Livestock grazing disrupts plant-insect interactions on salt marshes
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Published source details
Rickert C., Fichtner A. & van Klink R. (2018) Livestock grazing disrupts plant-insect interactions on salt marshes. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 11, 152-161.
Published source details Rickert C., Fichtner A. & van Klink R. (2018) Livestock grazing disrupts plant-insect interactions on salt marshes. Insect Conservation and Diversity, 11, 152-161.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Employ areas of semi-natural habitat for rough grazing (includes salt marsh, lowland heath, bog, fen) Action Link |
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Employ areas of semi-natural habitat for rough grazing (includes salt marsh, lowland heath, bog, fen)
A controlled study in 1991–2009 in a saltmarsh in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (Rickert et al. 2018, same experimental set-up as 5 and 6) found that a lightly grazed and an ungrazed saltmarsh had a different species community of micro-moths compared to a heavily grazed marsh. After 16–18 years of grazing, the moth community in a lightly grazed and an ungrazed saltmarsh was different from that in a heavily grazed saltmarsh (data presented as model results). See paper for individual species results. Until 1990, a 1,050-ha saltmarsh was grazed at 10 sheep/ha. From 1991, four paddocks (100–256 ha) were lightly (1–2 sheep/ha), moderately (3–4 sheep/ha) or heavily grazed (10 sheep/ha), or left ungrazed (0 sheep/ha). The marsh was grazed from May–October, with sheep removed only during flooding events. From April–October 2007–2009, micro-moths were sampled using a 1-m2 steel emergence trap in each of three 150 × 20 m plots/paddock (>250 m apart). Traps were emptied weekly and repositioned every three weeks, therefore sampling 10 m2/plot/year.
(Summarised by: Andrew Bladon)
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