Sustainable Grazing by Cattle and Sheep for Semi-Natural Grasslands in Sweden

Abstract

Despite their importance for biodiversity and other ecosystem services, many semi-natural grasslands deteriorate or have even disappeared due to insufficient grazing and neglect. Preservation of grassland habitats depends on a good understanding of sustainable grazing management as well as effective agricultural policy measures that ensure long-term economic sustainability for the farmer. Through meta-evaluation and synthesis of previous investigations and discussion of scientific literature, we aimed to evaluate factors that determine the extent to which cattle and sheep in Sweden graze semi-natural grasslands instead of more productive land and what this means for biodiversity and sustainability. We also aimed to propose which practises and policy measures may be the most cost-effective to promote habitat quality and the sustainable use of grasslands. Results from a nationwide survey of Swedish farmers’ attitudes towards agri-environmental payment schemes are discussed in relation to farm characteristics and other factors influencing the use of cattle and sheep for sustainable grazing. This study supports recommendations by environmental economists that payments should be targeted more strongly at the most valuable grasslands, emphasising the need for a more detailed and nuanced framework for classifying grasslands in Europe. A comparison with independent estimates of the area of agricultural land from nation-wide, sample-based monitoring shows that the data from official statistics normally used for nationwide evaluations are partly biased and of insufficient quality, underscoring the need for more sophisticated and precise methods for monitoring both overall trends and detailed environmental effects related to the preservation of semi-natural grasslands.

Relationships between Soil Moisture and Visible–NIR Soil Reflectance: A Review Presenting New Analyses and Data to Fill the Gaps

“…In this case, the value of normalisation is clearly demonstrated: in Figure 18b it is apparent that no 1:1 relationship exists between MC and the normalised difference in reflectance at 1860 nm and 1920 nm, while linear (Figure 18c) and exponential (Figure 18d) models may be well fitted to the normalised data in the domains of 5-25% MC or 0-55% MC, respectively. The relevant equations for these models are: y = 57.34x − 7.53 (10) y = 10.75 × e 2.1723x − 10.85 (11) Despite having different functional forms (linear and exponential) while including overlapping data, both of the normalised models perform well. The linear model has a slightly improved fit compared to the exponential model, with an R² of 1.00 and 0.97, SE of 0.01 and 0.04, and reduced chi-squared of 0.16 and 0.95, respectively.…”

“…Reasonable efforts were made not to crush soil aggregates or apply excessive force during mixing. Soil reflectance data were then collected with an ASD FieldSpec Spectroradiometer at 1 nm intervals between 400-2500 nm at 0, 5,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,30,35,40,45,50 and 55% MC (Figure A2), or until the sample was completely saturated and water began pooling in the Petri dish. The ASD was calibrated with a white Spectralon tile between each five measurements.…”

“…The measurement and monitoring of soil MC is thus relevant to many real-world contexts and research in this field is ongoing in multiple disciplines. For those applications and many other purposes, there is clear value in the development of rapid, cost-effective, broadly applicable methods for soil moisture monitoring [9][10][11].…”

Unveiling Innovations in Grasslands Productivity and Sustainability

“…This effect was particularly pronounced during periods of forage scarcity, yet it also resulted in heightened variability in forage production both within and between years. Further, in a study conducted by Glimskär et al [24], data from a Swedish farmer survey were utilized to explore attitudes towards agri-environmental payments, with a specific focus on farm characteristics and sustainable grazing by cattle and sheep. Their results emphasized the importance of directing payments towards valuable grasslands, thereby underscoring the necessity for a more refined classification framework for European grasslands.…”