Fourteen years of restoration and extensive year round grazing with free foraging horses and cattle and its effect particularly on dry species rich riverine levee grasslands

Sýkora, K.V.; Stuiver, H.J.; Ronde, I. de; Nijs, L.J. de

doi:10.1127/0340-269x/2009/0039-0265

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Our study showed that one herbivore ha −1 is sufficient to retard secondary succession. This concurs with Putman et al (1989) and Sykora et al (2009) who studied the same density of one fallow deer and similar densities of horses and cattle, respectively. However, the model of Jorritsma et al (1999) suggests 0.1 red deer individuals ha −1 to be sufficient to prevent the regeneration of P. sylvestris in nutrient‐poor sites in The Netherlands, and other studies found deer densities between 0.09 and 0.5 deer ha −1 (Cummins & Miller 1982; Kraus 1987; Gill & Morgan 2010) sufficient to suppress tree encroachment.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Managing open habitats by wild ungulate browsing and grazing: A case-study in North-Eastern Germany

Tschöpe

Wallschläger

Burkart

et al. 2011

Applied Vegetation Science

2,218

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Question: Can wild ungulates efficiently maintain and restore open habitats? Location: Brandenburg, NE Germany. Methods: The effect of wild ungulate grazing and browsing was studied in three successional stages: (1) Corynephorus canescens‐dominated grassland; (2) ruderal tall forb vegetation dominated by Tanacetum vulgare; and (3) Pinus sylvestris‐pioneer forest. The study was conducted over 3 yr. In each successional stage, six paired 4 m2‐monitoring plots of permanently grazed versus ungrazed plots were arranged in three random blocks. Removal of grazing was introduced de novo for the study. In each plot, percentage cover of each plant and lichen species and total cover of woody plants was recorded. Results: Wild ungulates considerably affected successional pathways and species composition in open habitats but this influence became evident in alteration of abundances of only a few species. Grazing effects differed considerably between successional stages: species richness was higher in grazed versus ungrazed ruderal and pioneer forest plots, but not in the Corynephorus sites. Herbivory affected woody plant cover only in the Pioneer forest sites. Although the study period was too short to observe drastic changes in species richness and woody plant cover, notable changes in species composition were still detected in all successional stages. Conclusion: Wild ungulate browsing is a useful tool to inhibit encroachment of woody vegetation and to conserve a species‐rich, open landscape.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Managing open habitats by wild ungulate browsing and grazing: A case-study in North-Eastern Germany

Tschöpe

Wallschläger

Burkart

et al. 2011

Applied Vegetation Science

2,218

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It was also found that cattle generally prefer sites with tall-growing vegetation and higher productivity, because it is much easier to obtain for cattle than much lower vegetation [3] , [18] . Thus, in ungrazed sites generally tall-growing species occur [35] . Conversely, short-grasses like Festuca pseudovina or Poa angustifolia benefitted from grazing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional Cattle Grazing in a Mosaic Alkali Landscape: Effects on Grassland Biodiversity along a Moisture Gradient

Török¹,

Valkó

Deák³

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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Extensively managed pastures are of crucial importance in sustaining biodiversity both in local- and landscape-level. Thus, re-introduction of traditional grazing management is a crucial issue in grassland conservation actions worldwide. Traditional grazing with robust cattle breeds in low stocking rates is considered to be especially useful to mimic natural grazing regimes, but well documented case-studies are surprisingly rare on this topic. Our goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional Hungarian Grey cattle grazing as a conservation action in a mosaic alkali landscape. We asked the following questions: (i) How does cattle grazing affect species composition and diversity of the grasslands? (ii) What are the effects of grazing on short-lived and perennial noxious species? (iii) Are there distinct effects of grazing in dry-, mesophilous- and wet grassland types? Vegetation of fenced and grazed plots in a 200-ha sized habitat complex (secondary dry grasslands and pristine mesophilous- and wet alkali grasslands) was sampled from 2006–2009 in East-Hungary. We found higher diversity scores in grazed plots compared to fenced ones in mesophilous- and wet grasslands. Higher cover of noxious species was typical in fenced plots compared to their grazed counterparts in the last year in every studied grassland type. We found an increasing effect of grazing from the dry- towards the wet grassland types. The year-to-year differences also followed similar pattern: the site-dependent effects were the lowest in the dry grassland and an increasing effect was detected along the moisture gradient. We found that extensive Hungarian Grey cattle grazing is an effective tool to suppress noxious species and to create a mosaic vegetation structure, which enables to maintain high species richness in the landscape. Hungarian Grey cattle can feed in open habitats along long moisture gradient, thus in highly mosaic landscapes this breed can be the most suitable livestock type.

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“…Sedo‐Cerastion) (Sykora et al. ). The authors suggest that, for protection of these particular communities, the applied year‐round grazing intensity (0.9 animals ha −1 ) may be insufficient and could – temporally and/or locally – be increased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Scale‐dependent effects of grazing and topographic heterogeneity on plant species richness in a Dutch salt marsh ecosystem

Ruifrok

Postma

Olff

et al. 2014

Applied Vegetation Science

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Question: For over three decades, low-intensity grazing has been used to maintain or increase plant species richness in European natural areas, but the effects are highly variable. Thus far, good predictors of whether grazing will have positive effects on plant species richness are limited. How does the interplay between low-intensity grazing and topographic heterogeneity affect plant species richness at different spatial scales?Location: Long-term grazed and ungrazed salt marshes of the Dutch Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog. Methods:We selected ten plots of 2200 m 2 in grazed and ungrazed areas of our study sites, and recorded and compared plant species richness in 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1000 m 2 subplots. Topographic heterogeneity was quantified at the plot scale using the standard deviation of the elevation derived from a high-resolution (5 m 9 5 m) digital elevation model. We calculated species-area relationships to analyse our data. Results:We found that large-scale topographic heterogeneity (based on the whole plot of 2200 m 2 ) positively affects plant species richness at all scales (even at the smallest 0.1-m 2 scale), and that grazing has a positive additive effect at the small scales (0.1 and 10 m 2 ). While grazing also had a positive effect on species richness at larger scales (1000 m 2 ), the strength of the effect was dependent on the topographic heterogeneity at that scale. The effectiveness of grazing for increased plant species richness was highest at low topographic heterogeneity, and lowest at intermediate topographic heterogeneity. Effects of intermediate heterogeneity were probably counterbalanced by the effects of grazing. Conclusions:Our results suggest that the variation in elevation is an important predictor of whether low-intensity grazing has positive effects on plant species richness or not. Grazing appears most beneficial at low topographic heterogeneity, but whether these findings hold for other grazed ecosystems will depend on several factors, most importantly, the relationship between topographic and abiotic heterogeneity. Results of our study are highly relevant for the application of low-intensity grazing as tool for conservation management in salt marshes and other natural areas.

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Fourteen years of restoration and extensive year round grazing with free foraging horses and cattle and its effect particularly on dry species rich riverine levee grasslands

Cited by 11 publications

References 14 publications

Managing open habitats by wild ungulate browsing and grazing: A case-study in North-Eastern Germany

Managing open habitats by wild ungulate browsing and grazing: A case-study in North-Eastern Germany

Traditional Cattle Grazing in a Mosaic Alkali Landscape: Effects on Grassland Biodiversity along a Moisture Gradient

Scale‐dependent effects of grazing and topographic heterogeneity on plant species richness in a Dutch salt marsh ecosystem

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