Publication Date
1997
Description
In extensive livestock industries better pasture management is seen as the main strategy to improve poor quality pastures, or to maintain newly sown ones. Pasture management practices need to be evaluated within a framework that considers the desirability of changes in species composition rather than simply considering the statistical significance of the results. This can be done through the state and transition model used in rangelands management, but difficulties were found when applying that model to temperate perennial pastures as the interactions between species often showed continuous distributions. An alternative pasture composition matrix model based on the ratios of functional species groups i.e. legumes : other broadleaved species plotted against perennial : annual grasses, enabled most pastures to be defined with four common states in a continuous matrix and the impact of management treatments to be assessed. Data can be plotted directly on this matrix as shown with results from an experiment on a degraded cocksfoot pasture. The patterns of change can then be shown simply, for extension messages.
Citation
Kemp, D R.; Michalk, D L.; Dowling, P M.; and Klein, T A., "Analysis of Pasture Management Practices within a Pasture Composition Matrix Model" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 50.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1997/session22/50
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Analysis of Pasture Management Practices within a Pasture Composition Matrix Model
In extensive livestock industries better pasture management is seen as the main strategy to improve poor quality pastures, or to maintain newly sown ones. Pasture management practices need to be evaluated within a framework that considers the desirability of changes in species composition rather than simply considering the statistical significance of the results. This can be done through the state and transition model used in rangelands management, but difficulties were found when applying that model to temperate perennial pastures as the interactions between species often showed continuous distributions. An alternative pasture composition matrix model based on the ratios of functional species groups i.e. legumes : other broadleaved species plotted against perennial : annual grasses, enabled most pastures to be defined with four common states in a continuous matrix and the impact of management treatments to be assessed. Data can be plotted directly on this matrix as shown with results from an experiment on a degraded cocksfoot pasture. The patterns of change can then be shown simply, for extension messages.
