The abandonment of pastures often leads to a remarkable deterioration of grasslands, caused by the spread of intrusive, herbaceous and woody species which reduces the general quality of pastures. Different treatments aimed at improving the grassland and enhancing the forage quality of herbaceous resources have been developed to face this problem. We report the results of a five-year experiment conducted in a protected area of central Italy (the "Laghi di Suviana e Brasimone" regional park) on an abandoned pasture inside a beech forest encroached by intrusive species (mainly bracken). We analyzed the effect on sward's specific composition and grazing value of two agronomic factors: (i) the establishment method (ploughing followed by sowing of a forage mixture versus no intervention), and (ii) the number of cuts performed on vegetation during the growing season (0, 1 or 2 cuts). Plots were arranged according to a split-split-plot experimental design with three replications, with the sampling dates as the main factor, the establishment technique as the subplot factor, and the number of cuts as the sub-subplot factor. In each plot, data were recorded once a month from June to September every year from 2006 to 2010, in order to assess the botanical composition and the quality of the sward. The main pastoral and botanical parameters of pastures were significantly affected by both cutting and sowing. Establishment by sowing significantly reduced the presence of bracken, even with no cuts, with strong effects on the qualitative value of the pasture. A single cut resulted in an efficient recovery of the pasture as compared to cutting twice, especially in sown plots. Our results confirmed that the regular and continued maintenance of the recovered areas is crucial to ensure the long-term preservation of the results achieved by the improvements.
The diminution of pastoral activities in marginal areas, and consequently of livestock grazing, implies a strong encroachment of invasive vegetation. The conservation of the open areas is however particularly important for wildlife management. With this aim, this paper describes the results obtained in a protected area on the Apennine mountains (Italy), encroached by Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn. Two restoration practices were carried out by the Administration of the Regional Park of the Laghi di Suviana e Brasimone (Bologna, Italy), in order to reverse the infestation of bracken and restore pastures within the park. The pasture, only grazed by wild animals, was improved through different treatments (ploughing followed by cuttings vs harrowing), each followed by seeding of a forage mixture. Our results showed better performance of the ploughing both as pastoral value of recovered pasture and as botanical composition. Some differences in the effects of the two restoration techniques were also found on the biodiversity index and on floristic richness. Data about grazing selection of the single botanical species have also been collected. The tesults also showed different behaviour in feeding preferences for wild ungulates in comparison to domestic stocks, giving a better evaluation of the real forage availability for wild herbivores
In many European countries, the abandonment of traditional practices in the last decades produced remarkable effects on agricultural land use. In marginal mountain lands, one of the most evident outcomes is the reduction of the surfaces occupied by open habitats, mostly represented by meadows and pastures. The ecological consequences of reduced grazing in the pastures concerned not only the vegetation structure but also the floristic composition and the biodiversity of the herbaceous component, which is modified by the progressive establishment of woody species. For these reasons, it is important to carry out specific programs of habitat improvements in order to restore and maintain herbaceous vegetation, both for faunistic purposes and biodiversity conservation. In this note we describe the effectiveness of agronomical intervention carried out to enhance pasture quality in a protected area, once grazed by domestic animals, now utilised exclusively by wild fauna. The study was carried out for five years in a Regional Park (Parco Regionale dei Laghi di Suviana e Brasimone, Emilia Romagna, central Italy), in an experimental area where the vegetation was characterised by a high presence of bracken fern. Agronomical operations consisted of the restoration of a pasture, using an appropriate forage mixture. After the restoration, data collection concerned botanical composition, floristic richness and biodiversity of vegetation. Moreover, the utilization of single species by wild fauna was assessed by means of the defoliation rate methodology in order to evaluate the real consumption of each plant species. The results obtained in the studied area confirmed the efficiency of the improvement in terms of botanical composition and pastoral value of the pasture and they provided detailed information about selection of different plant species by wild ungulates.
Abandonment of traditional agricultural practices can produce remarkable effects on land use and on the vegetal composition of marginal areas. This is particularly true in the once grazed zones in the mountain environments, that are now affected by encroachment of shrubby vegetation. The conservation of these open areas and the preservation of a correct ratio pasture/wood are of extremely importance for wild animals. In this note we describe the effectiveness of agronomical intervention carried out to enhance pasture quality in a protected area of central Italy. Data collection concerned botanical composition, floristic richness and biodiversity of vegetation, before and after the intervention efforts. Moreover, data on utilization of single species were collected in order to evaluate the real consumption of each plant species by wild animals. Results confirmed the efficiency of the improvement of the studied area in terms of botanical composition and of pastoral value and they provided useful indications about the actual utilization of non forage plants by wild ungulates
Fecal nitrogen of free ranging and captive herbivores is correlated with dietary nitrogen, as well as other dietary chemical characteristics. Besides, only few experimental studies examined in depth the precision of these relationships. This study investigates the correlation between fecal and dietary nitrogen in fallow deer (Dama dama), using data from 38 feeding trials collected from captive subjects. Significant linear regressions were found for all the dietary and fecal chemical components, but only nitrogen showed a noteworthy result (R2=0.76), very similar to the results obtained by several authors in other deer species (Robbins, 1993). Use of fecal nitrogen however, has been criticised because plant secondary compounds, such as tannin, may artificially inflate levels of fecal nitrogen; moreover, the binding effect of tannin is strongly reduced in mixed diets. After all, fecal nitrogen confirms its usefulness in studies about feeding strategies of free living ruminants
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