Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Grazing Preference, Patchiness And Land Condition Interactions: Implications For Recovery In Upper Burdekin Grazing Lands
Author
Corfield, J.P.
Abbott, B.N.
Publisher
Australian Rangeland Society
Publication Year
2008
Body

Factors that influence selective grazing preference occur at a range of scales and include both edaphic elements such as topography, vegetation community, soil type and human influences such as paddock configuration, water and supplement placement and burning strategies.  Cattle also graze patchily and many of the processes and interactions that impact upon land condition and hydrological function begin at the grazed patch scale. Previous studies (Andrew, 1986) found that once such grazed patches are initiated, cattle tend to re-graze them selectively within continuously grazed systems, which can result in localised degradation of land condition. If unchecked, such degradation can lead to increased landscape leakiness (Ludwig et al, 2002) and reduction in hydrological function at the paddock scale and beyond. ...

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Paper
Additional Information
Use this form to cite paper:
Anderson, L., van Klinken, R. D., and Shepherd, D. (2008). Aerially surveying Mesquite (Prosopis spp.) in the Pilbara. In: 'A Climate of Change in the Rangelands. Proceedings of the 15th Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference'. (Ed. D. Orr) 4 pages. (Australian Rangeland Society: Australia).
Conference Name
15th Biennial Conference of the Australian Rangeland Society, Charters Towers Queensland
Keywords
cattle
degradation