Intensity-dependent effects of cattle and sheep grazing in sand grasslands — Does livestock type really matter?

IF 2 3区环境科学与生态学 Q3 ECOLOGY

Applied Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2023-04-26 DOI:10.1111/avsc.12727

Gergely Kovacsics-Vári, Judit Sonkoly, Katalin Tóth, Andrea McIntosh-Buday, Patricia Díaz Cando, Viktória Törő-Szijgyártó, Nóra Balogh, Luis Roberto Guallichico Suntaxi, Francis David Espinoza Ami, László Demeter, Béla Tóthmérész, Péter Török

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Aims

By analysing cattle- and sheep-grazed sand grasslands, we tested the following hypotheses: (i) livestock type has a stronger effect on the vegetation characteristics than grazing intensity; (ii) sheep grazing results in lower biomass and species and functional diversity than cattle grazing, regardless of intensity; and (iii) increased grazing intensity causes a shift of the trait composition in grasslands.

Location

Sand grasslands in the Nyírség region, East Hungary.

Methods

We selected 26 sand grassland sites grazed by cattle or sheep and classified them into four intensity levels. Vegetation composition was surveyed in 2 m × 2 m plots. We harvested the above-ground biomass from 20 cm × 20 cm plots; then dried and sorted it to live biomass, litter, moss, and lichen. We compared Rao dissimilarity index, species richness, Shannon diversity, evenness, and the community-weighted means of nine vegetative and generative traits along a grazing intensity gradient. We calculated functional richness, evenness, and divergence for comparison.

Results

We found that some diversity metrics and community-weighted means of most studied traits were significantly affected by grazing intensity. Several characteristics were also affected by the interaction of grazing intensity and livestock type, but none of the studied characteristics was affected by livestock type in itself. Increasing Rao dissimilarity index peaking at the fourth grazing intensity level was detected, but for other multitrait indices, no such changes were proven, except for functional divergence, which was the lowest at the first intensity level. Graminoid, forb, and litter biomass were significantly affected by intensity, but none of the biomass fractions was affected by livestock type.

Conclusions

We suggest that for the management of sand grasslands, grazing intensity should be carefully adjusted, considering not only livestock units per hectare. For practical recommendations, well-defined, long-term experiments studying different livestock and habitat types along an intensity gradient would be essential.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

沙质草原放牧牛羊的强度依赖效应——牲畜类型真的重要吗?

目的通过分析牛羊放牧的沙地草地，验证以下假设:(1)牲畜类型对植被特征的影响大于放牧强度;(ii)无论放牧强度如何，放牧羊的生物量、物种和功能多样性都低于放牧牛;(3)放牧强度的增加引起草原性状组成的变化。位置:东匈牙利Nyírség地区的沙草原。方法选取26个放牧牛羊的沙质草地，将其划分为4个强度等级。在2 m × 2 m样地调查植被组成。我们在20 cm × 20 cm的地块上收获地上生物量;然后将其干燥并分类为活的生物质、凋落物、苔藓和地衣。在不同的放牧强度梯度下，比较了饶差异指数、物种丰富度、香农多样性、均匀度和9个营养和生殖性状的群落加权平均值。我们计算了功能丰富度、均匀度和散度进行比较。结果放牧强度对部分多样性指标和群落加权均值有显著影响。放牧强度和牲畜类型的交互作用也对若干特征产生影响，但所研究的特征均不受牲畜类型本身的影响。Rao差异指数在放牧强度第4级达到峰值，但除功能差异指数在放牧强度第1级最低外，其他多性状指数均无显著变化。禾本科、禾本科和凋落物生物量受强度影响显著，但各生物量组分不受家畜类型的影响。结论沙质草原的管理应合理调整放牧强度，不仅要考虑每公顷家畜数量;对于实际建议来说，沿着强度梯度研究不同牲畜和栖息地类型的明确的长期实验是必不可少的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

10.70%

发文量

审稿时长

3 months

期刊介绍： Applied Vegetation Science focuses on community-level topics relevant to human interaction with vegetation, including global change, nature conservation, nature management, restoration of plant communities and of natural habitats, and the planning of semi-natural and urban landscapes. Vegetation survey, modelling and remote-sensing applications are welcome. Papers on vegetation science which do not fit to this scope (do not have an applied aspect and are not vegetation survey) should be directed to our associate journal, the Journal of Vegetation Science. Both journals publish papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities.