A grazing study was undertaken to examine the effect of maintaining three levels of pre-grazing herbage mass (HM) on dairy cow performance, grass dry matter (DM) production and output from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) pastures. Cows were randomly assigned to one of three pre-grazing HM treatments: 1150 - Low HM (L), 1400 - Medium HM (M) or 2000 kg DM/ha - High HM (H). Herbage accumula...

Grazing lawns are a distinct grassland community type, characterised by short-stature and with their persistence and spread promoted by grazing. In Africa, they reveal a long co-evolutionary history of grasses and large mammal grazers. The attractiveness to grazers of a low-biomass sward lies in the relatively high quality of forage, largely due to the low proportion of stem material in the swa...

The structure and dynamics of insect community in grasslands can be influenced by grazing management via altered characteristics of plant community. However, attempts to better understand the complex relationships among plants, insects, and large herbivores is still hampered largely by the interactive effects of plants, insects, and large grazers on each other. In this study, we test the hypoth...

Grazing management is a key element determining herbage production and grazing efficiency. This study measured herbage accumulation and grazing efficiency in Mombaça grass pastures (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça) subjected to intermittent defoliation managements. Treatments were combinations of 2 rest periods (grazing at either 95 or 100% canopy light interception — LI) and 2 grazing intensities ...

Human land use, such as livestock grazing, can have profound yet varied effects on wildlife interacting within common ecosystems, yet our understanding of land-use effects is often generalized from short-term, local studies that may not correspond with trends at broader scales. Here we used public land records to characterize livestock grazing across Wyoming, USA, and we used Greater Sage-grous...

Livestock grazing has the potential to substantially alter carbon (C) storage in grassland ecosystem. In this study, we evaluated the soil-plant system C (0-30cm) under three different grazing intensities by yaks (light: 1.2, moderate: 2.0, and heavy: 2.9 yaks/ha) in alpine meadow on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Soil organic C at 0-30cm depth and total plant components C increased from light gr...

Complete rest or grazing deferment is a general recommendation to encourage vegetative recovery following fire in the western United States. However, effects of grazing deferments on animal performance have not been determined. Prescribed fires were individually applied to nine separate, 1.5-ha pastures each year (2006 and 2007) for a total of 18 pastures. Grazing was deferred until spring (16 ...

Wissman, J. 2006. Grazing regimes and plant reproduction in semi–natural grasslands. The dominating grazing regime in semi-natural grasslands today is continuous grazing throughout the season, and a high grazing pressure is often advised in order to avoid litter accumulation. Traditional management, on the other hand, included late mowing and grazing, which favoured plant flowering and seed pro...