Compensating growth of grazed plants and its relevance to the use of rangelands

There are several well-known mechanisms by which grazing can reduce the subsequent growth rate of plants, and several other well-documented mechanisms by which grazing can enhance plant growth rate. The net effect of single or repeated grazing events on the cumulative growth of plants may thus be ze...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological applications 1993-02, Vol.3 (1), p.32-34
Main Author: Noy-Meir, Imanuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
BETAIL
BIOMASA
BIOMASS
BIOMASSE
BROWSE PLANTS
compensatory growth
CONDUITE DES HERBAGES
CRECIMIENTO
CROISSANCE
FISIOLOGIA VEGETAL
Forum: Grazing Theory and Rangeland Management
GANADO
GRAMINEAS
GRAMINEE
GRASSES
GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT
GRAZING
GRAZING EFFECTS
Grazing intensity
Grazing management
GROWTH
HERBIVORE
HERBIVORES
HERBIVOROS
Leaf area
Leaves
LIVESTOCK
MANEJO DE PRADERAS
PARCOURS
PASTOREO
PATURAGE
PHYSIOLOGIE VEGETALE
Plant growth
PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
PLANTAS DE RAMONEO
PLANTE D'ABROUTISSEMENT
Plants
RANGE MANAGEMENT
Rangeland ecology
RANGELANDS
TIERRAS DE PASTOS
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Summary:There are several well-known mechanisms by which grazing can reduce the subsequent growth rate of plants, and several other well-documented mechanisms by which grazing can enhance plant growth rate. The net effect of single or repeated grazing events on the cumulative growth of plants may thus be zero, negative, or positive, depending on availability of leaf area, meristems, stored nutrients, and soil resources, and on the frequency and intensity of defoliation. Plants are preadapted to compensate, up to a certain point, for losses due to grazing, by virtue of their modular structure and development. Reports of @'overcompensation@' to grazing, as one extreme of a wide range of responses observed in natural grasslands, need not be treated with special skepticism; neither are they a solid base for a general theory of evolved grass--grazer mutualism. The question of compensatory growth is of relevance to management of Western rangelands for livestock production, but of relatively little relevance to conservation goals. No region-wide answers can be expected. Any drastic change in grazing intensity in either direction requires evaluation by community-specific and long-term research.
ISSN:1051-0761
1939-5582
DOI:10.2307/1941787