Grassland responses to shelter — a review

Radcliffe, J. E.

doi:10.1080/03015521.1983.10427718

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…3), any increases in grass yield are likely to be limited to within 8-12 H of the shelterbelt. This was subsequently confirmed by one study in New Zealand where accumulated pasture growth in tonnes of DM/ha was 3.30 at 0.3 H, 5.51 at 3 H, 5.40 at 5 H, and 3.28 at 12 H with a mature tree shelterbelt (Radcliffe 1983). In another study in Scotland, the growth of Festuca arundinacea and Lolium perenne was examined in plots equipped with porous artificial shelter and compared with plots without shelter.…”

Section: Pasture Productivitymentioning

confidence: 89%

“…It can be particularly noticeable with poplars because of their shallow roots, but the effect can be diminished with a shallow ditch which isolates the trees from the field (Radcliffe 1983). If a ditch is to be used, some thought should be given to the likelihood of snowdrifts forming, leading to trapping of livestock.…”

Section: Pasture Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This raises the following questions: what form should the shelter take, where should it be sited, and what are the likely benefits? Some of the information which can help answer these questions is anecdotal, and the research information is fragmented into separate scientific disciplines (Marshall 1967;Grace 1977;McCutcheon et al 1981;Radcliffe 1983;Holmes & Sykes 1984;Sturrock 1988;Blackshaw & Blackshaw 1994). This review attempts to pull such information together to help veterinarians, agricultural advisers, and farmers appraise the available documented evidence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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The role of shelterbelts in protecting livestock: A review

Gregory

1995

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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Planting a shelterbelt is the only option open to some New Zealand livestock farmers for reducing the adverse effects of wind. Wind reduces pasture productivity by mechanically agitating the leaves and this results in inhibition of plant cell expansion. It causes greater evaporation and physical damage to the plants, which also reduce pasture yield. At any given temperature, wind raises the lower critical temperature for an animal, and this is potentially wasteful in terms of energy utilisation, and it increases the risk of hypothermia and mortality in particularly sensitive stock such as newborn lambs and recently shorn ewes. Ewes that are shorn pre-lambing seek protection from the wind and there is a greater likelihood of them lambing within shelter if it is available. The tendency to lamb in isolation away from shelter depends on breed and weather conditions. For most purposes, the best shelterbelt is one which has between 40 and 60% porosity that is distributed evenly throughout its length and height and protects the maximum area of pasture from the wind. Under cold conditions shelter has been shown to improve pasture yield, and growth rate, ovulation rate, and wool growth rate in cattle and sheep, and to reduce lamb mortality and abortions that are induced by hypothermia. Providing shelter from the sun during hot conditions has been shown to improve milk yield, milkfat yield, freedom from mastitis, and conception rates in dairy cattle, and growth rate in fattening cattle. The welfare benefits from A95037 shelterbelts and shadebelts are implicit in their greater use during cold-windy and hot-sunny conditions and they relate to the thermal comfort of animals. The purpose of snow shelterbelts is to filter the wind and trap snow without forming snowdrifts in which stock are likely to be trapped. Their effectiveness depends largely on the amount of snow falling relative to the size and porosity of the shelterbelt. Trees-on-pasture systems provide protection from wind and raise the minimum grass temperature, but because of the competition introduced with the trees they are usually less productive in terms of livestock yield than pasture alone. There are a number of disadvantages in growing shelterbelts but many of them can be controlled with appropriate management procedures.

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Section: Pasture Productivitymentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Pasture Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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The role of shelterbelts in protecting livestock: A review

Gregory

1995

New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research

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“…Wind is an important feature of New Zealand's climate (Radcliffe 1983) and several studies have focused on the performance of shelterbelts over crops. Some of them have also analysed the effects of various densities of evergreen trees (P. radiata) on reducing wind in space-planted tree-pasture systems.…”

Section: Windmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silvopastoralism in New Zealand: review of effects of evergreen and deciduous trees on pasture dynamics

2008

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Complex interactions between livestock, trees and pasture occur in silvopastoral systems. Between trees and pasture, competition for soil resources (nutrients and water) occurs, becoming especially relevant when one of them is in scarce supply. Trees reduce light and water reaching the understorey layers according to tree density and canopy size. However, they may ameliorate extreme climatological features (reducing wind speed and evapotranspiration, and alleviating extreme temperatures), and improve soil properties, for example, deciduous tree litter may contribute to increased pH and soil nutrient concentrations. During tree establishment, there are generally negligible effects on pasture, irrespective of tree type. However, there is a decline in pasture production and nutritive value under shade with increasing tree age and higher stand density. Under the same conditions, deciduous trees affect pasture later (extinction point of pasture occurs at 85% of canopy closure) than evergreen trees (about 67% for Pinus radiata D. Don). This is mainly because deciduous trees have a leafless period that enables pasture recovery, and their litter smothers pasture less intensely because of its relatively fast decomposition. Silvopastoral studies conducted in New Zealand are reviewed to discuss these effects, and differences in the effects of evergreen and deciduous trees are shown using the examples of P. radiata, and Populus and Salix spp. respectively, which exist in many temperate countries. Future research needs are outlined.

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“…These benefits may have both economic and welfare implications. The use of shelter during lambing has been well researched and reviewed (Radcliffe 1983;Gregory 1995;Hawke and Dodd 2003;Pollard 2006), but there has been less research into the commercial production benefits of shelter and shade outside the lambing period, including the benefits on quantity and quality of the feedbase and on landscape health. The purpose of this review is to summarise research that has been conducted, identify potential production and welfare benefits that have not been evaluated, provide some preliminary guidelines on the use of shelter and shade and, present priorities for future research and extension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shelter and shade for grazing sheep: implications for animal welfare and production and for landscape health

et al. 2023

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Shade and shelter may provide protection from cold and heat stress, a source of feed during prolonged or seasonal drought, specific essential nutrients, increased pasture and crop production and improved landscape health. Cold stress contributes to the average of 8% (single) and 24% (twin) of lambs that die within 3 days of birth in Australia and the estimated 0.7% of the Australian flock that die post-shearing during extreme or unseasonal weather. Shelter has resulted in an average reduction in mortality of 17.5% for twin-born lambs and 7% for single-born lambs according to Australian studies and decreases the susceptibility of ewes to metabolic disease and possibly dystocia. Because many of the published studies are from research areas where cold stress is expected, they are not indicative of industry-wide responses, a research priority is to determine the probability of lamb and ewe deaths from cold stress across different sheep production areas. Although shelter may improve lamb survival, ewes do not always choose to lamb in a sheltered location. For this reason, there is a requirement for research into the voluntary use of shelter in commercial-sized paddocks and the role that nutritive value of shelter plays in attracting and holding ewes to shelter, and to their lambs. Heat stress may also result in lamb deaths and influences feed conversion efficiency, appetite, reproduction, wool growth and disease susceptibility. The consequences of heat stress may go unnoticed over a yearly production cycle, although there is some evidence that shade may increase weaning rates and feed intake of grazing sheep. There are ancillary benefits from shade and shelter. Trees may improve crop production through reducing wind damage and evapotranspiration and provide timber. Shrubs provide feed during the summer-autumn feed gap or drought, are useful for the management of land degradation and provide habitat for native fauna. It is clear that shade and shelter in the correct locations provide a range of benefits to livestock and the landscape; nevertheless, adoption appears low. Research that focuses on defining the benefits on a farm or landscape scale is required to support extension programs.

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Grassland responses to shelter — a review

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

The role of shelterbelts in protecting livestock: A review

The role of shelterbelts in protecting livestock: A review

Silvopastoralism in New Zealand: review of effects of evergreen and deciduous trees on pasture dynamics

Shelter and shade for grazing sheep: implications for animal welfare and production and for landscape health

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