Effects of livestock breed and grazing intensity on biodiversity and production in grazing systems. 4. Effects on animal diversity

Finding an optimal balance between livestock production and grazing impact on animal diversity is important for the development of sustainable grazing systems. This paper tests the hypothesis that extensification of grazing management enhances animal diversity. Similar treatments were applied over a period of three years to sites in the UK, France, Germany and Italy. There were three treatments at each site: moderate grazing intensity with a commercial breed (MC), lenient grazing intensity with a commercial breed (LC) and lenient grazing intensity with a traditional breed (LT). Animal diversity was studied at the species level for birds, hares, butterflies and grasshoppers, and at higher taxonomic level for ground-dwelling arthropods. Bird and hare numbers were low and showed no overall treatment effects. Species richness and abundance of butterflies and grasshoppers were higher for treatment LC than for treatment MC, both for species preferring short open grasslands and those preferring tall grasslands. There was no difference in the impact of commercial or traditional breeds. Most ground-dwelling arthropod groups did not show consistent treatment effects but some taxa showed site-specific responses, generally indicating a greater abundance at lenient grazing intensity. Overall, the study showed that lenient grazing intensity enhanced animal diversity on grasslands at a small scale within 3 years. By comparison, the effect of livestock breed differences was negligible. Follow-up research is needed to elucidate the processes leading to increased biodiversity in patch mosaics and to establish the generality of these findings at larger spatial scales and longer time scales.