https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2016.775

Targeted grazing for the restoration of sub-alpine shrub-encroached grasslands

Vol. 11 No. 4 (2016)
Submitted: 1 March 2016
Accepted: 26 March 2016
Published: 7 December 2016
Cattle, chamaephytes, nanophanerophytes, pastoral practices, pastoral value.
Abstract Views: 1338
PDF: 563
HTML: 242
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • Massimiliano Probo • massimiliano.probo@unito.it Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
  • Marco Pittarello Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
  • Michele Lonati Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
  • Giampiero Lombardi Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Torino, Grugliasco (TO), Italy.
The decline of agro-pastoral activities has led to a widespread tree and shrub-encroachment of former semi-natural meso-eutrophic grasslands in many European mountain regions. Temporary night camp areas (TNCA) and mineral mix supplements for targeted cattle were arranged over shrub-encroached areas to restore grassland vegetation within the Val Troncea Natural Park (Italy). From 2011 to 2015, their effects on vegetation structure and pastoral value of forage were assessed along permanent transects. Four years after treatments, both practices were effective in reducing the shrub cover and increasing the cover and average height of the herbaceous layer, but changes were more remarkable within TNCA. Moreover, the arrangement of TNCA decreased the cover of nanophanerophytes and increased the cover of graminoids and high quality species, as well as the overall forage pastoral value. In conclusion, TNCA were the most effective pastoral practice to contrast shrub-encroachment and increase herbage mass and forage quality of sub-alpine grasslands.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

How to Cite

Probo, M., Pittarello, M., Lonati, M., & Lombardi, G. (2016). Targeted grazing for the restoration of sub-alpine shrub-encroached grasslands. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 11(4), 268–272. https://doi.org/10.4081/ija.2016.775

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.