GRASSLAND

ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

 Represents one of Based on cycling of
the most important nutrients in the
resources world- system of soil –
wide plants – animals

GRASSLANDS =
Basis for natural SOIL - PLANT –
Plant and wildlife
conservation
and managed
ecosystems
ANIMAL
INTERACTIONS

Livestock
production systems
Grasslands
• BIOM dominated by grasses, legumes and other forbs
rather than large shrubs or trees
• Two main divisions of grasslands: (1) tropical grasslands,
called savannas, and (2) temperate grasslands
 • Tropical warm or hot climates
• Annual rainfall about 508 – 1270 mm
• Wet season x dry season

• Soils: porous, with rapid drainage of

water. only a thin layer of humus (the
organic portion of the soil created by
Savanna partial decomposition of plant or
animal matter), which provides
vegetation with nutrients.

• Frequent fires and large grazing

mammals kill seedlings, thus keeping
the density of trees and shrubs low.
 Temperate grassland

• Temperature: hot summers and cold winters.

• Moderate rainfall 500-900 mm, effect on sward height
• Soils: deep and dark, with fertile upper layers, nutrient-rich
from the growth and decay of deep, many-branched grass
roots
• Usually managed for farming or livestock grazing

• Steppes: dry areas of grassland with 250 – 500 mm of annual

rainfall, Overgrazing, plowing, and excess salts left behind by
irrigation waters have harmed some steppes. Strong winds
blow loose soil from the ground after plowing, especially
during droughts
 Rangelands – J. of rangelads ecology

• Vast natural landscapes in the form of grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands,

and deserts.
• grow primarily native vegetation, rather than plants established by humans
• Types: tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands,
woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras.
• Do not include: barren desert, farmland, closed canopy forests, or land covered by solid
rock, concrete and/or glaciers.
• Managed principally with extensive practices such as managed livestock grazing and
prescribed fire rather than more intensive agricultural practices of seeding, irrigation,
and the use of fertilizers.
• Livestock grazing can be used to manage rangelands by harvesting forage to produce
livestock, changing plant composition or reducing fuel loads
Rangelands
• Fire is an important regulator of
rangeland vegetation, whether set by
humans or resulting from lightning.
• Fires tend to reduce the abundance of
woody plants and promote herbaceous
plants including grasses, forbs, and grass-
like plants. The suppression or reduction of
periodic wildfires from desert shrublands,
savannas, or woodlands frequently invites
the dominance of trees and shrubs to the
near exclusion of grasses and forbs
 Rangelands:Multiple purposes and
ecosystem services
•a habitat for a wide array of game and non-game animal
species;
• a habitat for a diverse and wide array of native plant
species;
• a source of high quality water, clean air and open spaces;
• a setting for recreational hiking, camping, fishing, hunting
and nature experiences;
• low-input, fully renewable food and fiber production
system of grazing industries.
• Because of the diversity of goods and services derived from
rangelands, their management and health are linked closely
to the economic well being of many communities.
Rangelands
Multiple purposes and ecosystem
services
• a habitat for a wide array of game and non-
game animal species;
• a habitat for a diverse and wide array of native
plant species;
• a source of high quality water, clean air and
open spaces;
• a setting for recreational hiking, camping,
fishing, hunting and nature experiences;
• low-input, fully renewable food and fiber
production system of grazing industries.
• Because of the diversity of goods and services
derived from rangelands, their management
and health are linked closely to the economic
well being of many communities.
 SOIL - PLANT – ANIMAL INTERACTIONS
Great migrations of animals - Why? What is the key
point? SEEKING FOR RESOURCES

• Driving ecosystems (McNaughton 1990, Frank et al 1998)

SERENGETI – MASAI MARA
ecosystem
RESOURCE PRODUCTION
Net Primary Production
• The amount of biomass
stored in plants
• Depends on:
• Mineral nutrients in soil
• Rainfall and temperature
• Consumption by herbivores
 RESOURCE PRODUCTION
Net Primary Production
• How to measure it?
• Plant biomass measurements (mass per area per time unit = kg
. m-2 . yr-1)
• Satelite/ Digital imagery as proxy (e.g. NDVI = normalized
difference vegetation index)
 RESOURCE
PRODUCTION
NET PRIMARY
PRODUCTION
RESOURCE PRODUCTION
Net Primary Production
Effect of animal grazing

Effect of fire
RESOURCE COMPETITION
How many animals may a rangeland sustain?
• Depends on conditions
→ NPP
• BUT!
• More animals means a
smaller share of te
resource supply

• COMPETITION
• Direct = aggressive interactions,
• Indirect = resource depression
POPULATIONS ARE DENSITY-DEPENDENT
RESOURCE COMPETITION
How many animals may a rangeland sustain?
• … in as interaction between 2 species
that limits the distribution or
performance of one or both of them

• Resource competition: organisms use

a common resource that is scarce
• Interference competition: an
organism defend a resource even that
is not in short supply

• Compete for food, water, place to live,

mates – leave the area, use different
resource, etc.
 RESOURCE PARTITIONING
• STRATEGIES:

• Grazing succession
• Ecological separation of grazers

• Browsers decrease competition by

being solitary and/or diversify plant
resources
GRAZING SUCCESSION and FACILITATION
larger animals make the grazing at the lower levels more
favourable for smaller animals by removing coarser material
SERENGETI – MASAI MARA ecosystem
• Resident herds of species:topi,buffalo, hartebeest, impala,waterbuck,
reedbuck, roan antelope, oribi, gazelles
• Hot spots:
• Congregations reduce the threat of predators
• Content of important elements (Na, P) in grass on these spots

FORAGE FACILITATION:
each herbivore wave facilitate grazing of subsequent species
SERENGETI – MASAI MARA ecosystem
RESOURCE PARTITIONING
Main driver = BODY SIZE → different use of forage resources
differing in quality and abundance (Ritchier and Olff 1999)

MULTIPLE SCALES: habitat, diet items – plant parts, plant

height, plant species, nutrients vs. antinutritive compounds –
such studies are rare

SEASONAL CHANGES IN FOOD AVAILIBILITY → Diet overlap

in wet season, highly diverged in dry season due to body size,
not digestive strategy (Kleynhans et al. 2011) – but only grazers!
 RESOURCE COMPETITION
How many livestock a rangeland may
sustain?
STOCKING RATE

• Forage production and

stocking rate are critical in
making timely management
decisions and key parameters
for livestock production
profitability
RESOURCE COMPETITION
How many livestock a rangeland may sustain?
STOCKING RATE

• Stocking rate: the number of animals on the entire grazing

unit for the entire grazing season. Animal Unit Months (AUM)
per unit area
• Stocking density: the number of animals in a particular area at
specific time and increases as the number of animals in a
paddock increase or as paddock size decreases and is based on
level of grazing management.

Stocking
density

Stocking rate
RESOURCE COMPETITION
How many livestock a rangeland may sustain?
STOCKING RATE
• Stocking rates are based on the amount of forage
that is standing at the end of the growing season in
an ungrazed condition.
• End-of-season standing crop is not total production
because much of the production has been lost to
decomposition and insects. Actual forage
production is often twice as large as the end-of-
season standing crop. That is why end-of-season
standing crop is used for estimating stocking rate.
• Forage utilization of key plant species must be
known in order to effectively adjust the stocking
rate of rangeland forages.
RESOURCE COMPETITION
How many livestock a rangeland may sustain?
• MP – estimation of maximal number of animals which can be on the
pasture during the whole grazing season (How many LU per ha?)
• PA – total area of pasture for the whole grazing season (e.g. 10 ha)
• DM – estimated average biomass, i.e. dry matter production per 1 ha
(e.g. 4000 kg/ha)
• 0.04 – animal daily need of dry matter per their live weight (4 % of LW)
• LW – estimation of average live weight of grazing animal (e.g. dairy cow
550 kg, heifer 350 kg, horse 500 kg and sheep 60 kg)
• DP – estimated length of grazing season, in days, (e.g. 153 days - 1.5. -
30.9.)

MP = (PA x DM) / (0.04 x LW x DP)

MP = 11.8 dairy cows → need to recalculate to livestock units
Climatic change → environmental change → resources …

Current global concerns – erratic rainfall, temperature extremes,

drought, soil erosion, invasive weeds, durable pests
- adaptation inevitable

Changes in the environment – in vegetation – food resources for

herbivores – changes in ecological/ interspecies interactions

Consequences for resource use and

competitive interactions among species?
 TOOLS FOR ASSESSING
RANGELANDS
• Not easy because of great variability of rangelands
• Criteria for degradation are not consistent

• ECOLOGICAL SITE DESCRIPTION (ESD)

• A tool developped for

monitoring and
interpretation of
environmental
conditions with
purpose to recommend
management remedies
for specific lands
 ECOLOGICAL SITE DESCRIPTION
(ESD)
• Specifies distinctive climate and soil conditions which require
variations in how assessment and monitoring data are
interpreted;
• Possesses „state-and-transition model“ that describes how
ecosystem have changed and can change.

Traditional RANGE
MODEL
 STATE-AND-TRANSITION MODEL
FOR RANGELANDS
• Fire, weather, and grazing may interact to produce unique
patterns of vegetation dynamics.
• LIVESTOCK GRAZING–FIRE INTERACTION

• → bush encroachment
• Livestock grazing
interacts with fire to
reduce fuel loads, reduce
herbaceous competition
with woody seedlings,
and enhance woody plant
seed dispersal
 STATE-AND-TRANSITION MODEL
FOR RANGELANDS
• Ecological thresholds describe a complex set of potentially
interacting components.

• A specific disturbance
or event may trigger
the occurrence of a
threshold that effects
both structuraland
functional
modifications during
ecosystem transitions
of various time scales.
 STATE-AND-TRANSITION MODEL
FOR RANGELANDS
• Ecological thresholds describe a complex set of potentially
interacting components.

• Potential for threshold

reversibility is
dependent on the
extent and duration of
ecosystem
modifications,
especially those
altering nutrient and
water cycles and energy
flow pathways.
Videos:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
JI7ccaZyGPU YCm2fbC9MQA
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!