How can we manage grasslands to lessen the threats they face...?
Interactive Study Guide
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Guiding Question 14.5
How can we manage grasslands to lessen the threats they face while still using them productively?
Why You Should Care
If steps aren’t taken to reduce the impact of agriculture on the world’s grasslands, there will no longer be enough land to produce food for everyone. As it stands now, nearly all of the land suitable for growing food is already in cultivation, so, as the world’s population continues to grow, efforts should be taken to preserve it and maintain its fertility. Agricultural researchers have been studying many new strategies to protect grasslands, including low- and no-till planting of crops, using cover crops to stabilize the soil when it is not cultivated for a primary crop, and rotational grazing.
Test Your Vocabulary
Select the appropriate term for each of the following definitions:
Term
Definition
The removal of soil by wind and water that exceeds the soil’s natural replacement.
Practices that allow animals to graze in a way that keeps pastures healthy and allows grasses to recover.
A biome that is made up predominantly of grasses due to low rainfall, grazing animals, and/or fire.
Too many herbivores feeding in an area, eating the plants faster than they can regrow.
An animal that feeds on plants.
Moving animals from one pasture to the next in a predetermined sequence to prevent overgrazing.
Individuals who herd and care for livestock as a way of life.
Farmers and ranchers are paid to keep damaged land out of production to promote recovery.
The process that transforms once-fertile land into desert.
Grassland used for grazing of livestock.
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1.
The former name for Zimbabwe was:
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2.
Allan Savory was originally trained as a:
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3.
The best example of an opinion Savory is likely to have is that:
According to Savory’s method, when a pasture is being grazed there should be:
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6.
Savory’s method is called:
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7.
Planned grazing is similar to rotational grazing in that:
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8.
Planned grazing differs most from rotational grazing in that:
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It is always detrimental to pasture grass for it to:
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Planned grazing is:
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11.
MECHANISM
DESCRIPTION
BENEFITS
CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAMS
PARK STATUS
SUSTAINABLE GRAZING
SHELTERBELTS
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Short-Answer Questions
Imagine you are a grassland conservationist trying to get local ranchers in the central United States to adopt planned grazing.
1) Who would you have to convince about planned grazing?
2) What are some of the obstacles facing ranchers who want to try planned grazing?
3) What are some of the benefits to the community that you could cite as reasons for adopting planned grazing?
1) You would have to convince more than just the ranchers. You might need to convince local agricultural experts like extension agents and university researchers because they influence practices. Politicians at different levels if properly convinced their constituents were interested in adopting the method and that it would be beneficial might sponsor legislation to subsidize ranchers’ efforts to that end. You might need to convince bankers to issue financing to ranchers. There could be many more stakeholders that you could choose; the important thing would be to justify your choice.
2) There could be many reasons; a few examples are: • Expense if new fences or gates need to be built • Planning and timing: It is difficult to know how long to leave animals in a section of rangeland before moving them to the next one. • Labor: It is more work to move animals periodically than to simply leave them in one pasture.
3) A few examples of reasons: • Planned grazing maintains a constant food supply for livestock. • Planned grazing keeps populations of undesirable plants low. • If properly executed, planned grazing would protect soil and water resources because grass health would be maintained, stabilizing the soil, which in turn maintains the grassland’s ability to take up excess fertilizer and sediment and prevent it from spoiling the water supply.
