Tag: Grasslands

Grasslands, Plant and soil ecology, Pollinators, Research summaries

Can livestock help restore pollination services?

Anna Traveset and Carlos Lara-Romero talk us through the effect of green infrastructure on the restoration of pollination networks and plant performance in semi-natural dry grasslands across Europe. Alongside colleagues, Traveset and Lara-Romero suggest that enhancing ecosystem functions while avoiding biotic homogenisation is a necessity. Introduction and objectives In Europe, semi-natural grasslands are living treasures, nurtured by traditional pastoralism that has maintained their unique biodiversity.  However, … Continue reading Can livestock help restore pollination services?

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Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries, Translation

Beste managementpraktijken om opbrengstverlies door ganzen te verminderen

Monique de Jager bespreekt recent onderzoek met collega’s dat probeert te begrijpen wat de meest kosteneffectieve manier is om gewasverlies als gevolg van grazende ganzen te verminderen. Na het uitvoeren van een model met verschillende begrazings- en schrikscenario’s, bleek dat de beste beheeroptie is om ganzen te laten grazen. Continue reading Beste managementpraktijken om opbrengstverlies door ganzen te verminderen

Journal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

Best management practices to decrease goose-related yield loss

This blog post is also available in Dutch here. Monique de Jager discusses recent research with colleagues that seeks to understand the most cost-effective way of decreasing crop loss as a result of grazing geese. After running a model with several different grazing and scaring scenarios, it was found that the best management option is to leave geese to graze. Introduction The rebound of the … Continue reading Best management practices to decrease goose-related yield loss

Journal of Applied Ecology3 Comments
Grasslands, Monitoring and methods, Research summaries

The response of sub-adult savanna trees to six successive annual fires in the Guinean savannas of West Africa.

In a six year experimental field study, N’Dri and colleagues demonstrate how burning during the annual long dry season can be managed to maintain a target density of trees, with implications for use in the other humid savannas. Fires in humid savannas are set by humans for different management purposes. In the Guinean savannas of West Africa, successive annual fires are common, with stakeholders generally … Continue reading The response of sub-adult savanna trees to six successive annual fires in the Guinean savannas of West Africa.

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Grasslands, Research summaries

Weathering the storm: plant community flood resilience in intensively managed grasslands and the role of the plant economic spectrum

As flooding events increase in frequency and severity, how will managed grasslands weather the storm? Can we use the traits or ‘strategies’ of the plants that make up these grasslands to predict their resilience? Natalie Oram and colleagues address this issue in their new Journal of Applied Ecology article. Here they discuss their work further. Long story short: in flooded conditions, resource-conservative plant communities are … Continue reading Weathering the storm: plant community flood resilience in intensively managed grasslands and the role of the plant economic spectrum

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Agriculture, Coastal and marine, Grasslands

Conservation grazing on saltmarsh: are agri-environment schemes helping?

Following a recently published Research Article, Jennifer Smart explores this question and considers ways we can continue to work with the farming community to achieve conservation goals. Jennifer worked on this post with the British Ecological Society Policy team. In contemporary landscapes, grazing by domesticated cattle and sheep has become an increasingly important aspect of grassland management. This is largely because natural processes such as … Continue reading Conservation grazing on saltmarsh: are agri-environment schemes helping?

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