing on the dynamics of shrub and herbaceous vegetation were analyzed in a Spanish natural park located in a dry Mediterranean mountain area over a 5-yr period. Twelve 10 × 10 m exclosures were set up in six representative pasture areas of the park (with two replicates per location). Each year, the shrub number, volume, and biomass were measured in April, and the herbage height, biomass, and quality were measured in April and December (which represent the start and end of the vegetative growth season). A sustained increase of the shrub population and individual biomass was observed throughout the study, which was reflected in total shrub biomass per ha. Growth was greater in nongrazed exclosures (2 563 kg dry matter [DM] · ha−1 · yr−1), but it also happened in the grazed control areas (1 173 kg DM · ha−1 · yr−1), with different patterns depending on the location and shrub species. Herbage biomass did not change when grazing was maintained, but it did increase in places where grazing was excluded (291 kg DM · ha−1 · yr−1), mostly as a consequence of the accumulation of dead material, with a concomitant reduction in herbage quality. It was concluded that at the current stocking rates and management regimes, grazing alone is not enough to prevent the intense dynamics of shrub encroachment, and further reductions in grazing pressure should be avoided. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA3140 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA31402018-08-22T12:22:43Z Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park Riedel, José Luis Francisco Bernues, Alberto Casasus, Isabel Arbustos Ganado Pastoreo Sistemas Agrosilvopascícolas Cultivos de Pasto Shrubs Livestock Grazing Agrosilvopastoral Systems Herbage Crops Shrub encroachment can be explained by the abandonment of extensive livestock farming and changes to land use, and it is a common problem in the Mediterranean mountain pastures of Europe, with direct effects on biodiversity and landscape quality. In this paper, the effects of livestock exclusion vs. grazing on the dynamics of shrub and herbaceous vegetation were analyzed in a Spanish natural park located in a dry Mediterranean mountain area over a 5-yr period. Twelve 10 × 10 m exclosures were set up in six representative pasture areas of the park (with two replicates per location). Each year, the shrub number, volume, and biomass were measured in April, and the herbage height, biomass, and quality were measured in April and December (which represent the start and end of the vegetative growth season). A sustained increase of the shrub population and individual biomass was observed throughout the study, which was reflected in total shrub biomass per ha. Growth was greater in nongrazed exclosures (2 563 kg dry matter [DM] · ha−1 · yr−1), but it also happened in the grazed control areas (1 173 kg DM · ha−1 · yr−1), with different patterns depending on the location and shrub species. Herbage biomass did not change when grazing was maintained, but it did increase in places where grazing was excluded (291 kg DM · ha−1 · yr−1), mostly as a consequence of the accumulation of dead material, with a concomitant reduction in herbage quality. It was concluded that at the current stocking rates and management regimes, grazing alone is not enough to prevent the intense dynamics of shrub encroachment, and further reductions in grazing pressure should be avoided. EEA San Luis Fil: Riedel, José Luis Francisco. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; Argentina Fil: Bernues, Alberto. Gobierno de Aragón. Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria; España Fil: Casasus, Isabel. Gobierno de Aragón. Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria; España 2018-08-22T12:20:17Z 2018-08-22T12:20:17Z 2013-03 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742413500224 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3140 1550-7424 1551-5028 https://doi.org/10.2111/REM-D-11-00196.1 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Rangeland Ecology & Management 66 (2) : 224-233 (March 2013) |
| spellingShingle | Arbustos Ganado Pastoreo Sistemas Agrosilvopascícolas Cultivos de Pasto Shrubs Livestock Grazing Agrosilvopastoral Systems Herbage Crops Riedel, José Luis Francisco Bernues, Alberto Casasus, Isabel Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park |
| title | Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park |
| title_full | Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park |
| title_fullStr | Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park |
| title_full_unstemmed | Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park |
| title_short | Livestock Grazing Impacts on Herbage and Shrub Dynamics in a Mediterranean Natural Park |
| title_sort | livestock grazing impacts on herbage and shrub dynamics in a mediterranean natural park |
| topic | Arbustos Ganado Pastoreo Sistemas Agrosilvopascícolas Cultivos de Pasto Shrubs Livestock Grazing Agrosilvopastoral Systems Herbage Crops |
| url | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742413500224 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3140 https://doi.org/10.2111/REM-D-11-00196.1 |
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