The role of grazing in creating suitable sward structures for breeding waders in agricultural landscapes

Tichit, Muriel; Durant, Daphné; Kernéïs, Éric

doi:10.1016/j.livprodsci.2005.05.010

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…It was necessary to fine-tune the grazing intensity over time to ensure the conservation of several bird species. The tuning involved temporal shifts in grazing sequences to minimise nest trampling and create optimal grass heights for bird survival (Tichit et al, 2005a and2005b;Durant et al, 2008). The temporal shifts were action levers in the trade-off between the ES, because they improved bird conservation without causing major loss of fodder production.…”

Section: An Inventory Of the Es Provided By Plfs In Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Applying the ecosystem services framework to pasture-based livestock farming systems in Europe

Rodríguez-Ortega

Oteros‐Rozas

Ripoll-Bosch

et al. 2014

Animal

122

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The concept of 'Ecosystem Services' (ES) focuses on the linkages between ecosystems, including agroecosystems, and human well-being, referring to all the benefits, direct and indirect, that people obtain from ecosystems. In this paper, we review the application of the ES framework to pasture-based livestock farming systems, which allows (1) regulating, supporting and cultural ES to be integrated at the same level with provisioning ES, and (2) the multiple trade-offs and synergies that exist among ES to be considered. Research on livestock farming has focused mostly on provisioning ES (meat, milk and fibre production), despite the fact that provisioning ES strongly depends on regulating and supporting ES for their existence. We first present an inventory of the non-provisioning ES (regulating, supporting and cultural) provided by pasture-based livestock systems in Europe. Next, we review the trade-offs between provisioning and non-provisioning ES at multiple scales and present an overview of the methodologies for assessing biophysical trade-offs. Third, we present non-biophysical (economical and socio-cultural) methodologies and applications for ES valuation. We conclude with some recommendations for policy design.

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Section: An Inventory Of the Es Provided By Plfs In Europementioning

confidence: 99%

Applying the ecosystem services framework to pasture-based livestock farming systems in Europe

Rodríguez-Ortega

Oteros‐Rozas

Ripoll-Bosch

et al. 2014

Animal

122

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“…In harsh areas the perennity of livestock farms depends on the capacity of the animals to survive and reproduce in situations of serious food restriction (drought, pastoral rearing in arid zones). In upland, wet or rough areas, it relies on their ability to maintain their performance levels (growth rates, milk production) while making an efficient use of low quality food resources they are incited to graze to answer to socio-economic challenges, like opening up areas suitable for leisure activities, maintaining fire-breaks, enhancing landscapes of value [44] and biodiversity [73]. In more intensive systems, female adaptabilities are also largely requested because of high reproductive rhythms and environmental constraints [74].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive abilities of the females and sustainability of ruminant livestock systems. A review

Blanc

Bocquier²,

Agabriel

et al. 2006

Anim. Res.

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-In a systemic approach, the breeder can be considered as the decisional component of the livestock system, whereas animals are usually depicted to be part of its biotechnical component. The animal itself is a biological system whose ability to survive, grow, reproduce and cope with the environnement and livestock practices play a major role in the ability of the livestock system to sustain. In such a conceptual representation of the system, the reproductive females draw a peculiar attention since they determine in a great part the productivity and the durability of the system through their abilities to maintain their own production level (milk production, numeric productivity) and to save their reproductive efficiency (repeated pregnancies and lactations) over years. Considering the animal level and its lifespan, it is clear that the abilities to adapt rely on behavioural and physiological regulatory processes. The study of the biological mechanisms involved in the adaptation to undernutrition is particularly interesting since regulatory processes implied in energy metabolism may interfere directly or indirectly with the reproductive function, and consequently, with the durability of the livestock system. A biological significance of such relationships between nutrition and reproduction is given that they allow the female to be informed about the associated risk of entering a productive process facing the uncertainty of the nutritional context. Although the general mechanisms implied in the ability to adapt to the underfeeding constraint are conserved among ruminants, the thresholds (or priorities) may largely differ according to the breed within the same species. Hence, in order to evaluate the ability of the ruminant livestock systems to perpetuate in hard environments (maintaining their production levels) or to assess sustainable objectives (opening bushy landscapes by increasing grazing pressure), animals' inherent adaptive potentialities have to be well known. Résumé -Capacités adaptatives des femelles et durabilité des systèmes d'élevage. Synthèse bibliographique. Dans une représentation systémique du système d'élevage, l'éleveur incarne la composante décisionnelle du système, tandis que l'animal constitue, avec la ressource, sa composante biotechnique. L'animal lui-même peut être considéré comme un système biologique soumis à un environnement contraignant, dont les aptitudes à survivre, croître, se reproduire et s'adapter jouent un rôle fondamental dans la pérennité du système d'élevage. Les femelles reproductrices tiennent une place particulière dans cette représentation car non seulement elles déterminent une large part de la productivité du système par leur propre niveau de production (production laitière, productivité numérique), mais elles en assurent également sa reproductibilité au cours du temps (investissement reproductif). A l'échelle de l'individu et de sa durée de vie, les modalités d'adaptation reposent sur des processus de régulations comportementales et physiologiques. De tels pro...

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“…Grazing intensity Shapes vegetation height and heterogeneity; high levels of grazing create short, homogeneous swards that can be unsuitable for foraging, sheltering, and nesting Livestock trampling of nests and chicks Occasional egg and chick predation by livestock Vickery et al 2001, Tichit et al 2005, Smart et al 2006, Katrínardóttir et al 2015 Harvest timing Agricultural machinery can destroy clutches and chicks when timing of harvest coincides with nesting and chick rearing Can alter invertebrate food availability through changes in vegetation structure Schekkerman and Beintema 2007, Kleijn et al 2010, Schroeder et al 2012 Leaving pools intact Pools are an important source of invertebrate prey, and of water for drinking and plumage maintenance …”

Section: Conservation Management Impact On Waders Referencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling biodiversity conservation and agricultural expansion in the subarctic environment of Iceland

Jóhannesdóttir¹,

Alves²,

Gill³

et al. 2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Intensified agricultural practices have driven biodiversity loss throughout the world, and although many actions aimed at halting and reversing these declines have been developed, their effectiveness depends greatly on the willingness of stakeholders to take part in conservation management. Knowledge of the willingness and capacity of landowners to engage with conservation can therefore be key to designing successful management strategies in agricultural land. In Iceland, agriculture is currently at a relatively low intensity but is very likely to expand in the near future. At the same time, Iceland supports internationally important breeding populations of many ground-nesting birds that could be seriously impacted by further expansion of agricultural activities. To understand the views of Icelandic farmers toward bird conservation, given the current potential for agricultural expansion, 62 farms across Iceland were visited and farmers were interviewed, using a structured questionnaire survey in which respondents indicated of a series of future actions. Most farmers intend to increase the area of cultivated land in the near future, and despite considering having rich birdlife on their land to be very important, most also report they are unlikely to specifically consider bird conservation in their management, even if financial compensation were available. However, as no agri-environment schemes are currently in place in Iceland, this concept is highly unfamiliar to Icelandic farmers. Nearly all respondents were unwilling, and thought it would be impossible, to delay harvest, but many were willing to consider sparing important patches of land and/or maintaining existing pools within fields (a key habitat feature for breeding waders). Farmers' views on the importance of having rich birdlife on their land and their willingness to participate in bird conservation provide a potential platform for the codesign of conservation management with landowners before further substantial changes in the extent of agriculture take place in this subarctic landscape.

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The role of grazing in creating suitable sward structures for breeding waders in agricultural landscapes

Cited by 23 publications

References 18 publications

Applying the ecosystem services framework to pasture-based livestock farming systems in Europe

Applying the ecosystem services framework to pasture-based livestock farming systems in Europe

Adaptive abilities of the females and sustainability of ruminant livestock systems. A review

Reconciling biodiversity conservation and agricultural expansion in the subarctic environment of Iceland

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