- Title
- Transient shifts in composition of degraded temperate native grassland following grazing exclusion
- Creator
- Farmilo, Brad; Duncan, David; Moxham, Claire; Buchan, Anne; Turner, Vivienne; Ballentine, Michelle; White, Matt; Schultz, Nick
- Date
- 2023
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/193438
- Identifier
- vital:18164
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12731
- Identifier
- ISSN:1654-109X
- Abstract
- Questions Globally, grassy ecosystems are threatened and are still declining in extent in many areas. Improving the management of degraded native temperate grasslands that are grazed by livestock is important to the conservation of this critically endangered ecosystem. Questions remain about the role of grazing in the management of such grasslands, particularly in the face of climate change and given the sensitivity of these systems to inter‐annual rainfall variability. Here, we investigate the effect of livestock exclusion on grassland composition. Location Temperate grassland, Victoria, Australia. Methods Over 9 years (2009–2017), we monitored plant functional groups in plots open‐to‐grazing or ungrazed exclusion plots within five fields of degraded native temperate grassland on private land. Results In the years after grazing had been excluded, we found significant differences in cover between grazed and ungrazed plots for some functional groups (e.g. native perennial graminoids) in some years, but we did not observe long‐term divergence in cover or composition of the treatments. At the final monitoring point there were no significant differences in native or exotic species richness between the grazed and ungrazed plots. We show that the years in which differences were observed correspond with the 2010–2011 La Niña high‐rainfall event, suggesting that grazing exclusion effects are mediated by rainfall, and are likely to be evident only under certain conditions. Conclusion In grassy ecosystems already degraded by long‐term grazing, excluding grazing has limited potential to shift plant species composition in favour of native dominance. Such grasslands may persist in the medium term in a stable but degraded state with or without continued light to moderate livestock grazing pressure. Hence, managed livestock grazing need not be incompatible with the conservation of degraded temperate grasslands particularly where biomass management is important for the maintenance of faunal habitat. However, improving the function and diversity of these degraded grasslands will seemingly require additional management, including seed addition and experimentation with alternative disturbance regimes. We investigated the effect of livestock exclusion on degraded native temperate grasslands. We found that climate events caused short‐term differences in cover between grazed and ungrazed plots, but grazing exclusion had little potential to shift plant species composition. This highlights how additional management (e.g. seed addition, alternative disturbance regimes) is required to improve their function and diversity.
- Publisher
- Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
- Relation
- Applied Vegetation Science Vol. 26, no. 2 (2023), p.
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright 2023 International Association for Vegetation Science
- Subject
- 3103 Ecology; Dispersal limitation; Drought; Grassland management; Grazing effects; Victorian Riverina bioregion
- Reviewed
- Funder
- This project was funded by the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), via the Victorian Government Bush Tender Northern Plains Program.
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