Context

In rangelands, alterations to vegetation from grazing have potentially significant consequences for a wide variety of ecosystem structure and function.

Objectives

This study measured the herbivory effects of adaptive multi-paddock grazing (AMP) and continuous grazing (CG) practices on spatial patterns of vegetation, plant community species composition, and productivity in neighboring ranches in Mississippi, USA.

Methods

Assessments included on ground-measurements and remote sensing analyses using fine-scale aerial photographs and satellite images.

Results

The results indicated that the spatial patterns of the classified seven vegetation species groups and biomass production were different between AMP and CG. Bahiagrass dominated the plant species in both ranches, with ~ 83% and 58% of the CG and AMP ranch vegetation cover. The AMP ranch landscape was fragmented, more diverse at a fine spatial scale, and consisted of smaller, more similar patch sizes for all seven species. A patchy mosaic of all the species was found, but no species were abundant adequately to interconnect throughout the entire landscape. In contrast, patch sizes on the CG ranch were more aggregated, with one dominant species clumped into larger compact patches. Vegetation production in the AMP ranch was higher and clustered into large patches: Hot and Cold Spots with an apparent spatial trend and configuration. In contrast, in the CG ranch, relatively smaller Spots were interspersed with no apparent spatial trend.

Conclusions

The findings imply a potential change in the landscape pattern of grazing land in the Southern U.S. associated with adoption of AMP grazing.

中文翻译：

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适应性多围场和连续放牧对商业牧场植被物种和生物量精细空间格局的影响

语境

在牧场，放牧对植被的改变可能对各种生态系统结构和功能产生重大影响。

目标

本研究测量了适应性多围场放牧 (AMP) 和连续放牧 (CG) 实践对美国密西西比州邻近牧场的植被空间格局、植物群落物种组成和生产力的食草影响。

方法

评估包括使用精细航空照片和卫星图像进行的地面测量和遥感分析。

结果

结果表明，所分类的7个植被物种组的空间格局和生物量生产在AMP和CG之间存在差异。Bahiagrass 在两个牧场的植物物种中占主导地位，分别占 CG 和 AMP 牧场植被覆盖的 83% 和 58%。AMP 牧场景观是支离破碎的，在精细的空间尺度上更加多样化，并且由所有七个物种的更小、更相似的斑块大小组成。发现了所有物种的斑驳马赛克，但没有物种足够丰富以在整个景观中相互连接。相比之下，CG 牧场上的斑块大小更集中，一种优势物种聚集成更大的紧凑斑块。AMP 牧场的植被产量更高，并聚集成大块：具有明显空间趋势和配置的热点和冷点。相比之下，

结论

研究结果表明，与采用 AMP 放牧相关的美国南部牧场景观格局可能发生变化。