Adapting livestock management to spatio-temporal heterogeneity in semi-arid rangelands

Jakoby, Oliver; Quaas, Martin F.; Baumgärtner, Stefan; Frank, Karin

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.07.047

Cited by 43 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Grazing management in a dynamic and directionally changing climate must be adaptive and responsive to field conditions (Jakoby et al. ). Specifically, stocking rates should be reduced in drought years to prevent conversion to exotic dominated grassland plant communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drought exacerbates negative consequences of high‐intensity cattle grazing in a semiarid grassland

Souther

Loeser

Crews

et al. 2020

Ecological Applications

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Grasslands managed for grazing are the largest land‐use category globally, with a significant proportion of these grasslands occurring in semiarid and arid regions. In such dryland systems, the effect of grazing on native plant diversity has been equivocal, some studies suggesting that grazing reduces native plant diversity, others that grazing increases or has little impact on diversity. One impediment toward generalizing grazing effects on diversity in this region is that high levels of interannual variation in precipitation may obfuscate vegetative response patterns. By analyzing a long‐term data set collected over a 20‐yr period in a semiarid grassland, we explicitly evaluated the role of climate in regulating the effect of cattle grazing on plant communities, finding that climate interacted with grazing intensity to shape grassland communities. Community composition of plots that were intensively grazed varied considerably in response to climatic variation and native species richness was low relative to ungrazed and moderately grazed plots. Following a severe drought in 2002, exotic species richness rapidly increased in the high‐intensity grazing plots. While this pattern was mirrored in the other treatments, exotic species richness increased to a greater extent and was slower to return to pre‐drought levels in the high‐intensity grazing plots. Overall, moderate grazing, even compared to grazing cessation, stabilized grassland communities through time, increased resilience to drought, and maintained the highest levels of native plant diversity and lowest levels of exotic diversity. These findings suggest that grazing, at moderate levels, may support grassland resilience to climate change in semiarid regions. However, grazing that exceeds tolerances, particularly in combination with extreme climatic events, like drought, can alter plant composition over relatively long timescales and possibly increase invasibility by nonnative species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drought exacerbates negative consequences of high‐intensity cattle grazing in a semiarid grassland

Souther

Loeser

Crews

et al. 2020

Ecological Applications

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“…In fact, operation type may have a stronger effect on rangeland plant composition than grazing management strategy or planning style [31]. Adaptive rotation sometimes improves aboveground biomass and yield, but inappropriate combinations of adaptations-i.e., poor decision-making-deteriorates rangeland further than non-adaptive strategies [33]. A minimum of experimental studies reveals positive effects of high-intensity rotational grazing [14].…”

Section: Holistic Management Principles Practices and Debatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holistic Management and Adaptive Grazing: A Trainers’ View

Mann

Sherren

2018

Sustainability

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Holistic Management (HM) is a grazing practice that typically uses high-intensity rotation of animals through many paddocks, continually adapted through planning and monitoring. Despite widespread disagreement about the environmental and production benefits of HM, researchers from both sides of that debate seem to agree that its emphasis on goal-setting, complexity, adaptivity and strategic decision-making are valuable. These ideas are shared by systems thinking, which has long been foundational in agroecology and recognized as a valuable tool for dealing with agricultural complexity. The transmission of such skills is thus important to understand. Here, twenty-five Canadian and American adaptive grazing trainers were interviewed to learn more about how they teach such systems thinking, and how they reflect upon their trainees as learners and potential adopters. Every trainer considered decision-making to be a major component of their lessons. That training was described as tackling both the "paradigm" level-changing the way participants see the world, themselves or their farm-and the "concept/skill" level. Paradigm shifts were perceived as the biggest challenge for participants. Trainers had difficulty estimating adoption rates because there was little consensus on what constituted an HM-practitioner: to what level must one adopt the practices? We conclude that: (1) trainers' emphasis on paradigms and decision-making confirms that HM is systems thinking in practice; (2) the planning and decision-making components of HM are distinct from the grazing methods; and (3) HM is a fluid and heterogeneous concept that is difficult to define and evaluate.

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“…A l'utilisation rationnelle des ressources sous forme de schéma directeur (19) ou système de support de décision (20), à la régulation des charges animales (20) et à la promotion de la mobilité des troupeaux (vers une charge pastorale intertribale basée sur le bon voisinage et la conservation des parcours), s'ajoute l'importance de réhabiliter les espaces dégradés et de reconvertir les espaces défrichés ou dénudés. Il est temps de passer à l'organisation de l'espace pastoral en unités qui tiennent compte de l'organisation sociale (7) et des expériences réussies d'alliance pastorale.…”

Section: Stratégies D'adaptationunclassified

Analyse de l’évolution du système pastoral du Maroc oriental

Bechchari

Aich

Mahyou

et al. 2015

Rev. Elev. Med. Vet. Pays Trop.

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Le système pastoral des hauts plateaux du Maroc oriental est caractérisé par l’étendue des parcours (3,2 millions d’hectares) et la dominance de l’élevage ovin (1,2 million de têtes). Ce travail, mené à Béni Mathar au nord et à Maâtarka au sud, traite la question des changements d’occupation des terres de parcours et de conduite des troupeaux, à partir de l’hypothèse d’une dégradation des parcours suivie d’une baisse de la pression de pâturage. Cette dynamique est perçue par l’étude de l’occupation des sols en 1970, 1988 et 2013. Les modes de conduite sont identifiés au travers d’enquêtes (85) et lors d’ateliers participatifs. L’analyse de l’occupation des sols montre la régression des bonnes formations végétales et leur substitution par des formations de moindre valeur, et une baisse des apports fourragers sur parcours. Parallèlement, on note une augmentation des effectifs d’animaux de moins en moins mobiles et de plus en plus supplémentés (20 à 40 p. 100 de satisfaction des besoins, essentiellement par l’orge et le son de blé), et un changement progressif dans la composition raciale des troupeaux en faveur de la race Ouled Djellal (à valeur commerciale compétitive) au détriment de la race locale Béni Guil. L’histoire de la société pastorale étudiée témoigne d’une capacité d’adaptation malgré les perturbations socio-économiques et climatiques relevées depuis l’indépendance. Les grands éleveurs (plus de 200 brebis) profitent davantage des pâturages et savent mieux spéculer lors de la commercialisation que les petits éleveurs (moins de 50 brebis) qui sont davantage menacés par l’abandon de l’élevage.

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Adapting livestock management to spatio-temporal heterogeneity in semi-arid rangelands

Cited by 43 publications

References 52 publications

Drought exacerbates negative consequences of high‐intensity cattle grazing in a semiarid grassland

Drought exacerbates negative consequences of high‐intensity cattle grazing in a semiarid grassland

Holistic Management and Adaptive Grazing: A Trainers’ View

Analyse de l’évolution du système pastoral du Maroc oriental

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