Impact of selective grazing on plant production and quality through floristic contrasts and current-year defoliation in a wet grassland

Grazing impacts the structure and functional properties of vegetation through floristic changes (i.e., long-term effect) and current defoliation (i.e., short-term effect). The aim of this study was to assess the relative importance of these two grazing effects on productivity (ANPP) and plant qualit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant ecology 2011-10, Vol.212 (10), p.1589-1600
Main Authors: Rossignol, Nicolas, Bonis, Anne, Bouzillé, Jan-Bernard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied Ecology
Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecology
Biomass
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Community & Population Ecology
Defoliation
Ecology
Environmental Sciences
Grasses
Grasslands
Grazing
Grazing intensity
Herbivores
Life Sciences
Long-term effects
Plant communities
Plant Ecology
Plant production
Plant reproduction
Plants
Selective grazing
Terrestial Ecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Vegetation
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Summary:Grazing impacts the structure and functional properties of vegetation through floristic changes (i.e., long-term effect) and current defoliation (i.e., short-term effect). The aim of this study was to assess the relative importance of these two grazing effects on productivity (ANPP) and plant quality (C/N ratio) among plant patches submitted to a variety of grazing intensity for several years. Long-term grazing effect was measured by comparing ANPP and C/N ratio among plant patches with contrasting floristic composition. Short-term impact of grazing was measured by comparing ANPP and C/N in plant patches, with and without defoliation. Floristic contrasts led to a lower ANPP in highly grazed patches than in lightly grazed ones. This result may be related to the increasing proportion of grazing-tolerant and grazing-avoiding species with increasing grazing intensity. Vegetation C/N contrasts were recorded among grazed patches but did not linearly relate to grazing intensity. Short-term effect of current-year defoliation on ANPP was limited as vegetation compensated for biomass removal. No evidence for grazing-enhancement of ANPP was found even at moderate grazing intensity. Long-term floristic changes with grazing thus appeared to be the main driving factor of variations in ANPP. In contrast, C/N ratio showed no general and consistent variation along the grazing gradient but varied consistently depending on the community investigated, thus suggesting an effect of the species pool available.
ISSN:1385-0237
1573-5052
DOI:10.1007/s11258-011-9932-0