Sheep-Grazing as a Management Tool for Heathland Conservation and Regeneration in the Netherlands

Bakker, Jan P.; Bie, S. de; Dallinga, J.H.; Tjaden, P; Vries, Yzaak de

doi:10.2307/2403525

Cited by 77 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Whilst sheep of other breeds have been reported to usually congregate in the same places at night [3], Scottish Blackface individuals do not return to the same place every night [31]. This is consistent with this study's findings of multiple nocturnal rest sites for nine tracked individuals (Fig.…”

Section: Sheep Distributionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…A reduction in sheep numbers is often recommended [3,7,34]. Additional recommendations include sheep exclusion from severely damaged areas until vegetation has recovered [8,54], cutting thrice-yearly of undamaged, but arguably undergrazed, Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench-dominant areas to promote recovery by Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull [47] and mixed grazing of cattle or goats with sheep [10,33].…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Williams¹,

Walls²,

Walsh³

et al. 2009

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Athenry, Co. Galway, 2 Applied Ecology Unit, Centre for Environmental Science, National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland (phone: +353-91-492294; fax: +353-91-494598) Abstract. Irish and UK uplands and peatlands are of international importance but are under threat from several factors, including heavy grazing pressure. Sheep preferentially graze patches of acid grassland with short dense swards, sometimes referred to as 'grazing lawns', and have been implicated in damage to uplands. The aim of this study was to increase our understanding of resource selection by grazers to further inform the design and implementation of conservation strategies. Grazing lawn frequency and habitat condition were mapped and GPS collars were used to track Scottish Blackface sheep on a hill farm in Ireland. Weighted compositional analysis (multivariate analysis of variance) was used to test for random use of different categories of grazing lawn frequency and habitat condition. Grazing lawn frequency was spatially uneven and habitat condition ranged from undamaged to very severely damaged areas. Typically, selection of differing categories of habitat condition was not significant (P>0.05), although the highest selection rank was consistently for the 'moderate-undamaged' category. Sheep most selected 1 ha grid squares containing numerous/extensive grazing lawns (P<0.05) day, night and yearround. As a simple, efficient indicator of hill use by sheep, which would be a valuable input in models predicting grazing impact on hill vegetation, the mapping of grazing lawn frequency is suggested. Keywords: agriculture; ecology; environment; resource management; resource selection IntroductionIrish and UK uplands and peatlands are of international importance due to the limited global distribution of the habitats, plant communities and fauna they support [9,56]. Many of these habitats and associated species are protected under the EC Habitats (92/43/EEC) and Birds (79/409/EEC) Directives [21], and are included in biodiversity action plans [16,37] and agri-environment scheme measures [14,49]. Despite this, the quality of remaining upland and peatland continues to be under threat from heavy grazing pressure, burning, afforestation, peat extraction, undergrazing and/or land abandonment [22,48,56,57].Damage in this study refers to habitat conditions which fail to meet biological conservation objectives. While habitats are affected by natural phenomena such as topography [24] and wind-driven rain [11], management practices including grazing [55] play a key role in habitat condition and can be altered. Therefore, the focus of this study is on grazer behaviour as grazing is the predominant management practice on

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Section: Sheep Distributionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Williams¹,

Walls²,

Walsh³

et al. 2009

Appl Ecol Env Res

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“…Almost identical habitat rankings were found when diurnal and nocturnal locations were compared, and detailed selection results suggest that Scottish Blackface sheep selected acid grassland most for grazing and resting, day and night. This contrasts with findings by Bakker et al (1983) and Hewson and Wilson (1979) who, using direct observations, reported that sheep occupied different habitats at night compared with daytime use. Probable explanations for these inconsistencies include different habitat assemblages studied by the above authors and the fact that nocturnal locations in this study included twilight movement.…”

contrasting

confidence: 98%

Habitat Selection by Grazing Animals in Heterogeneous Environments: The Case of Hill Sheep In Western Ireland

Williams¹,

Walls²,

Walsh³

et al. 2012

Biology & Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Acade

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Uplands and peatlands are of high conservation importance and, while grazing animals are a key management tool for conservation, grazing-related damage can easily occur. Damage to European uplands is most notable in Britain and Ireland, where Scottish Blackface is the dominant hill sheep breed. Therefore, if conservation strategies that address concerns of grazing-related damage are to be strengthened, the Scottish Blackface is a good subject and a better understanding of their resource use would be advantageous. While previous habitat selection studies of hill sheep have depended on direct observation, this particular study uses Global Positioning System tracking collars to determine ewe locations. The study site is on a mountainside in western Ireland that is dominated by blanket bog (52.8%) and wet heath (35.3%). Habitat mapping and ewe range and resource selection analyses indicated that habitat selection was significant (P B0.05), typically acid grassland is selected most followed by wet heath, with blanket bog habitats selected least. Seasonal variation in habitat selection was also evident. These results (1) corroborate the findings of previous work elsewhere on plant community/habitat selection and (2) provide additional information that can be used to strengthen existing or new hill grazing management models that are used to aid decision-making. In particular, management plans should take into consideration the availability (both in terms of total area and connectivity) of the preferred sheep habitats and specifically consider grazing pressure in and between those habitats.

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“…There is ample evidence that large grazing animals, both domestic and wild, if properly chosen in terms of species and densities, can be useful management tools (Oosterveld, 1975(Oosterveld, , 1985Van de Veen & Van Wieren, 1980;Bakker et al, 1983;Thalen, 1984a). This is now widely recognised in The Netherlands.…”

Section: Grazing As a Management Practice For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2). The changes in vegetation structure caused by selective grazing, trampling, and manuring are followed by changes in the plant species composition ( Van de Laar & Slim, 1979;Bakker et al, 1983;Bakker et al, 1984). Relatively little research has been done on changes in the fauna under extensive grazing.…”

Section: Pattern Development Under Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the structural changes in vegetation under different grazing regimes

Thalen¹,

Poorter²,

Lotz³

et al. 1987

Disturbance in Grasslands

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Sheep-Grazing as a Management Tool for Heathland Conservation and Regeneration in the Netherlands

Cited by 77 publications

References 19 publications

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Proposing an Efficient Indicator of Grazer Distribution on Heterogeneous Hill Vegetation

Habitat Selection by Grazing Animals in Heterogeneous Environments: The Case of Hill Sheep In Western Ireland

Modelling the structural changes in vegetation under different grazing regimes

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