Grazing as a Control for the Spread of Mile-a-Minute (Persicaria perfoliata) and the Restoration of Biodiversity in Plant Communities in a Lower New York State Parkland

Girard-Cartier, Caroline B.; Kleppel, Gary S.

doi:10.3368/er.33.1.82

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A rotational cycle through a subdivided pasture system, or multi-paddock system, should require at least 30 days, but rotational cycles of 60 to >100 days are not uncommon (Gerrish, 2004). Rotational cycles can be adjusted to accomplish ancillary goals, such as invasive plant management, or to respond to changing vegetation, weather patterns (e.g., drought) or other variables (see Kleppel et al, 2011;Girard Cartier and Kleppel, 2015;Bishopp, 2020). Several workers have described these methods in detail, using such terms as holistic planned grazing, managementintensive grazing and intensive rotational grazing (Savory, 1983;Butterworth, 1999, 2016;Gerrish, 2004;Flack, 2016;Salatin, 2019).…”

Section: Regenerative Agriculture and Multi-paddock Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Kleppel

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Herbivore-carnivore interactions are fundamental to grassland ecosystem functionality and to the human cultures that have long depended on these ecosystems for their nutrition. However, a large literature has developed during the past century indicating that animal agriculture is responsible for numerous negative environmental impacts. In this paper, I review literature on some of the environmental impacts of two different livestock management approaches, industrial-conventional (IC) management and regenerative-multi-paddock (RM) management. I consider the null hypothesis that the environmental impacts of ruminant livestock production are independent of the approach used to manage animals and grazing lands. It evident in the literature that managed grazing ecosystems are complex, and for certain system attributes, such as forage quality and plant community structure, the better management system is difficult to discern. In other areas definitive differences in impacts appear clearly management dependent. For instance, the soils of RM grasslands exhibit higher microbial biomass and diversity, and higher fungal: bacterial ratios than IC soils. Several impacts associated with livestock production appear to have less to do with grazing, per se, and more to do with support factors, such as feed production and manure management. The compilation of data from numerous sources suggests that RM management may reduce blue withdrawals and GHG emissions by >50%, relative to IC management. Accumulating data also suggest that a significant portion of anthropogenic CO 2-eq emissions can be removed from the atmosphere and stored in the soil by applying RM management practices. Finally, it is suggested that while research design may affect the outcomes of some studies, the quality and quantity of the science may not resolve many discrepancies in the data. It is suggested that the viability and sustainability of animal agriculture may depend upon broadening the goals of practitioners to include both food production and the restoration and protection of agricultural ecosystem services.

show abstract

Section: Regenerative Agriculture and Multi-paddock Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Kleppel

2020

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In general, ReGM promoted the diversity and abundance of perennial, productive forage grasses (Stinner et al, 1997;Chamane et al, 2017a;Huruba et al, 2018) over perennial forbs (Loeser et al, 2007;Morris and Scott-Shaw, 2019), and exotic over native species (Ruthven, 2007), although intense stocking can be employed to target invasive weeds (Girard-Cartier and Kleppel, 2015).…”

Section: Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Biodiversity-Friendly Is Regenerative Grazing?

Morris

2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Regenerative grazing management (ReGM) seeks to mimic natural grazing dynamics to restore degraded soils and the ecological processes underpinning sustainable livestock production while enhancing biodiversity. Regenerative grazing, including holistic planned grazing and related methods, is an adaptive, rotational stocking approach in which dense livestock herds are rotated rapidly through multiple paddocks in short bouts of grazing to defoliate plants evenly and infrequently, interspersed with long recovery periods to boost regrowth. The concentrated “hoof action” of herds in ReGM is regarded vital for regenerating soils and ecosystem services. Evidence (from 58 studies) that ReGM benefits biodiversity is reviewed. Soils enriched by ReGM have increased microbial bioactivity, higher fungal:bacteria biomass, greater functional diversity, and richer microarthropods and macrofauna communities. Vegetation responds inconsistently, with increased, neutral, or decreased total plant diversity, richness of forage grasses and invasive species under ReGM: grasses tend to be favored but shrubs and forbs can be depleted by the mechanical action of hooves. Trampling also reduces numerous arthropods by altering vegetation structure, but creates favorable habitat and food for a few taxa, such as dung beetles. Similarly, grazing-induced structural changes benefit some birds (for foraging, nest sites) while heavy stocking during winter and droughts reduces food for seedeaters and songbirds. With herding and no fences, wildlife (herbivores and predators) thrives on nutritious regrowth while having access to large undisturbed areas. It is concluded that ReGM does not universally promote biodiversity but can be adapted to provide greater landscape habitat heterogeneity suitable to a wider range of biota.

show abstract

Microbial community structure in pasture and hayfield soils of the Helderberg region of New York State: a comparison of management strategies

Kleppel

2019

Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grazing as a Control for the Spread of Mile-a-Minute (Persicaria perfoliata) and the Restoration of Biodiversity in Plant Communities in a Lower New York State Parkland

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

Do Differences in Livestock Management Practices Influence Environmental Impacts?

How Biodiversity-Friendly Is Regenerative Grazing?

Microbial community structure in pasture and hayfield soils of the Helderberg region of New York State: a comparison of management strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About