Grazing ecology

Grazing ecology studies how herbivores influence vegetation, soils, and ecosystem processes through feeding and movement.

Herbivory: The consumption of living plant or algal tissue by animals. Grazing is herbivory whose effects depend on animal movement and repeated plant removal.
Rotational grazing: A livestock-management system that moves animals among pastures according to a planned schedule. Its rest periods aim to manage forage recovery and grazing pressure across paddocks.
Grazing pressure: The intensity of plant removal by herbivores over a defined area and period. It links animal abundance and feeding to the magnitude of vegetation change.
Overgrazing: Grazing at a level or pattern that causes persistent damage to vegetation, soil, or ecosystem function. Grazing ecology examines effects broadly; overgrazing names a damaging outcome, not grazing itself.
Intermediate disturbance hypothesis: The hypothesis that species diversity peaks at intermediate levels of disturbance. It offers a testable explanation for diversity patterns under different grazing intensities.
Selective grazing: The disproportionate consumption of some plant species or plant parts over others. Diet preferences determine which plants decline and which gain a competitive advantage.
Adaptive multi-paddock grazing: A livestock grazing approach that adjusts animal movement among multiple paddocks to changing conditions. It applies grazing principles through flexible timing, stocking, and pasture allocation.
Carrying capacity: The population an environment can sustain over time under specified conditions. Forage availability constrains animal numbers, while grazing can alter future forage supply.
Browsing: The feeding of herbivores on leaves, shoots, and twigs of shrubs and trees. Browsing targets woody vegetation, unlike grazing focused mainly on grasses and other low plants.
Alternative stable states: Distinct ecosystem configurations that can persist under similar environmental conditions. Grazing may help drive vegetation across thresholds into a different persistent state.

Linked from 6 pages