Biodiversity benefits of vegetation restoration are undermined by livestock grazing

Published source details Lindenmayer D.B., Blanchard W., Crane M., Michael D. & Sato C. (2018) Biodiversity benefits of vegetation restoration are undermined by livestock grazing. Restoration Ecology, 26, 1157-1164.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Modify grazing regime: Forest, open woodland & savanna Action Link

Modify grazing regime: Forest, open woodland & savanna

A replicated, site comparison study in 2013 in restored eucalypt woodland on 25 farms in New South Wales, Australia (Lindenmayer et al. 2018) found that in replanted native vegetation, areas with occasional livestock grazing or no grazing had higher reptile species richness than areas with continuous grazing. Results all reported as model outputs. The authors reported that reptile species richness was higher where the amount of leaf litter was greater and that leaf litter was reduced in plots that were continuously grazed. Fifteen reptile species were recorded. In austral spring 2013, sixty-one plots of replanted native vegetation on 25 farms were surveyed in a 150 x 120 km agricultural area in the South Western Slopes (time since replanting: 6–61 years). Ten plots each were either occasionally grazed or continuously grazed by cattle Bos taurus or sheep Ovies aries (20 plots total) and a further 41 plots were never grazed. Reptiles were surveyed in each plot using 20 minute active searches and groups of artificial refuges (corrugated steel, railway sleepers and concrete roof tiles, two groups/plot).

(Summarised by: Katie Sainsbury)