Short-term changes in soil nutrients and vegetation biomass and nutrient content following the introduction of extensive management in upland sown swards in Scotland, UK

Marriott, Carol A.; Bolton, G. R.; Fisher, Julia M.; Hood, K.

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2004.09.004

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The time at which treatment effects might be seen will depend on the status and release of minerals from the soil. As nutrient losses in grazing systems are generally lower compared with cut systems due to the recycling of nutrients via animal excreta, depletion is likely to take a longer time (Marriott et al. , 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of livestock breed and grazing intensity on biodiversity and production in grazing systems. 1. Nutritive value of herbage and livestock performance

Isselstein

Griffith²,

Pradel

et al. 2007

Grass and Forage Science

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Summary Reduction of grazing intensity and the use of traditional instead of commercial breeds has frequently been recommended to meet biodiversity and production goals in sustainable grazing systems in Europe. To test the impact of such practices across a range of contrasting grassland types, integrated measurements of foraging behaviour, agronomic production and botanical, structural and invertebrate biodiversity were made over three years on four sites in the UK, Germany, France and Italy. The sites in the UK and Germany were mesotrophic grassland with high productivity and low to moderate initial levels of plant diversity, and were grazed by cattle. The French site was a semi‐natural, species‐rich grassland grazed by cattle. The Italian site contained a wider range in plant diversity, from species‐rich to mesotrophic grassland, and was grazed by sheep. The treatments were: MC, moderate grazing intensity with a commercial breed – this was designed to utilize herbage growth for optimum livestock production; LC, lenient grazing intensity with a commercial breed – this was designed to increase biodiversity by not fully utilizing herbage growth; and LT, lenient grazing intensity with a traditional breed – this was also designed to increase biodiversity. Neither fertilizers nor pesticides were applied. The nutritive value of the herbage and the performance of the livestock were measured. Mean stocking rates were proportionately 0·30–0·40 lower and mean sward heights and herbage mass on offer were 0·30–0·50 higher on the LC and LT treatments compared with the MC treatment. The proportion of live and dead material, and leaves and stems in the herbage, its chemical composition and nutritive value were little affected by the treatments. Individual livestock performance, measured as liveweight gain, showed no consistent response to treatment. In Germany, performance on the MC treatment was slightly lower than on the LC and LT treatments but no such difference was found on the sites in the other countries. Livestock breed did not have a strong effect on livestock performance. In the UK and France the traditional breeds had a lower performance but this was not the case in Germany or Italy. Livestock performance per ha of the LC and LT treatments was up to 0·40 lower than of the MC treatment. It is concluded that biodiversity‐targeted extensive grazing systems have potential to be integrated into intensive livestock production systems because the individual livestock performance reaches a similar level compared to a moderate grazing intensity. Traditional breeds did not have a production advantage over commercial breeds on extensively managed pastures.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of livestock breed and grazing intensity on biodiversity and production in grazing systems. 1. Nutritive value of herbage and livestock performance

Isselstein

Griffith²,

Pradel

et al. 2007

Grass and Forage Science

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“…Improved grassland, defined as land under agricultural management used for fodder production (hay/ silage) and grazing (excluding rough grazing), has a wide range of productivity as it is grown both in rotation with other crops on moderately fertile land, and as permanent pasture on less productive soils. From a recent experiment in upland Scotland (Marriott et al, 2005), it was found that over a 5-year period following conversion/ extensification, management of sown grassland had little effect on soil nutrient concentrations, when compared to more intensively managed systems. However, the nutrient status of the grass was lower in the extensively managed systems and at one of the three studied sites grass K concentrations reached levels close to that considered minimal in terms of normal animal nutritional requirements (Marriott et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…From a recent experiment in upland Scotland (Marriott et al, 2005), it was found that over a 5-year period following conversion/ extensification, management of sown grassland had little effect on soil nutrient concentrations, when compared to more intensively managed systems. However, the nutrient status of the grass was lower in the extensively managed systems and at one of the three studied sites grass K concentrations reached levels close to that considered minimal in terms of normal animal nutritional requirements (Marriott et al, 2005). This suggests that on certain soils, in these systems, K might become a problem as a result of extensification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Assessing potassium reserves in northern temperate grassland soils: A perspective based on quantitative mineralogical analysis and aqua-regia extractable potassium

Andrist‐Rangel¹,

Hillier²,

Öborn³

et al. 2010

Geoderma

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“…Soil texture data for deeper soil layers were taken from Cook (1995). Live and dead plant biomass was measured during the first five years of the experiment as described by Marriott et al (2005).…”

Section: Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The CENTURY model failed to simulate soil organic matter development in an acidic grassland

Foereid

Barthram²,

Marriott³

2007

Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst

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Extensive agricultural systems have been promoted all over Europe. Most studies of such systems have focused on plant species composition, while few studies have looked at soil effects. We report on an experiment at three upland sites where soil carbon, nitrogen and pH were measured twice a year for 12 years. There were four grazing treatments: no grazing, grazed to maintain a sward height of 8 cm, grazed to maintain 4 cm (all without fertiliser) and grazed to maintain 4 cm with the addition of fertiliser. There was no significant effect of treatment, but there were differences between sites over time. A simulation model, CENTURY, was adapted to the data. It also predicted little difference between treatments, but the fit to data was not very good. It was necessary to assume that the soils contained a store of undecomposed organic matter or peat that was now slowly decomposing as a result of liming. The need to modify the model to include a pH effect on decomposition in the model is highlighted.

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Short-term changes in soil nutrients and vegetation biomass and nutrient content following the introduction of extensive management in upland sown swards in Scotland, UK

Cited by 24 publications

References 38 publications

Effects of livestock breed and grazing intensity on biodiversity and production in grazing systems. 1. Nutritive value of herbage and livestock performance

Effects of livestock breed and grazing intensity on biodiversity and production in grazing systems. 1. Nutritive value of herbage and livestock performance

Assessing potassium reserves in northern temperate grassland soils: A perspective based on quantitative mineralogical analysis and aqua-regia extractable potassium

The CENTURY model failed to simulate soil organic matter development in an acidic grassland

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