Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health, Ecosystem Function, and Ecosystem Services

Teague, Richard; Kreuter, Urs P.

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2020.534187

Cited by 130 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 93 publications

(213 reference statements)

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“…For example, rewilding might result in woodland expansion on successional habitats, such as heathland and calcareous grassland, which are currently deemed to be of high biodiversity value. It should also be recognised that increases in flows of some ES from agricultural land can be achieved through means other than restoration or rewilding, for example by improved husbandry of crops and livestock, as advocated in approaches such as “regenerative agriculture” and “sustainable intensification” [ 76 , 77 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological restoration of agricultural land can improve its contribution to economic development

et al. 2021

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Given the negative environmental impacts of intensive agriculture, there is an urgent need to reduce the impact of food production on biodiversity. Ecological restoration of farmland could potentially contribute to this goal. While the positive impacts of ecological restoration on biodiversity are well established, less evidence is available regarding impacts on economic development and employment. Potentially, prospects for economic development could be enhanced by ecological restoration though increased provision of ecosystem services, on which some economic activity depends. Here we examined this issue through the development of contrasting land use scenarios for the county of Dorset, southern England. Two scenarios of future agricultural expansion were compared with two scenarios of landscape-scale ecological restoration and the current situation. Impacts on provision of multiple ecosystem services (ES) were explored using InVEST models and proxy values for different land cover types. Impacts on economic employment were examined using an economic input-output model, which was adjusted for variation in ES flows using empirically determined ES dependency values for different economic sectors. Using the unadjusted input-output model, the scenarios had only a slight economic impact (≤ 0.3% Gross Value Added, GVA). Conversely, when the input-output model was adjusted to take account of ES flows, GVA increased by up to 5.4% in the restoration scenarios, whereas under the scenario with greatest agricultural expansion, GVA was reduced by -4.5%. Similarly, employment increased by up to 6.7% following restoration, compared to declines of up to -5.6% following maximum agricultural expansion. These results show that the economic contribution of rural land is far greater than that attributable to agricultural production alone. Landscape-scale restoration of agricultural land can potentially increase the contribution of farmland to economic development and employment, by increasing flows of multiple ES to the many economic sectors that depend on them.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological restoration of agricultural land can improve its contribution to economic development

et al. 2021

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“…There is evidence that RG with few paddocks per herd, longer grazing periods and shorter recovery periods can result in limited plant and animal production advantages compared to continuous set-stocking at low stocking rates (Briske et al, 2008. Low stocking rate as well as improperly applied RG strategies do not facilitate degraded resource recovery or provide adequate economic returns over time (Jakoby et al, 2014(Jakoby et al, , 2015Teague and Kreuter, 2020). Therefore, some grazing research has concluded that there were no improvements in ecological and livestock indicators in RG compared to continuous grazing (CG) and recommended stocking rate adjustment as the primary tool for preventing overgrazing (e.g., Briske et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, some grazing research has concluded that there were no improvements in ecological and livestock indicators in RG compared to continuous grazing (CG) and recommended stocking rate adjustment as the primary tool for preventing overgrazing (e.g., Briske et al, 2008). However, grazing management success stories reported at the whole ranch scale are often underpinned by the implementation of adaptive RG strategies (Gerrish, 2004;Provenza et al, 2013;Savory and Butterfield, 2016;Teague and Barnes, 2017;Teague and Kreuter, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding producers' perspectives on rotational grazing benefits across US Great Plains

Wang

Jin

Kreuter

2021

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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Experimental findings on rotational grazing (RG) trials have generally differed from producer observations of RG outcomes on commercial scale ranches. Factors such as small plot size, short duration trials and relatively rigid grazing management that lacks responsiveness to the dynamic and complex social-ecological systems in grazing trials could all contribute to this disparity in outcomes. These differences call for a better understanding of producer perceptions of RG benefits. To fill this knowledge gap, we surveyed 4500 producers from the Northern and Southern Great Plains of the USA. Among the 875 respondents, 40.5% reported that they used continuous grazing (CG), 52.7% implemented RG management in an extensive manner, while 6.8% adopted management intensive grazing. Compared with CG users, adopters of RG in its extensive and intensive form reported an average annual increase of grazing season by 7.6 and 39.3 days, respectively. When controlling for producer demographics, ranch management goals and other rancher characteristics, we found soil and climate heterogeneity significantly affected the perceived relative benefits of RG vs CG strategies. Therefore, instead of focusing on whether RG outperforms CG per se, future research could focus on comparison of RG benefits under different management intensity levels and identifying soil and climate conditions where RG benefits are more noticeable.

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“…The ecosystems in arid and semi-arid lands have suffered several degradation processes in the last decades such as soil and fertility loss, reduction in the forage productivity and changes in the physiognomy of forests, woodlands and rangelands. The degradation causes are due to deforestation, intense and continuous grazing, wildfires, and oscillations in the climatic regimes (McNeely, 2003;Teague and Kreuter, 2020;Chang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biophysical evaluation of fertility islands in the Arid Chaco (Argentina)

Karlin¹,

Coirini²,

Ringuelet³

et al. 2021

AgriS

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Forests degradation in arid and semi-arid lands may conduct to the formation of “fertility islands” due to the accumulation of soil particles, water, nutrients and biomass under trees and shrubs. In the Arid Chaco fertility islands are characterised by the presence of Prosopis flexuosa and Larrea divaricata. The objective was to evaluate biophysical variables in soil, microclimate and the plant response under canopy and in intercanopy. Infiltrability, microtopography, soil bulk density, soil and air moisture and temperature, and light were measured under the canopy, at the limit of the canopy and in the intercanopy. These variables were correlated with the litter and plant frequencies associated with the fertility islands. P. flexuosa canopy and litter understorey tend to maintain more soil moisture compared with the intercanopy, by reducing soil and air temperature and by increasing air moisture. This increases the frequency of Dyksterhuis’ decreaser species. Under L. divaricata the canopy effect is not as effective as that of P. flexuosa and understorey plant response is not significative.

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Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health, Ecosystem Function, and Ecosystem Services

Cited by 130 publications

References 93 publications

Ecological restoration of agricultural land can improve its contribution to economic development

Ecological restoration of agricultural land can improve its contribution to economic development

Understanding producers' perspectives on rotational grazing benefits across US Great Plains

Biophysical evaluation of fertility islands in the Arid Chaco (Argentina)

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