Can cows and fish co-exist?

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Fitch ◽  
B. W. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Function ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Range Management ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Riparian Grazing ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Riparian Systems ◽  
Grazing Strategies

Our paper provides an ecological perspective on the interrelationship between livestock grazing and riparian areas through a review of topical literature. We also describe the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Project (also known as "Cows and Fish"), and draw upon our experience to provide a perspective on future riparian management actions. Those actions should begin with an understanding that prairie landscapes evolved with herbivores, in a grazing regime timed and controlled by season and climatic fluctuations where grazing by native grazers was followed by variable rest periods. Prevailing range management principles represent an attempt to imitate the natural system and describe ecologically based grazing systems. Traditionally, range management guidelines have focused on grazing practices and impacts in upland, terrestrial rangelands, with a lack of attention devoted to riparian areas.Three decades of riparian investigation have quantified the effect unmanaged livestock grazing can have on range productivity and watershed function. We contend that suitable grazing strategies for riparian areas will be developed first by understanding the function of riparian systems and then by applying range management principles to develop riparian grazing strategies. A key step towards determining the fit of livestock grazing is an understanding of the formation of riparian systems and their ecological function. We describe riparian structure, function and process to provide linkages between livestock grazing, riparian vegetation health and stream channel dynamics. We summarize the effects of unmanaged livestock grazing on riparian habitats and fish and wildlife populations. The general conclusion is that unmanaged grazing results in overuse and degradation of riparian areas. The literature provides several options for the development of riparian grazing strategies. We provide an overview of strategies suitable for riparian areas in Southern Alberta which should maintain ecological function and sustained use. Key words: Riparian, grazing management, grazing systems, riparian grazing

scholarly journals Influence of Livestock Grazing Strategies on Riparian Response to Wildfire in Northern Nevada

2013 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.N. Dalldorf ◽  
S.R. Swanson ◽  
D.F. Kozlowski ◽  
K.M. Schmidt ◽  
R.S. Shane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Northern Nevada ◽  
Grazing Strategies

Genetic Improvement of Forage Species to Reduce the Environmental Impact of Temperate Livestock Grazing Systems

2008 ◽  
pp. 311-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.T. Abberton ◽  
A.H. Marshall ◽  
M.W. Humphreys ◽  
J.H. Macduff ◽  
R.P. Collins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Genetic Improvement ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Forage Species ◽  
Grazing Systems

scholarly journals Reviews and syntheses: How do abiotic and biotic processes respond to climatic variations at the Nam Co catchment (Tibetan Plateau)?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sten Anslan ◽  
Mina Azizi Rad ◽  
Johannes Buckel ◽  
Paula Echeverria Galindo ◽  
Jinlei Kai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Nam Co ◽  
Climatic Fluctuations ◽  
Climatic Oscillations ◽  
Lake Nam Co

Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is the largest alpine plateau on Earth and plays an important role in global climate dynamics. On the TP, climate change is happening particularly fast, with an increase in air temperature twice the global average. The particular sensitivity of this high mountainous environment allows the observation and tracking of abiotic and biotic feedback mechanisms. Closed lake systems, such as the Nam Co on the central TP represent important natural laboratories for tracking past and recent climatic oscillations, as well as geobiological processes and interactions within their respective catchments. This review gives an interdisciplinary overview of modern and paleoenvironmental changes, focusing on Nam Co as model system. In the catchment area, the steep rise in air temperature forced glaciers to melt, leading to a rise in lake levels and changes in water chemistry. Some studies base their conclusions on inconsistent glacier inventories but an ever-increasing deglaciation and thus higher water availability have persisted over the last decades. The enhanced water availability causes translocation of sediments, nutrients and dissolved organic matter to the lake, as well as higher carbon emissions to the atmosphere. The intensity of grazing has a significant effect on CO2 fluxes, with moderate grazing enhancing belowground allocation of carbon while adversely affecting the C-sink potential through reduction of above- and subsurface biomass at higher grazing intensities. Furthermore, increasing pressure from human activities and livestock grazing are enhancing grassland degradation processes, thus shaping biodiversity patterns in the lake and catchment. The environmental signal provided by taxon-specific analysis (e.g. diatoms and ostracods) in Nam Co have revealed profound climatic fluctuations between warmer/cooler and wetter/drier periods since the late Pleistocene and an increasing input of freshwater and nutrients from the catchment in recent years. Based on the reviewed literature, we outline perspectives to further understand the effects of global warming on geo- and biodiversity and their interplay in the Lake Nam Co, which acts as a case study for potentially TP-wide processes that are currently shaping the earth’s future.

scholarly journals A study of farmer attitudes towards riparian management practices

1998 ◽  
pp. 255-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.G. Parminter ◽  
I.S. Tarbotton ◽  
C. Kokich
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Farmer Attitudes ◽  
Riparian Area ◽  
Conservation Farming

Transcripts from a survey of 60 farmers were analysed to identify the attitudes they held towards a range of riparian management practices, and the criteria they would use to select their most preferred practices. Most farmers had mixed attitudes towards managing the riparian area, combining aspects of "pressure farming"1, and "conservation farming"2. Pressure farming was considered to result in problems with erosion, sediment, boggy areas, and a lack of stock safety. Conservation farming was considered to be able to provide increased farming income and greater biodiversity. Farmers selected riparian management practices that they thought would reduce the problems caused by pressure farming, and obtain the benefits of conservation farming. But adoption of new technologies would take place only if the technologies were considered to be practical and not to increase management complexity. An understanding of farmers' perceptions about managing riparian areas can help policy agencies target educational interventions encouraging farmers to improve the sustainability of their resource use. Keywords: environment, extension, farmer attitudes, riparian areas, waterway management

0610 Nutritive quality and forage yield of three Brassica varieties for use in livestock grazing systems

2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (suppl_5) ◽  
pp. 289-290
Author(s):  
S. L. Dillard ◽  
A. I. Roca-Fernandez ◽  
M. D. Rubano ◽  
K. J. Soder
Keyword(s):  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Forage Yield ◽  
Nutritive Quality ◽  
Grazing Systems

The role of riparian buffer management in reducing off-site impacts from grazed dairy systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon R. Aarons ◽  
Cameron J. P. Gourley
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Buffer Management ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Buffer Zones ◽  
Riparian Management ◽  
Zone Management ◽  
Dairy Systems

AbstractAgriculture in general and intensive animal production in particular can degrade the environment, especially as a consequence of the overuse of nutrients. Intensively grazed dairy systems, defined by the presence of foraging animals in the landscape, are often considered a more benign approach to dairy production with perceived smaller impacts due to the reduced requirement for manure disposal. However, grazing dairy cows contribute nutrients and pathogens in excreta, and sediment through landscape deformation. These impacts can dramatically increase in parts of the farm such as feeding, watering and sacrifice areas, laneways and night paddocks where animals are concentrated and spend a disproportionate amount of time. Other practices such as the disposal of dairy shed or dairy factory effluent and cultivation of fodder crops can also pollute the environment. A common approach to reduce nutrient, pathogen and sediment losses from dairy farms is to establish buffer zones in riparian areas that act as an interface between upland land use and waterways. This is generally done by fencing riparian areas to exclude stock and revegetating with understory and overstory species, with the aim of increasing infiltration, trapping sediment and decreasing contaminant losses from upland pastures. However, poorly designed and managed riparian areas may themselves contribute to further environmental degradation. Rarely is an integrated approach, including factors such as animal behavior and dairy farm management practices, as well as an analysis of landscape and riparian hydrology used in developing riparian management recommendations for individual farms. This paper reviews the threats posed by intensively grazed dairy systems, approaches to improve riparian zone management and recommends future research needs.

The perception by pastoralists of the factors influencing the appropriate distribution of livestock in the rangelands of north-east Iran

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 191
Author(s):  
M. R. Shahraki ◽  
A. Abedi-Sarvestani ◽  
M.S. Seyedi ◽  
P. Rafiaani Khachak ◽  
A. Nieto-Garibay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Range Management ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
North East ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Quantitative Assessments

The distribution of livestock grazing is a key principle of range management. This study examines pastoralists’ perceptions of the factors that affect the distribution of livestock in the rangelands of the Neqab region of the Kashmar County in north-east Iran. Data were collected from the pastoralists on their perceptions of the managerial, biological and physical factors that influences the distribution of livestock, using both qualitative and quantitative assessments. Results showed that, the perception of the majority of pastoralists was that the distribution of livestock was ‘average’ or ‘good’ in the study area. It was perceived that the experience of herders and the size of the rangeland were the main factors influencing the distribution of livestock. Regression analyses showed that it was perceived that managerial factors had a more important role than biological and physical factors in the distribution of livestock and the proper use of the rangelands in north-east Iran.

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