In this 3-year study, Baron et al. determined the effects of increasing grazing intensity on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling in a meadow bromegrass (Bromus riparius) pasture through vegetative and nutritional measurements and fecal and urinary output equations. Increasing grazing intensity increased the nutritive value of bromegrass, but decreased the aboveground dry matter and C production in the pasture. As grazing intensity increased, the amount of dry matter, C, and N remaining after the grazing season was reduced, while fecal C input and excreted urine N were increased. Carbon and nitrogen from vegetative litter and animal waste products are cycled differently through the pasture system. The results of this study suggest that altering the grazing intensity will alter the quality of vegetative litter and the ratio of vegetative litter to animal waste products, thereby alter C and N cycling.
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