Under grazing
In modern grassland management one speaks of undergrazing when plants in the grassland are not bitten evenly. This is the case with livestock that has too large a pasture area available - as with overgrazing , the livestock stock is not adapted to the profitability of the area.
Causes and Consequences of Undergrowth
The animals on the too large pastures can choose their preferred plants because there are an excess of them. In doing so, they leave the less popular species standing or bite them too little. Thus, unloved plant species are favored. These plants get older and then have even less food value, they bloom, fruit and spread further.
Pointer plants for selective undergrazing are:
- Thistle ( Cirsium arvense )
- Bristle grass ( Nardus stricta )
- Common thistle ( Cirsium vulgare )
- Golden oats ( Trisetum flavescens )
- Curly dock ( Rumex crispus )
- Couch grass ( Elymus repens )
- Turnery ( Deschampsia cespitosa )
- Reed fescue ( Festuca arundinacea )
- Red clover (Trifolium pratense)
- Red fescue ( Festuca rubra )
- Blunt-leaved dock ( Rumex obtusifolius )
- Marsh thistle ( Cirsium palustre )
Measures to avoid undergrazing
Undergrazing can be avoided by reducing the area or increasing the stocking density. The aftermath prevents obsolescence. In the same way, earlier grazing leads to younger plants with a lower crude fiber content being eaten. By changing the grazing animals you can take advantage of their different eating behavior.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Causes and consequences of under grazing. In: gruenland-online. Retrieved January 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Horse pastures requirements - measures - maintenance. In: Leaflets for environmentally friendly land management. State Institute for Plant Production Forchheim, 2003, accessed on January 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Pointer plants in grassland. In: sachsen.de. Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology, April 2001, accessed on January 13, 2018 .