Quantifying the grazing impacts associated with different herbivores on rangelands

Abstract

1. Rangelands, produced by grazing herbivores, are important for a variety of agricultural, hunting, recreation and conservation objectives world-wide. Typically, there is little quantitative evidence regarding the magnitude of the grazing impact of different herbivores on rangeland habitats to inform their management. 2. We quantified the grazing and trampling impact of sheep, cattle, red deer Cervus elaphus, rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, mountain hares Lepus timidus and red grouse Lagopus lagopus on open-hill habitats in 11 areas of upland Scotland. The degradation of heather in upland Scotland Calluna vulgaris-dominated habitats, of conservation significance at a European scale, has been attributed, anecdotally, to increasing sheep and red deer populations. 3. Field indicators of habitat condition were used to generate a five-point scale of impact in vegetation polygons of seven habitats. The presence of each herbivore species was attributed on the basis of 'signs' of occupancy. A Bayesian regression model was used to analyse the association of herbivore species with grazing impact on plant communities, controlling for environmental attributes. 4. Overall the presence of sheep was associated with the largest increase (7/11 areas) in grazing and trampling impact of all herbivores. Cattle had the second largest impact but generally this was restricted to fewer areas and habitats than sheep. In contrast, impacts associated with wild herbivores tended to be small and only significant locally. 5. Although red deer presence was associated with a significantly lower impact than sheep, this impact increased with increasing deer density at both land-ownership and regional scales. For sheep there was little or no evidence of density dependence. 6. Synthesis and applications. The higher impact associated with sheep presence probably reflects their greater aggregation because of their limited ranging behaviour, exacerbated by sheep being herded in places convenient for land managers. Consequently, future reductions in sheep numbers as a result of reform of European Union farming policies may limit the extent of their impact, but not necessarily the local magnitude. However, reductions in sheep stocks may lead to increases in deer densities, with greater impact, particularly in heather-dominated habitats. Where habitat conservation is a priority this may well require a reduction in deer numbers. © 2007 The Macaulay Institute.