Harvard Forest >

Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2016

• Title: Utilizing Effective Grazing Practices to Conserve Grassland Biodiversity
• Author: Anna M Mayrand (Emory University)
• Abstract:

  Grasslands and pastoral fields have become scarce in the New England area. Introduced in the 1800s by settlers, these open habitats have become a unique part of the region providing habitat for rare and threatened species. However, these habitats are still being lost to continually expanding forests and usually require maintenance, and conservation techniques supportive of increasing demands for local agriculture need to be further developed. Utilizing the Petersham Country Club, we studied the effects that different grazing practices had on grassland biodiversity. 27 10m x 10m permanent plots were set up in three different maintenance areas (traditional grazing, rotational/intensive, and a grazing-free hay field). We sampled all plots in mid- summer 2016, before the application of grazing treatments identifying the community composition within each plot. Compared with 2015’s survey there have been no changes in species richness between grazing treatments over time, the overall composition of the plots that received no grazing became more complex as those that received rotational grazing became more simplified.

• Research Category: Conservation and Management; Biodiversity Studies