No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Grazing intensity and vegetation change
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2010
Abstract
Change in the semi-natural vegetation of the hills and uplands of the UK is a relatively slow process. Whilst exogenous influences, such as climate and air quality, can influence the rate of change, the principal means whereby more rapid change can occur is through the actions of man in managing such resources to meet a range of objectives. Burning and grazing by large herbivores are the two most important management practices adopted and their interaction is central to the maintenance of vegetation in its current state and to its direction of change. This paper reviews how vegetation change associated with grazing occurs, how it can be measured, what the critical levels of grazing are for the most abundant species and what the implications of grazing are for nutrient supply for animal production systems.
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- BSAP Occasional Publication , Volume 18: Livestock Production and Land Use in Hills and Uplands , January 1994 , pp. 23 - 29
- Copyright
- Copyright © British Society of Animal Production 1994
References
Armstrong, H. A. and Sibbald, A. R. 1992. A model of pasture utilization in the hill country of the UK. Agricultural Systems and Information Technology Newsletter 4: 11–13.Google Scholar
Bircham, J. S. and Hodgson, J. 1983. The influence of sward condition on rates of herbage growth and senescence in mixed swards under continuous stocking management. Grass and Forage Science 38: 323–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Common, T. G., Wright, I. A. and Grant, S. A. 1992. The effect of grazing by cattle on animal performance and floristic composition in Nardus-dominated swards. Proceedings of the third British Grassland Society research conference, pp. 79–80.Google Scholar
Common, T. G., Wright, I. A. and Grant, S. A. 1994. Effect of grazing by cattle on animal performance and floristic composition in Nardus-dominated swards. In Livestock production and land use in hills and uplands (ed. Lawrence, T. L. J., Parker, D. S. and Rowlinson, P.). Occasional publication, no. 18, pp. 105–106. British Society of Animal Production.Google Scholar
Gordon, I. J. 1989. Vegetation community selection by ungulates on the Isle of Rhum. II. Vegetation community selection, journal of Applied Ecology 26: 65–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, I. J. and Iason, G. R. 1989. Foraging strategy of ruminants: its significance to vegetation utilization and management. Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Annual Report 1989, pp. 34–41.Google Scholar
Grant, S. A. 1987. Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Annual Report, 1987, pp. 87–88.Google Scholar
Grant, S. A. and Armstrong, H. A. 1993. Grazing ecology and the conservation of heather moorland: the development of models as aids to management. Biodiversity and Conservation 2: 79–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, S. A. and Maxwell, T. J. 1988. Hill vegetation and grazing by domesticated herbivores: the biology and definition of management options. In Ecological change in the uplands (ed. Usher, M. B. and Thompson, D. B. A.), pp. 201–214. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Grant, S. A., Barthram, G. T., Lamb, W. I. C. and Milne, J. A. 1978. Effects of season and level of grazing on the utilization of heather by sheep. I. Responses of the sward. Journal of the British Grassland Society 33: 311–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, S. A., Bolton, G. R. and Torvell, L. 1985. The responses of blanket bog vegetation to controlled grazing by hill sheep. Journal of Applied Ecology 22: 739–751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, S. A., Hamilton, W. J. and Souter, W. 1981. The responses of heather-dominated vegetation in north-east Scotland to grazing by red deer. Journal of Ecology 69: 189–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, S. A., Torvell, L., Armstrong, R. H. and Beattie, M. M. 1987. The manipulation of wet-grass pasture by grazing management. In Agriculture and conservation in the hills and uplands (ed. Bell, M. and Bunce, R. G. H.), pp. 62–64. Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.Google Scholar
Harrison, C. M. 1981. Recovery of lowland grassland and heathland in southern England from disturbance by seasonal trampling. Biological Conservation 19: 119–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heil, G. and Diemont, W. H. 1983. Raised nutrient levels change heathland into grassland. Vegetatio 53: 113–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, J. and Eadie, J. 1986. Vegetation resources and animal nutrition in hill areas: agricultural and environmental implications. Proceedings of a hill land symposium, Galway, 1984. (ed. Otoole, M. A.), pp. 118–133. The Agricultural Institute, Eire.Google Scholar
Miles, J. 1988. Vegetation and soil change in the uplands. In Biological change in the uplands (ed. Usher, M. B. and Thompson, D. B. A.), pp. 57–70, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Milne, J. A. and Grant, S. A. 1987. Sheep management on heather moorland. In Efficient sheep production from grass (ed. Pollott, G. E.), Occasional symposium, British Grassland Society no. 23, pp. 165–167.Google Scholar
Robinson, R. C. 1986. Practical herbicide use for bracken control. In Bracken ecology, land use and control technology (ed. Smith, R. T. and Taylor, J. T.), pp. 331–344. Parthenon Publishing, Carnforth.Google Scholar
Sydes, C. and Miller, G. R. 1988. Range management and nature conservation in the British uplands. In Ecological change in the uplands (ed. Usher, M. B. and Thompson, D. B. A.), pp. 323–327. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.Google Scholar
Williams, G. H. 1979. Effect of time of spraying of glyphosate on the vegetation of an upland deep peat soil. Grass and Forage Science 34: 317–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, V. M. 1986. The effect of overgrazing by sheep on the ecology of heather moorland. B.Sc. Hons Thesis, University of Strathclyde.Google Scholar