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Divergent Impacts of Two Cattle Types on Vegetation in Coastal Meadows: Implications for Management

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Abstract

The proportion of beef cattle in relation to the total number of cattle has increased in Europe, which has led to a higher contribution of beef cattle in the management of semi-natural grasslands. Changes in vegetation caused by this change in grazers are virtually unexplored so far. In the present study, the impacts of beef and dairy cattle on vegetation structure and composition were compared on Bothnian Bay coastal meadows. Vegetation parameters were measured in seven beef cattle, six dairy heifer pastures, and in six unmanaged meadows. Compared to unmanaged meadows, vegetation in grazed meadows was significantly lower in height and more frequently colonized by low-growth species. As expected, vegetation grazed by beef cattle was more open than that on dairy heifer pastures where litter cover and proportion of bare ground were in the same level as in the unmanaged meadows. However, the observed differences may have in part arisen from the higher cattle densities in coastal meadows grazed by beef cattle than by dairy heifers. The frequencies of different species groups and the species richness values of vegetation did not differ between the coastal meadows grazed by the two cattle types. One reason for this may be the relatively short management history of the studied pastures. The potential differences in grazing impacts of the two cattle types on vegetation structure can be utilized in the management of coastal meadows for species with divergent habitat requirements.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Maarit Kärki in MTT Agrifood Research, Finland, Annamari Markkola in the Oulu University, as well as Johanna Helkimo, Marja Hyvärinen, and Jorma Pessa in the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for North Ostrobothnia for their advices during the starting phase of the study. The authors are grateful to the anonymous referees for their valuable comments on the manuscript. The collaboration by all the farmers involved in the study is warmly acknowledged. The research was part of VACCIA-Project (LIFE07ENV/FIN/00141) coordinated by the Finnish Environment Institute and financially supported by the European Union Life+ programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tutkimusasemantie 15, 92400, Ruukki, Finland

    Marika Laurila, Arto Huuskonen, Maiju Pesonen & Erkki Joki-Tokola

  2. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Humppilantie, 31600, Jokioinen, Finland

    Janne Kaseva

  3. Botany Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 7, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Marko Hyvärinen

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  1. Marika Laurila
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  2. Arto Huuskonen
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Correspondence to Marika Laurila.

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Laurila, M., Huuskonen, A., Pesonen, M. et al. Divergent Impacts of Two Cattle Types on Vegetation in Coastal Meadows: Implications for Management. Environmental Management 56, 1199–1213 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-015-0575-0

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