Tag: livestock

Agriculture, Grasslands, Plant and soil ecology, Practitioners, Research summaries

Can pasture-fed livestock farming practices improve the ecological condition of grasslands?

Innovative farmers are adopting agro-ecological approaches to producing beef which they believe are better for biodiversity and soils. Lisa Norton (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) and colleagues investigated the validity of these claims by comparing their grassland to those across the wider countryside surveyed as part of the national GB Countryside Survey.  Public concerns about the environmental impacts of meat production add to the … Continue reading Can pasture-fed livestock farming practices improve the ecological condition of grasslands?

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Human-wildlife interactions, Pathogens and disease, Research summaries

A framework to prioritize disease risk between wildlife and livestock

In their latest research, Khanyari and colleagues develop a three-step framework to assess cross-species disease transmission risk between migrating wildlife and livestock in data-limited circumstances and across social-ecological scale. Shared use of land between wildlife and livestock can lead to disease transmission, harming agricultural livelihoods and impacting wildlife conservation. This is especially problematic when endangered wildlife live in close proximity to largely resource poor people. … Continue reading A framework to prioritize disease risk between wildlife and livestock

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Human-wildlife interactions, Research summaries

Igor Khorozyan: How to protect cattle from leopard attacks

In this Q&A, we discussed with author Igor Khorozyan the background behind his team’s recently published article: “Studded leather collars are very effective in protecting cattle from leopard (Panthera pardus) attacks” and the wider implications of the research, as well as finding a little bit more about the author himself. The research What’s your article about? In this article, we studied how good protective collars … Continue reading Igor Khorozyan: How to protect cattle from leopard attacks

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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

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Agriculture, Infographic, Research summaries

Sustainable intensification: our quest for the ‘holy grail’

Is it possible to meet food demands and increase production without the damaging costs to the environment? Patrick White et al. tackle this challenge in their recently published research in the journal. As the world population grows, our finite land is put under increasing pressure to meet food demands. Historically we have increased agricultural yields by increasing the intensity of agricultural practices – for example … Continue reading Sustainable intensification: our quest for the ‘holy grail’

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Editor's Choice

Editor’s Choice 55:2 – How does grazing by wild ungulates and livestock affect plant richness?

The Editor’s Choice for issue 55:2 is written by Associate Editor, Jörg Müller. The selected article is Livestock activity increases exotic plant richness, but wildlife increases native richness, with stronger effects under low productivity by David J. Eldridge et al. Browsing and grazing by wild ungulates and livestock affect the vegetation layer in complex ways, creating many management conflicts in silviculture, restoration and conservation. However, certain types of herbivory … Continue reading Editor’s Choice 55:2 – How does grazing by wild ungulates and livestock affect plant richness?

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

The only way is up: reptiles in trees resist the impacts of cattle grazing

With Reptile Awareness Day coming up, Heather Neilly comments on the effects of cattle grazing and her recent article, Arboreality increases reptile community resistance to disturbance from livestock grazing. Grazing by domestic livestock occurs on 25% of Earth’s land surface. With such vast landscapes being used, it is important to understand how this land use affects the native wildlife in these areas. We know that … Continue reading The only way is up: reptiles in trees resist the impacts of cattle grazing

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Agriculture, Research summaries

Landscape structure and human management influence biodiversity value of livestock production systems

In this post Associate Editor, Elizabeth Nichols  and student, Jordan Reyes comment on the recent paper by Alvarado et al.,The role of livestock intensification and landscape structure in maintaining tropical biodiversity, published in Journal of Applied Ecology. The United Nations predicts that by the year 2050 the world population will have increased by 34%, reaching nearly 9.7 billion people. How can we support this growing human … Continue reading Landscape structure and human management influence biodiversity value of livestock production systems

Journal of Applied Ecology1 Comment
Research summaries

Bison vs. rabbits: the need for science-based management decisions in livestock–wildlife conflicts

In this post, Dustin Ranglack describes his recent paper with co-authors Susan Durham and Johan du Toit “Competition on the range: science vs. perception in a bison–cattle conflict in the western USA” In the western USA, few wildlife species are as controversial as American bison (Bison bison). Bison seem to be one of the few wildlife species that aren’t allowed to be wild. They are primarily … Continue reading Bison vs. rabbits: the need for science-based management decisions in livestock–wildlife conflicts

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Agriculture, Human-wildlife interactions, Research summaries, Themed collections

People, predators and perceptions

This guest post was written by Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi, who was awarded the 2013 Southwood Prize for his paper People, predators and perceptions: patterns of livestock depredation by snow leopards and wolves published with Yash Veer Bhatnagar, Stephen Redpath and Charudutt Mishra. Carnivores and pastoralist make very uneasy neighbours! Carnivores affect the livelihood of the pastoralist by preying on the livestock, and pastoralists kill the carnivores … Continue reading People, predators and perceptions

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