Relationships between diversity of grassland vegetation, field characteristics and land use management practices assessed at the farm level

Andrieu, Nadine; Josien, Étienne; Duru, Michel

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2006.10.022

Cited by 45 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Overall, our study underpins the major role of grasslandtype diversity to ensure provision of multiple ecosystem services at the farm and territory scales through complementarity between grasslands (Andrieu et al 2007). For example, the highest forage nitrogen content and potential for honey production were found in sown legume-dominated hay meadows, notably through the abundances of the alfalfa Medicago sativa and Trifolium species which have a high apiarian potential (Pywell et al 2011).…”

Section: Agronomic and Environmental Properties According To Managementmentioning

confidence: 95%

Assessing the Effects of Grassland Management on Forage Production and Environmental Quality to Identify Paths to Ecological Intensification in Mountain Grasslands

Loucougaray

Dobremez

Gos

et al. 2015

Environmental Management

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Ecological intensification in grasslands can be regarded as a process for increasing forage production while maintaining high levels of ecosystem functions and biodiversity. In the mountain Vercors massif, where dairy cattle farming is the main component of agriculture, how to achieve forage autonomy at farm level while sustaining environmental quality for tourism and local dairy products has recently stimulated local debate. As specific management is one of the main drivers of ecosystem functioning, we assessed the response of forage production and environmental quality at grassland scale across a wide range of management practices. We aimed to determine which components of management can be harnessed to better match forage production and environmental quality. We sampled the vegetation of 51 grasslands stratified across 13 grassland types. We assessed each grassland for agronomic and environmental properties, measuring forage production, forage quality, and indices based on the abundance of particular plant species such as timing flexibility, apiarian potential, and aromatic plants. Our results revealed an expected trade-off between forage production and environmental quality, notably by stressing the contrasts between sown and permanent grasslands. However, strong within-type variability in both production and environmental quality as well as in flexibility of timing of use suggests possible ways to improve this trade-off at grassland and farm scales. As achieving forage autonomy relies on increasing both forage production and grassland resilience, our results highlight the critical role of the ratio between sown and permanent grasslands as a major path for ecological intensification in mountain grasslands.

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Section: Agronomic and Environmental Properties According To Managementmentioning

confidence: 95%

Assessing the Effects of Grassland Management on Forage Production and Environmental Quality to Identify Paths to Ecological Intensification in Mountain Grasslands

Loucougaray

Dobremez

Gos

et al. 2015

Environmental Management

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“…Grassland management practices vary widely in their disturbance impact, from low-intensity pasturing without fertilizers to mowing several times a year for fodder production (Wellstein et al, 2007). In France, Andrieu et al (2007) found that the soils of the meadows that had been cut for hay or silage were more N-rich than were the meadows that were grazed, only, because the cut meadows received more fertilizer. In our study, the meadows in groups G1-G5 tended to be distant from the main farm building, on slopes, had low moisture, less frequently fertilized, and were exploited more for grazing than for mowing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The management practices used on grasslands, which are largely influenced by topography (elevation and slope), determine the types of vegetation (e.g. Blackstock et al 1999;Andrieu et al, 2007). For simplicity, we refer to G6, G7, G8, and G9 as meadows under "more intensive management" and G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5 as meadows under "less intensive management".…”

Section: Topography Land Management Floristic Composition and Planmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrenean meadows in Natura 2000 network: grass production and plant biodiversity conservation

Reiné

Barrantes

Chocarro

et al. 2014

Span. j. agric. res.

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In semi-natural mountain meadows, yield and forage quality must be reconciled with plant biodiversity conservation. This study was performed to analyze the relationships between these three parameters. To quantify plant biodiversity and pastoral value (PV), phytosociological inventories were performed in 104 semi-natural meadows in the Central Spanish Pyrenees included in the Natura 2000 network. Forage yields were calculated and forage samples were analyzed for relative feed value (RFV). We identified two main types of meadows: (i) those that had “more intensive management,” relatively close to farm buildings, with little or no slope, dominated by grasses, with low plant biodiversity, high PV and yield, but low forage quality and (ii) those that had “less intensive management,” distant from farm buildings, on slopes, richer in “other forbs”, with high plant biodiversity and forage quality, but low PV and yield. Conservation policies should emphasize less intensive management practices to maintain plant diversity in the semi-natural meadows in the Pyrenees. The widespread view that “other forbs” have low nutritional value should be revised in future research. These species often are undervalued by the PV method, because their nutritional quality, digestibility and intake are poorly understood.

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“…Elles sont le plus souvent orientées par une perspective de gestion des ressources et d'aménagement du territoire (Andrieu et al, 2007 ;Steinfeld et al, 2013), ou par les préoccupations autour du changement climatique (Craine et al, 2013). Moins souvent, elles sont conduites sous l'angle de la construction du savoir et de la qualification des ressources par les pasteurs (Figuié et Hubert, 2012 (Krätli, 2015).…”

Section: L'unité éCologique Et Sociale Pastorale : Une Utilisation Opunclassified

Comment se construit l’invisibilité des populations pastorales au Sahel : l’expérience de la crise alimentaire de 2005 au Niger

Ancey

2016

Cah. Agric.

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Résumé -Au Sahel, les systèmes d'information élaborés et perfectionnés depuis les années 1980 n'ont pas suffi aux politiques nationales et aux actions d'urgence internationales pour gérer la spécificité des populations pastorales. Cette inadéquation renvoie aux difficultés historiques des administrations à prendre en compte la gestion commune des ressources naturelles et la mobilité des troupeaux. Elle s'explique en partie seulement par les limites des systèmes d'information, le manque de moyens ou un défaut de coordination au sein des politiques nationales et régionales. À partir de l'expérience de la crise alimentaire de 2005 au Niger et d'une quinzaine d'années de travaux de terrain au Sahel, ce texte montre comment s'est construite « l'invisibilité » des pasteurs : d'un côté, les schémas de pensée sous-jacents aux systèmes d'information n'aident pas les politiques à gérer les spécificités au coeur de la reproduction des systèmes pastoraux. Mais, d'un autre côté, la stratégie d'évitement des populations pastorales qui leur a historiquement permis d'échapper aux contraintes exercées par l'administration les dessert aujourd'hui en compromettant leur capacité à peser sur des débats fondamentaux au sein de leurs pays. Au-delà, le cas singulier du pastoralisme mérite de susciter l'attention de recherches pluridisciplinaires et de politiques prenant en compte une gestion durable des espaces, des ressources et du vivant, dans un monde exposé à de profondes mutations économiques et climatiques. food crisis in Niger. In the Sahel, the information systems built and improved since the 1980s have not allowed development policies and emergency actions to take into account some specific traits of the pastoral populations. This inadequacy goes back to historical background and partly addresses the limitations of the information systems, the lack of means or the weak coordination within and between national and regional politics. The administration struggles to cope with the common management of natural resources and the mobility of herds. Empirically grounded on a fieldwork following the 2005 food crisis in Niger and on 15 years of field enquiries in the Sahel, this article intends to demonstrate how pastoral populations have become "invisible". On the one hand, the underpinning schemes in the information systems do not help the policies managing the specific traits at the core of the reproduction of the pastoral systems. On the other hand, the pastoral population's avoidance strategy, which has historically allowed them to escape from pressure exerted by the administration, currently hinders their ability to influence fundamental debates within their countries. The singular case of pastoralism should raise awareness of multidisciplinary research and politics concerned with the sustainable management of space, resources and living within a world confronted with deep economic and climate changes.

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Relationships between diversity of grassland vegetation, field characteristics and land use management practices assessed at the farm level

Cited by 45 publications

References 35 publications

Assessing the Effects of Grassland Management on Forage Production and Environmental Quality to Identify Paths to Ecological Intensification in Mountain Grasslands

Assessing the Effects of Grassland Management on Forage Production and Environmental Quality to Identify Paths to Ecological Intensification in Mountain Grasslands

Pyrenean meadows in Natura 2000 network: grass production and plant biodiversity conservation

Comment se construit l’invisibilité des populations pastorales au Sahel : l’expérience de la crise alimentaire de 2005 au Niger

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