Grazing

Grazing is the feeding behavior of consuming grasses and other low-growing vegetation, commonly by herbivores that crop plants close to the ground.

Foraging: Foraging is the search for and acquisition of food by an organism. Grazing is a feeding mode within the broader process of finding and acquiring food.
Rotational grazing: Rotational grazing is a livestock-management system that moves animals among pasture areas to allow vegetation recovery. It organizes grazing in space and time to manage forage use and regrowth.
Grassland: A grassland is an ecosystem dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants, with few trees. Grasslands are widespread habitats where grazing is a defining ecological interaction.
Cattle: Cattle are domesticated bovines raised for products such as meat and milk and commonly kept on pasture. Their grazing behavior underpins much livestock pasture management.
Grazing optimization hypothesis: The grazing optimization hypothesis proposes that intermediate herbivory can increase plant productivity under some conditions. It tests whether moderate grazing can stimulate plant growth rather than simply reduce it.
Ruminant: A ruminant is a mammal that ferments plant food in a specialized stomach and regurgitates cud for further chewing. Ruminants can extract nutrients from fibrous grasses through microbial fermentation.
Continuous grazing: Continuous grazing allows livestock to access the same pasture throughout a grazing season. It contrasts with planned moves between pasture areas.
Trophic cascade: A trophic cascade is an ecological chain reaction in which changes at one trophic level affect other levels. Changes in grazing can alter plants and, in turn, other parts of food webs.
Bison: Bison are large grazing bovids native to North America and parts of Europe. Their feeding helps shape grassland vegetation and disturbance patterns.
Intermediate disturbance hypothesis: The intermediate disturbance hypothesis predicts that biodiversity can peak at intermediate levels of ecological disturbance. Grazing is one disturbance used to test how intensity affects species diversity.

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