Continuous grazing systems (CGS) are still widely used for managing cattle herds in the south-western Alps. Recently, Pastoral Plans have been used as a policy tool to improve grazing management. Rotational grazing systems (RGS) with large paddocks (i.e. ~100 ha on average) and stocking rate adjustments based on recommended levels calculated from vegetation surveys have been implemented through Pastoral Plans to improve the uniformity of grazing. A case study was conducted to compare grazing distribution patterns of beef cows during the summer under CGS and RGS on subalpine and alpine pastures within Val Troncea Natural Park in the south-western Alps of Italy. Cows were tracked with global positioning system collars at 15-min intervals under both CGS and RGS. Cattle distribution patterns were aggregated in both grazing systems, but in the RGS concentration of grazing was less clustered and the selection of vegetation communities was more homogeneous than in CGS. Under CGS, cows were attracted (P < 0.05) to salt placements and areas with high forage pastoral values, and they avoided (P < 0.05) steep slopes. In contrast, cows under RGS were not influenced by (P > 0.05) high pastoral value, and they avoided areas farther from water (P < 0.05).Similar to CGS, cows under RGS were attracted (P < 0.05) to salt and avoided (P < 0.05) steep slopes. In the RGS, cows used steeper slopes and areas farther from salt and water in the second half of the grazing period within a paddock compared with the first half, which likely explains the improvement in uniformity of grazing with RGS. Our findings indicate that Pastoral Plans that combine appropriate stocking levels and RGS are valid policy and management tools that have the potential to improve grazing distribution on rough sub-alpine and alpine pastures in the south-western Alps. RJ14043 M. Probo et al. Pastoral Plans in the south-western Italian AlpsAdditional keywords: cattle, GPS-tracking, grazing system, habitat selection, management, mountain pasture. IntroductionLivestock have grazed the Alps for thousands of years (Bätzing 2005). The indigenous forests have been fragmented into a mosaic of forest, shrub and grassland patches (Dullinger et al. 2003), creating cultural landscapes with semi-natural open habitats of high ecological value (Gellrich et al. 2007). Over the past decades, alpine livestock enterprises have become less economically competitive than lowland farms (Mattiello et al. 2002; Erschbamer et al. 2003) and the income differential between farm and non-farm jobs (Gellrich et al. 2007) has led to human depopulation, socioeconomic changes (Tasser and Tappeiner 2002), and a reduction of available manpower in alpine agricultural areas (Camacho et al. 2008). As a result, seminatural grasslands have been abandoned and land use has changed dramatically in several parts of the Alps (MacDonald et al. 2000; Freléchoux et al. 2007; Jewell et al. 2007;Parolo et al. 2011; Garbarino et al. 2013).The south-western Italian Alps are one of the alpine regions more deeply...
In recent decades, pastoral abandonment has produced profound ecological changes in the Alps. In particular, the reduction in grazing has led to extensive shrub encroachment of semi-natural grasslands, which may represent a threat to open habitat biodiversity. To reverse shrub encroachment, we assessed short-term effects of two different pastoral practices on vegetation and dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea). Strategic placement of mineral mix supplements (MMS) and arrangement of temporary night camp areas (TNCA) for cattle were carried out during summer 2011 in the Val Troncea Natural Park, north-western Italian Alps. In 2012, one year after treatment, a reduction in shrub cover and an increase in bare ground cover around MMS sites was detected. A more intense effect was detected within TNCA through increases in forage pastoral value, and in the cover and height of the herbaceous layer. Immediately after treatment, changes in dung beetle diversity (total abundance, species richness, Shannon diversity, taxonomic and functional diversity) showed a limited disturbance effect caused by high cattle density. In contrast, dung beetle diversity significantly increased one year later both at MMS and TNCA sites, with a stronger effect within TNCA. Multivariate Regression Trees and associated Indicator Value analyses showed that some ecologically relevant dung beetle species preferred areas deprived of shrub vegetation. Our main conclusions are: i) TNCA are more effective than MMS in terms of changes to vegetation and dung beetles, ii) dung beetles respond more quickly than vegetation to pastoral practices, and iii) the main driver of the rapid response by dung beetles is the removal of shrubs. The resulting increase in dung beetle abundance and diversity, which are largely responsible for grassland ecosystem functioning, may have a positive effect on meso-eutrophic grassland restoration. Shrub encroachment in the Alps may therefore be reversed, and restoration of grassland enhanced, by using appropriate pastoral practices.
Agro-pastoral decline in European mountain areas has recently caused changes to traditional landscapes with negative consequences on semi-natural grassland conservation and the associated biodiversity and ecosystem services. In the Italian Alps, grassland patches enclosed in a forest matrix are progressively disappearing. Two alpine valleys (Pesio and Pejo), having similar land-use history, were chosen as representative of management conditions of western and eastern Italian Alps, respectively. This study aims at interpreting the effect of abandonment on grassland patch plant diversity, considering land cover changes of the last 60 years, and assessing the role of ecological, topographic, management and landscape configuration on current grassland species richness. The total area of grassland patches has declined by 54% and 91% at Pesio and at Pejo, respectively. Actual grassland patch species richness was mostly influenced by ecological factors, such as quantity of light, soil moisture and reaction, then by topographic features, especially slope, and finally by management intensity. Landscape factors exerted a slightly significant effect on plant diversity. In the two valleys, differences on management practices were detected. Even though in the western valley the conservation of several grazing activities contributed to slow down the process of patch reduction, many species-rich grasslands were generally under-grazed. Conversely, in the eastern valley, despite a denser road network, the stronger decline of grassland patch extension was linked to the hay making decline. At the same time, overuse of grassland patches near farms reduced plant species richness. As a conclusion, plant species richness was weakly related to the area of grassland patches and current and historical landscape configuration were of relatively lower importance than ecological, topographic and management factors, when evaluated at patch-level.
Abbreviations TNCA = temporary night camp areas; MMS = mineral mix supplements. NomenclaturePignatti (1982) for plant species, Aeschimann et al. (2004) for plant communities Abstract Aims: To reverse shrub encroachment and restore grassland vegetation, two pastoral practices were implemented over shrub-encroached areas: the arrangement of temporary night camp areas (TNCA) and the strategic placement of mineral mix supplements (MMS) for cattle. The aim was to assess the effects produced on (1) vegetation structure and (2) botanical composition of both pastoral practices in order to identify their potential to reverse shrub encroachment and restore semi-natural grassland vegetation.Location: Shrub-encroached sites in Val Troncea Natural Park, southwest Italian Alps.Methods: We measured the effects produced by both practices on vegetation cover and height, cover of species belonging to different vegetation units, biodiversity indices (species richness and Shannon diversity index), forage pastoral value, and average indicator value for soil nutrient content from 2011 to 2014 along permanent linear transects. Data were analysed with GLMMs, multiple response permutational procedure (MRPP) and principal response curve (PRC).Results: Both practices were effective in reducing shrub cover and increasing average height of the herbaceous layer, but within TNCA a marked increase in herbaceous cover was also evident. Moreover, the arrangement of TNCA increased the cover of meso-eutrophic grassland and fringe and tall herb species and decreased the cover of boreal-like shrubland and woodland species. The main effect produced by the placement of MMS on botanical composition was an increase in cover of fringe and tall herb species. Plant biodiversity was enhanced by the arrangement of TNCA but not by the placement of MMS, and the implementation of both practices increased forage pastoral value and average indicator value for soil nutrient content.Conclusions: The arrangement of TNCA was the most effective pastoral practice to reverse shrub encroachment, restore semi-natural meso-eutrophic grassland vegetation and increase plant diversity, herbage mass and forage quality.
Highlights1. Biodiversity-friendly rotational grazing (BR) was applied using cattle and sheep 2. The BR increased the flower cover of the vegetation community 3. Butterfly and bumblebee abundance and diversity increased under BR as did cattle 4. Ground beetles were not affected by grazer species or BR 5. Herbage mass and animal performances were comparable with continuous grazing AbstractGrazing management is an important tool to preserve insect biodiversity. Although literature has discussed the importance of grazing pressure adjustment to support grassland insect communities for the ecosystem services they provide, little has been published on the economic sustainability of such management adjustments to date. This study compared continuous grazing (CG) to an innovative rotational grazing system (the biodiversity-friendly rotation -BR), where a subplot was excluded from grazing for two months during the main flowering period. The effects of grazing two different species (cattle and sheep) within both systems were also evaluated. The aims were to assess the effects on butterfly, bumblebee, and ground beetle assemblages, along with the impact on herbage mass and animal performance. The BR enhanced both the abundance and species richness of flower-visiting insect assemblages and it was observed that cattle provided better results than sheep grazing. A multivariate redundancy analysis highlighted that most of the flower-visiting species (including almost all the endangered and locally rare species) were favoured by BR-cattle treatment, mainly due to the high percentage of flower cover and sward heterogeneity involved in this treatment. However, grazing Page 3 of 29 system and grazer species did not affect ground beetle species richness or abundance. Moreover, herbage mass and animal performance (live weight and body condition score) were comparable between CG and BR throughout the grazing season. The BR could be a useful management system to enhance grassland flower-visiting insect assemblages whilst meeting farm production objectives, especially in protected environments where insect conservation is a major target.
Throughout the last decades, agricultural abandonment in European mountain areas has caused changes in traditional livestock management with consequences for semi-natural grassland use and vegetation. In the Western Italian Alps, continuous extensive grazing has become the simplest and the most common system for managing large cattle herds. As a result, limited grazing in many rugged locations has led to an extensive shrub-encroachment of semi-natural grasslands in the sub-alpine and alpine belts. A study was conducted to assess if the provision of mineral mix supplements (MMS): (1) increases the use of steep and shrub-encroached locations by beef cows, and (2) helps restore meso-eutrophic grassland vegetation around supplement-deployment sites. During the summer grazing season, MMS were placed within 10 steep and shrub-encroached areas in two adjacent pastures (364 and 366 ha), and 12 cows were tracked with GPS collars. For each supplement site, a paired control site was identified, and vegetation surveys were performed in the surrounding areas of both sites. Placement of MMS increased the use of areas within 12 m of supplement locations compared with corresponding control areas. Cattle use of areas within 100 m of the MMS sites was also greater than expected by chance. The use by cattle, associated with trampling, grazing and faecal deposition, reduced the cover of shrubs and oligotrophic herbaceous species and increased the average nutrient N-value and forage pastoral value of the new vegetation types established around MMS sites 2 years after their use by cattle. Strategic placement of MMS appears to be a sustainable practice to restore sub-alpine and alpine shrub-encroached grasslands. Nevertheless these results must be considered preliminary as a longer period is needed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of this practice for the restoration of semi-natural grasslands.
Effects of traditional salt placement (TS) and strategically placed mineral mix supplements (MMS) on cattle distribution were compared in the Italian Alps. Salt was placed within flat and herbaceous sites following the traditional method of farmers, whereas MMS blocks were placed on steep and shrub-encroached sites within three large pastures (44 ha on average). Each TS and MMS site was paired with a control site and eleven cows were tracked with GPS collars. Within 10 and 50 m of TS and MMS, treatment sites were used more than control sites (P < 0.05). No differences were detected (P > 0.05) in the number of visits by cows within 10 and 50 m of TS and MMS placements. No differences were detected in time spent within 10 m of TS and MMS placements, but cows spent more time (P < 0.05) within 50 m of TS. With either TS or MMS, cattle preferred areas with gentler terrain, higher forage pastoral value and closer to water (P < 0.001). When MMS was available cattle also preferred areas near MMS (P < 0.001). Shrub and herbaceous cover decreased near MMS placements (P < 0.05) from cattle grazing and trampling. Placement of MMS is a promising tool to enhance cattle distribution and potentially reduce shrub-encroachment in rugged mountain pastures.Traditional salt vs. mix supplements
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