Read full article: “Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie”
Summary: This paper finds that adaptive management using multi-paddock grazing produced superior outcomes on vegetative cover and soil. In a comparison of four grazing schemes: light continuous (LC), heavy continuous (HC), multi-paddock with adaptive management (MP), ungrazed areas – exclusion (EX), the MP lots were better in almost every measure. Factors measured included soil organic matter (SOM), water infiltration rate, water volumetric percentage, cation exchange capacity, fungal/bacterial ratio, percent bare ground and standing biomass of desirable and undesirable plants.
Teague, W. Richard, S. L. Dowhower, S. A. Baker, N. Haile, P. B. DeLaune, and D. M. Conover. 2011. “Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie.” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 141 (3–4):310-322. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2011.03.009
