Tag: grazing

Desert and semi-arid, Human-wildlife interactions, Plant and soil ecology, Research summaries

Climate challenges in savannas: How herbivore communities chart the course

Dr. Katja Irob summarises their latest study, conducted alongside colleagues, which analysed the impacts of climate change and rangeland management on degradation in Savanna ecosystems of southern Africa. Findings suggest that, in the face of climate uncertainty, farmers’ most effective strategy for securing their livelihoods and ecosystem stability is to integrate browsers and apply management of mixed herbivore communities.  Savannas as hot spots of environmental … Continue reading Climate challenges in savannas: How herbivore communities chart the course

Journal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
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
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Research summaries, Translation

De relatie tussen oogstvermindering en begrazingsdruk door ganzen – implicaties voor beheer

Nelleke Buitendijk bespreekt het nieuwste onderzoek van haar team uit het nieuw verschenen artikel. Hoogtepunten zijn onder meer dat het verminderen van de overvloed aan herbivoren zich mogelijk niet direct vertaalt in een verminderd opbrengstverlies en dat beheersinstrumenten met zorg moeten worden gebruikt. Continue reading De relatie tussen oogstvermindering en begrazingsdruk door ganzen – implicaties voor beheer

Journal of Applied Ecology4 Comments
Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Research summaries

The relationship between yield loss and goose grazing pressure – implications for management of wild herbivores

This post is also available in Dutch here. Nelleke Buitendijk discusses a newly published study from her and her colleagues on the impact of grazing on agricultural grasslands. Highlights include that decreasing herbivore abundance may not directly translate to a decreased yield loss, and that management tools should be used with care. Grazing by geese can cause a lot of damage to agricultural crops. Goose … Continue reading The relationship between yield loss and goose grazing pressure – implications for management of wild herbivores

Journal of Applied Ecology5 Comments
Careers, Research summaries, The Applied Ecologist community

Livestock grazing promotes ecosystem multifunctionality of a coastal salt marsh

Each year, Journal of Applied Ecology awards the Southwood Prize to the best paper in the journal by an author at the start of their career. In this post, Pei Zhang (Sichuan University) discusses her shortlisted paper which aimed to evaluate the ecological effects of livestock grazing and tidal flooding on salt marshes in the high and middle marsh zones of the Yangtze River Estuary, China. As … Continue reading Livestock grazing promotes ecosystem multifunctionality of a coastal salt marsh

Journal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Agriculture, Grasslands, Research summaries, Restoration

Reintroducing Grazing in California’s Vernal Pools—Can we reverse the effects of past management?

In disturbance-adapted ecosystems, the removal of disturbance can lead to losses of diversity and sometimes irreversible changes in community composition. In their latest research, Michaels and colleagues identify the thresholds at which changes occur and explore the reversibility of these shifts in a vernal pool ecosystem in Northern California. If you head out in search of one of California’s famous vernal pools, you’ll have to … Continue reading Reintroducing Grazing in California’s Vernal Pools—Can we reverse the effects of past management?

Journal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Research summaries, Video

Strategies for global rangeland stewardship: the equilibrium-non-equilibrium debate

The rangeland equilibrium-non-equilibrium debate produced several important advances in our understanding of rangeland systems. But, in their recent Review, Briske et al. ask if, collectively, these advances are still insufficient to inform the stewardship strategies necessary to sustain global rangelands? Here they provide a summary of their work. The rangeland equilibrium-non-equilibrium debate of the late 20th Century questioned the appropriate ecological model governing the function … Continue reading Strategies for global rangeland stewardship: the equilibrium-non-equilibrium debate

Journal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment
Grasslands, Pollinators, Research summaries

Are flowers enough for preserving pollinators?

Research from Buckles and Harmon-Threatt explores how prairie management strategies can affect pollinator communities both directly and indirectly, highlighting why we shouldn’t ignore what’s happening below ground. Associate Editor, Guadalupe Peralta elaborates. A Spanish version of this post is available here. Most efforts to preserve pollinators are focused on maintaining or increasing the range of flowering plants available. The reason behind this is clear: flowers … Continue reading Are flowers enough for preserving pollinators?

Journal of Applied Ecology2 Comments
Grasslands, Journal covers, Restoration

Cover stories: recovering beauty

Our August cover image by Guiyao Zhou (East China Normal University) shows how livestock grazing activities potentially alter many ecosystem functions such as carbon sequestration. But these effects can be markedly regulated by the associated global change factors (e.g., warming, nitrogen addition and drought). Here Guiyao shares the story behind the cover image and the grassland ecosystem work it represents.  These photos were taken in Wayan mountain, a very beautiful alpine meadow … Continue reading Cover stories: recovering beauty

Journal of Applied EcologyLeave a comment