Cattle grazing in wetlands

By:
Edited by: C. Max FinlaysonMark EverardKenneth IrvineRobert J. McInnesBeth A. MiddletonAnne A. Van Dam, and Nick C. Davidson

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Abstract

Cattle grazing drives successional change in wetland vegetation by removing tall grasses and other vegetation. As a disturbance, cattle grazing in some ways resembles natural disturbances such as native mammal grazing and lightning-strike fire, which can support higher biodiversity in wetlands. To encourage rare and Red-Listed species, natural land managers sometimes incorporate a variety of techniques to remove tall vegetation including mowing, hand-cutting, burning and cattle grazing. As a farming practice, cattle grazing was once very common in world wetlands, but as agriculture intensified after WWII, small-scale farmers slowly stopped grazing cattle in natural wetlands. As a result, tall macrophyte and woody species have overgrown some wetland types once used as pastures for cattle.

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Cattle grazing in wetlands
ISBN 978-94-007-6172-8
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6172-8_60-2
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) National Wetlands Research Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Description 6 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title The Wetland Book
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