Controlled Grazing Studies on Molinia Grassland: Effects of Different Seasonal Patterns and Levels of Defoliation on Molinia growth and Responses of Swards to Controlled Grazing by cattle

Grant, Sheila; Torvell, L.; Common, T. G.; Sim, E. M.; Small, J. L.

doi:10.2307/2404769

Cited by 54 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…UK, Holland) due to inappropriate burning and grazing regimes (Marrs, Philips, Todd, Ghorbani, & Le Duc 2004). The utilisation of Molinia by livestock, in particular by cattle which are less selective than sheep, increases plant diversity (Grant et al 1996) and consequently habitat quality for insectivorous birds. The presence of tussock forming grasses may, however, constitute an important feature of grassland swards for foraging birds through decreased predation risk (Muchai et al 2002) and increased invertebrate food supply (Dennis, Young, & Gordon 1998; this study).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the Alps, there has been a long-term trend of pastoral abandonment due to industrialisation in the alpine valleys (Laiolo, Dondero, Ciliento, & Rolando 2004). Such variation in livestock numbers and species of large herbivore can dramatically alter vegetation structure and plant species composition (Grant, Torvell, Common, Sim, & Small 1996;Pakeman 2004), and this may have deleterious consequences for groundnesting passerines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Influence of livestock grazing on meadow pipit foraging behaviour in upland grassland

Vandenberghe

Prior

Littlewood³

et al. 2009

Basic and Applied Ecology

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Changes in grazing management are believed to be responsible for declines in populations of birds breeding in grassland over the last decades. The relationships between grazing management regimes, vegetation structure and composition and the availability of invertebrate food resources to passerine birds remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the foraging site selection of meadow pipits (Anthus pratensis L.) breeding in high intensity sheep-grazed plots or low intensity mixed (i.e. sheep and cattle)-grazed plots. We sampled above-ground invertebrates, measured vegetation height and density and conducted a vegetation survey in areas where meadow pipits were observed to forage and areas that were randomly selected. Birds foraged in areas with a lower vegetation height and density and in areas containing a lower proportion of the dominant, tussock-forming grass species Molinia caerulea. They did not forage in areas with a total higher invertebrate biomass but at areas with preferred vegetation characteristics invertebrate biomass tended to be higher in foraging sites than random sites. The foraging distance of meadow pipits was higher in the intensively grazed plots. Our findings support the hypothesis that resourceindependent factors such as food accessibility and forager mobility may determine patch selection and are of more importance as selection criteria than food abundance per se. Food accessibility seems to become an even more important selection criterion under high grazing intensity, where prey abundance and size decrease. In our upland grazing system, a low intensity, mixed grazing regime seems to provide a more suitable combination of sward height, plant diversity, structural heterogeneity and food supply for meadow pipit foraging activity compared to a more intensive grazing regime dominated by sheep. r 2009 Gesellschaft für Ö kologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. ZusammenfassungMan nimmt an, dass Veränderungen in der Beweidungswirtschaft während der letzten Jahrzehnte für die Abnahme der Populationen von Vögeln verantwortlich sind, die auf Grünland brüten. Die Beziehungen zwischen verschiedenen Arten der Beweidungswirtschaft, der Vegetationsstruktur und -zusammensetzung und der Verfügbarkeit von Invertebraten-Nahrungsressourcen für Singvögel ist bisher kaum bekannt. In dieser Studie untersuchten wir die

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of livestock grazing on meadow pipit foraging behaviour in upland grassland

Vandenberghe

Prior

Littlewood³

et al. 2009

Basic and Applied Ecology

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“…This hypothesis is in accordance with conclusions by Lokvenc (1960) and Hendrych (2001) about a quick increase of N. stricta in the past due to agricultural activities. This theory is supported by the high sensitivity of C. villosa and M. caerulea to defoliation (Grant et al 1996;Pospíilová 2005) and by N. stricta seedling recorded in Calamagrostion villosae grassland mown for several years (Hejcman, unpublished data). Based on historical records, fertilization was never practised in the Labská and Harrachov meadow localities and the area was divided into regular hay-fields in the era of intensive agriculture from the 18th century onwards and rented out for 6 years to farmers in auctions (Lokvenc 2001).…”

Section: General Synthesismentioning

confidence: 90%

Farmer decision making and its effect on subalpine grassland succession in the Giant Mts., Czech Republic

et al. 2011

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Nitrogen deposition is generally considered as a main reason for many recent plant expansions, but management changes are often not taken into account. Understanding the effects of agriculture management in the past can be decisive in the explanation of plant expansions at present. In order to understand the spread of Molinia caerulea and Calamagrostis villosa into Nardus stricta dominated subalpine grassland in the Giant Mts. (Krkonoše, Karkonosze), we undertook an experiment to explain farmer decision making and we discussed its effect on grassland succession. We measured mowing productivity, yields, biomass quality and nutrient removal in N. stricta, M. caerulea, and C. villosa dominated swards. With regard to defoliation management performed on the subalpine grasslands for at least 500 years and cancelled after the Second World War, we found the following results and conclusions. 1. Mowing productivity, yield and forage quality were lowest in the N. stricta sward, therefore farmers preferred to harvest C. villosa and M. caerulea stands if they had the possibility to select a sward for mowing. 2. Removal of all nutrients was the lowest in the N. stricta sward. With respect to these facts, the competitive advantage of N. stricta is obvious under long-term scything without fertilization. Consequently, the recent increase of defoliation sensitive species M. caerulea and C. villosa above the timber line must be evaluated with respect to both: termination of agricultural activities and recent nitrogen deposition

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“…These cultural methods could involve dierent grazing regimes or dierent grazers, particularly cattle (cf. Grant et al 1996) or ponies (Sutherland & Hill 1995). However, there is also circumstantial evidence from both localities to suggest that changes in vegetational assemblages may have coincided with climatic shifts, which implies that the vegetation type may be determined partly by prevailing climate.…”

Section: A N a G E M E N T I M P L I C A T I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent rise to dominance of Molinia caerulea in environmentally sensitive areas: new perspectives from palaeoecological data

Chambers¹,

Mauquoy²,

Todd

1999

Journal of Applied Ecology

105

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and {The Heather Trust, The Cross, Kippen, Stirlingshire FK8 3DS, UK Summary 1. A characteristic of some heath and moorland areas in maritime north-west Europe is the widespread dominance of Molinia caerulea (purple moor grass). The overwhelming local supremacy of this species concerns farmers, owing to its relatively low palatability for grazing stock, and conservationists, owing to the monotonous, species-poor landscapes that often result under Molinietum. 2. In some environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) in England and Wales, Molinietum is believed to have ousted Callunetum in recent decades; experiments sponsored to control the species have predicated its in®ltration and replacement of heather-dominated stands. 3. Experimental control of Molinia in ESAs on Exmoor, England, was paralleled by palaeoecological studies to verify its recent rise, assess its status in moorland, and test the utility of the techniques for such research. 4. Peat pro®les from two localities on Exmoor were sampled and subjected to recently developed techniques of plant macrofossil counting and to conventional pollen analysis. One locality was`white moor', clearly dominated by Molinia; the other was`grey moor' (an admixture of ericaceous shrubs) that had become invaded (allegedly recently) by Molinia. 5. Dating of pro®les employed a range of methods, including conventional radiocarbon dating, Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating and the counting of spheroidal carbonaceous particles, to attempt to delimit horizons of recent peat growth. 6. The pollen and macrofossil data con®rmed the recent ousting of Calluna and rise to dominance of Molinia in the grey moor, but also provided evidence of an earlier unsuspected (pre-Callunetum) presence of Molinia. The overwhelming dominance of Molinia in the white moor was also a recent phenomenon, but was only partly at the expense of Calluna. The palaeoecological data indicated a greater antiquity and former abundance of Molinia than is often appreciated and suggested that, over the past millennium, vegetation dominance has alternated between Callunetum and grass moor containing at least some Molinia, while the former Calluna-dominated grey moor itself developed originally from grass moor. 7. These ®ndings have implications for conservation management and for restoration targets in`degraded' moorland. Similar palaeoecological studies have since been adopted in Wales, directly to inform conservation and management policy.

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Controlled Grazing Studies on Molinia Grassland: Effects of Different Seasonal Patterns and Levels of Defoliation on Molinia growth and Responses of Swards to Controlled Grazing by cattle

Cited by 54 publications

References 17 publications

Influence of livestock grazing on meadow pipit foraging behaviour in upland grassland

Influence of livestock grazing on meadow pipit foraging behaviour in upland grassland

Farmer decision making and its effect on subalpine grassland succession in the Giant Mts., Czech Republic

Recent rise to dominance of Molinia caerulea in environmentally sensitive areas: new perspectives from palaeoecological data

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