Mixed grazing systems benefit both upland biodiversity and livestock production.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With world food demand expected to double by 2050, identifying farming systems that benefit both agricultural production and biodiversity is a fundamentally important challenge for the 21(st) century, but this has to be achieved in a sustainable way. Livestock grazing management directly influences both economic outputs and biodiversity on upland farms while contributing to potentially damaging greenhouse gas emissions, yet no study has attempted to address these impacts simultaneously.

Methods

Using a replicated, landscape-scale field experiment consisting of five management 'systems' we tested the effects of progressively altering elements within an upland farming system, viz i) incorporating cattle grazing into an upland sheep system, ii) integrating grazing of

SUBMITTER: Fraser MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3923862 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature