Theme 3-2: Livestock Production Systems--Poster Sessions
Description
To develop sustainable grazing management systems based on highly-productive dominant species, it is critical to maintain pasture growth and prevent land degradation on meadow steppe. A field study was performed to identify the impact of seasonal rest grazing on diet selection of sheep and pasture composition in Bromus inermis improved meadow steppe from 2015 to 2017 in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China. Three seasonal rest grazing strategies were conducted: R1 included a spring rest from June 15 to July 15, R2 a summer rest from July 15 to August 15 and R3 an autumn rest from August 15 to September 15. The control treatment was continuous grazing (CG) from June 15 to September 15. At the same time, flexible stocking rates occurred in each treatment were based on residual herbage mass benchmarks at each different season. The diet composition of grazing sheep were determined using plant wax marker technique. From the results, stocking rates were similar among grazing treatments. In each season, diet composition was not affected (P > 0.05) by grazing treatments but it changed markedly during the grazing season and was related to the dry weight proportion in summer and autumn. Due to seasonal variation in diet composition, rest grazing in spring and summer protected Bromus inermis and Leymus chinensis from overgrazing. Meanwhile, rest grazing in autumn promoted the regrowth of B. inermis. Therefore, compared with CG, R1 and R3 significantly increased (P < 0.01) the herbage mass of B. inermis, while R2 significantly increased (P < 0.01) the herbage mass of L. chinensis. This study confirmed the importance of the livestock-pasture interrelationship in influencing the pasture composition, and seasonal rest grazing with flexible stocking rates could be an effective tool to maintain a high level of desirable pasture composition.
Included in
Effects of Seasonal Rest Grazing and Diet Selection of Sheep on Pasture Composition in Bromus inermis Improved Meadow Steppe
To develop sustainable grazing management systems based on highly-productive dominant species, it is critical to maintain pasture growth and prevent land degradation on meadow steppe. A field study was performed to identify the impact of seasonal rest grazing on diet selection of sheep and pasture composition in Bromus inermis improved meadow steppe from 2015 to 2017 in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China. Three seasonal rest grazing strategies were conducted: R1 included a spring rest from June 15 to July 15, R2 a summer rest from July 15 to August 15 and R3 an autumn rest from August 15 to September 15. The control treatment was continuous grazing (CG) from June 15 to September 15. At the same time, flexible stocking rates occurred in each treatment were based on residual herbage mass benchmarks at each different season. The diet composition of grazing sheep were determined using plant wax marker technique. From the results, stocking rates were similar among grazing treatments. In each season, diet composition was not affected (P > 0.05) by grazing treatments but it changed markedly during the grazing season and was related to the dry weight proportion in summer and autumn. Due to seasonal variation in diet composition, rest grazing in spring and summer protected Bromus inermis and Leymus chinensis from overgrazing. Meanwhile, rest grazing in autumn promoted the regrowth of B. inermis. Therefore, compared with CG, R1 and R3 significantly increased (P < 0.01) the herbage mass of B. inermis, while R2 significantly increased (P < 0.01) the herbage mass of L. chinensis. This study confirmed the importance of the livestock-pasture interrelationship in influencing the pasture composition, and seasonal rest grazing with flexible stocking rates could be an effective tool to maintain a high level of desirable pasture composition.
