Efecto del pastoreo sobre la diversidad vegetal del pasto denso de montaña (hábitat 6230)
- A. Etxeberria
- A. Aldezabal
- N. Fernández
- M. Azpiroz
- L. Uriarte
- N. Mandaluniz
- López-Carrasco Férnandez, Celia (coord.)
- María del Pilar Rodríguez Rojo (coord.)
- Alfonso San Miguel Ayanz (coord.)
- Federico Fernández González (coord.)
- Sonia Roig Gómez (coord.)
Publisher: Sociedad Española para el Estudio de los Pastos
ISBN: 978-84-614-8713-4
Year of publication: 2011
Pages: 37-42
Congress: Sociedad Española para el Estudio de los Pastos. Reunión Científica (50. 2011. null)
Type: Conference paper
Abstract
Grazing strongly affects the structure and functioning of plant communities, acting at differentspatial scales. Previous studies about the relationship between plant diversity and grazing showcontradictory results. In order to explore the effect of livestock grazing on pasture diversity, dataof floristic composition and soil samples were collected along the grazing period of 2009 at theexperimental area of Aralar Natural Park (Gipuzkoa), inside and outside of fenced permanentplots (excluded from herbivores 5 years ago). Results indicated that, in general, the floristic compositionshowed a high spatial (differences between sites) and temporal (differences betweenmonths) heterogeneity. The effect of livestock grazing was to increase plant diversity, and its magnitudedepended on site (site vs. treatment, p<0,000). Furthermore, the effect of site varied dependingon sampling month (site vs. month, p<0,01). Finally, the effect of grazing (increasing plantdiversity) was the same throughout the whole grazing period (month vs. treatment, n.s.).