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Ecological Costs of Livestock Grazing in Western North America
Thomas L. Fleischner - Prescott College, Environmental Studies Program
Conservation Biology, Volume 8, No. 3, September 1994
Excerpt from Abstract:
"Livestock grazing is the most widespread land management practice in western North America. Seventy percent of the western United States is grazed, including wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, national forests, and even some national parks. The ecological costs of this nearly ubiquitous form of land use can be dramatic. Examples of such costs include loss of biodiversity; lowering of population densities for a wide variety of taxa; disruption of ecosystem functions, including nutrient cycling and succession; change in community organization; and change in the physical characteristics of both terrestrial and aquatic habitats...."
Contents:
Conservation Biology, Volume 8, No. 3, September 1994
Excerpt from Abstract:
"Livestock grazing is the most widespread land management practice in western North America. Seventy percent of the western United States is grazed, including wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, national forests, and even some national parks. The ecological costs of this nearly ubiquitous form of land use can be dramatic. Examples of such costs include loss of biodiversity; lowering of population densities for a wide variety of taxa; disruption of ecosystem functions, including nutrient cycling and succession; change in community organization; and change in the physical characteristics of both terrestrial and aquatic habitats...."
Contents:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Alteration of Species Composition of Communities
- Disruption of Ecosystem Functioning
- Alteration of Ecosystem Structure
- Costs of Grazing Magnified: Riparian Habitats in the Arid West
- Historical and Management Considerations
- Acknowledgments
- Literature Cited
Ecological Costs of Livestock Grazing - 1994 pdf size: 4.36mb