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...

The interaction of resource availability and disturbance can strongly affect plant species richness and the spread of exotic plants. Several ecological theories posit that disturbance mediates the richness-reducing effects of increased competition as resource levels rise. In the low-nutrient serpentine grasslands of the San Francisco Bay Area, the fertilizing effects of atmospheric nitrogen (N)...

The American Bison (Bison bison Linnaeus) in the Henry Mountains are one of the last free-roaming, genetically pure herds of bison remaining in North America. Anecdotal evidence indicates that this herd is utilising a cattle winter range during the summer and fall, creating a conflict between the state agency that manages the bison, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and local ranchers. In...

Wax discs have been used previously on intertidal rocky shores to record the grazing activity of gastropods. This study has evaluated this methodology for recording grazing of four common intertidal microalgal grazers on intertidal shores in New South Wales, Australia. In the laboratory, the four species examined-the patellid limpet, Cellana tramoserica (Sowerby), the trochid, Austrocochlea por...

Resilience-based frameworks, founded upon the existence of multiple attractors and regime shifts, have long been applied to complex dynamics of semiarid systems. Utilizing seed addition tests in experimental plantings along grazing gradients, we applied an increase-when-rare criterion to identify bidirectional (states can invade each other) and directional (only one state can invade) transition...

Overgrazing is one of the most primary causes of desertification in semi-arid zones of China. From 1992 to 1994 we conducted a grazing experiment in Naiman (lat. 42◦58′N, long. 120◦43′E, 345 m asl), Inner Mongolia, China to elucidate desertification mechanisms. Our experimental field, which was covered with some short grasses, legumes and forbs, included four plots where grazing sheep numbers d...

Substrates located within the defended territories of Hawaiian damselfish for 1 year were subjected to intermediate grazing intensity and, as a result, showed greater diversity of algae than substrates either protected within fish-exclusion cages or exposed to intense fish grazing outside territories. Thus, this damselfish enhances local diversity on reefs through "intermediate-disturbance" eff...

Pihlgren, A. 2007. Small-scale structures and grazing intensity in semi-natural pastures effects on plants and insects. Doctor’s dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 91-576-7312-1. Semi-natural grasslands characterized by nutrient poor soils are among the most species-rich habitats in Europe and they harbour many red-listed species. The area of semi-natural grasslands has decreased drastically du...