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Results of grazing preference investigations incounty and abroad
21-25Views:45Many kinds of animals were already studied on which composition of pasture they reside most of their time, respectively which constituents of pasture they eat more pleasantly. In Hungary there have not been done any researches on the red deer grazing habitude in farming conditions yet. The target of this study was to examine which species of the plants are the most preferred by the red deer under the conditions of Bőszénfa’s area. The pasture planting was in 2005. At the choice of the species’ planted the climate conditions and relief of this area were taken into consideration. Seven kinds of pastures or pasture mixtures were planted in two repetitions. Because of the unfavourable weather conditions the development of planted pasture was slower than expected, in this manner the preferences examination was put off to 2007. The preference study of plots planted with different pasture constituents was carried out by grazing of 48 hinds. During the grazing season the time of residence of the grazing hinds on every single plot was measured 14 times by five hours’ observations. The observations could be carried out from April to the end of June because of the pasture plots were totally burnt out due to the lack of the moisture. Our measurements were completed with field reviews. During the reviews the most consumed species of plants were noted. The statistical analysis of the observed period was carried out in monthly dividing too. In April the gramineaes and the white clover (Trifolium repens L) were grazed in the same proportion (P<0.001) by the hinds, but they did not prefere the giant agrostis (Agrostis gigantea Roth) and the bunias orientalis (Bunias orientalis). In May the dears grazed the white clover the most intensively, and the gramineas on the right hand side, the giant agrostis and the bunias orientalis were eaten the least. In June the hinds spent the most time by grazing on the white clover, the graminneaes were mediumly grazed, the giant agrostis and the bunias orientalis were grazed almost not at all. Summarized the red deers spent the most of their grazing time on the white clover, while they grazed on the giant agrostis and on the bunias orientalis for the least time.
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Relationship between the diversity and mowing in cleared grassland areas in the Börzsöny mountains
3-13Views:67Nowadays, mowing has an increasing role in the management of semi-natural and nature conservation areas. Semi-dry grasslands have been formed on cleared areas of forest in the Pannon mountains, which would be reclaimed by forest without use of the areas by humans. In our work we analysed cleared grasslands. The questions we aimed to answer were the following:
(i) What kind of vegetation changes were caused by different land use types?
(ii) Is mowing a proper method for grassland management and nature protection in the studied system?
(iii) Do the species composition and the diversity vary within two years when conditions of precipitation are different?
In four sampling areas situted in Börzsöny mountains (North-Hungary), we registered the plant species and their cover values in ten quadrats per sampling area. We performed a site assessment in April, June and October, 2013-2014. We analysed the data by using cluster and ordination processes and we compared the sampling areas on the basis of the humidity preference and Shannon’s index of diversity. From nature conservation’s point of view, it is favourable that the cover of Potentilla alba occurring in the area was high. It is a specialist plant species with low stress resistance. However, due to tourism, it occured less frequently in the area and Bromus erectus became dominant instead. The species whose cover was more extensive in areas not affected by tourism – for example Alopecurus pratensis, Galium verum, Carex praecox, Trisetum flavescens – occurred less frequently in areas affected by tourism. On the short run, species did not completely disappear due to the changing conditions but their abundance decreased, as has been already supported by other surveys. The ordination analysis showed that the composition of species considerably differed with the portions of land cultivated in different ways. The change of the cover values was apparent not only in the case of the dominant species but of also in case of species with smaller cover. The decrease of diversity, the change of plant cover, the decrease of number of sensitive species as a result of tourism are typical phenomena all over the world. The Shannon’s diversity records showed that due to human presence and trampling the diversity declined. It was considerably lower in the year with less rain. In the year with more rain the diversity of species was considerably higher, however, the difference in between the surveyed areas was large. All these examples draw attention to the important role of environmental factors alongside the human factors. The water reserve also influences the productivity of grasslands and water has primary importance in the structure of plant communities. According to the survey, in the two areas not affected by tourism, in the rainier year the difference between the humidity preference of the species of the dry and the less dry patches became similar. On these areas, there were more species with higher humidity preferences in the rainier year, however, this tendency could not be observed in the rainier year on areas affected by tourism. The areas affected by tourism may react in a less flexible manner to the change in precipitation conditions. Based on our analysis, we can conclude that the surveyed semi-dry grasslands are extremely rich in species and therefore proper grassland management plans are needed. To preserve grasslands of high natural value, the impacts of the environmental factors should also be considered in addition to becoming acquainted with the history and the present conditions of landscape use.
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Change of perspective in grassland analysis, three-dimensional crop estimation and qualification method
47-58Views:80From the point of view of the lawns' current existence, use and their existence for the future, but the tasks, goals and challenges of grassland management have changed, and in line with this, we have carried out surveys and developed and modified a method for fast and efficient application.
In practice, it is very important to know the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the forage found in the pasture, as well as the exact economic value of the pasture. The purpose of this study is to present a cheap, fast, reliable and easy-to-apply estimation method.
We took the previous methods into account and corrected and further developed them with the help of recent lawn management research results. Based on our tests, the corrected Balázs method can be used well to estimate the yield of grasslands and to determine the fodder value of the grassland. This method is cheap and requires no technical background. It also has the advantage, based on experience, that it takes into account the preference of species by animals.
The data from the cenological survey and the height measurement of the plant stock can be used to estimate the yield, fodder value and economic value. Being a non-destructive method involving minimal trampling, it is also particularly suitable for monitoring the grassland habitat of protected plants and animals. The method is also presented on a sample example, which proves its applicability.
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Investigations on grassland and nature reservation effect of horse grazing in Tapolca and Káli Basins (2008)
65-72Views:96Examined areas can be found in the Tapolca and Káli Basins near Köveskál and Nemesgulács. Near Köveskál 2 horses were grazed on a 1 ha grassland, which was on a degraded association of Cynodonti-Poëtum angustifoliae. Control area was found close to the grazed grassland where Salvinio-Festucetum rupicolae association was found. The grassland was grazed formerly by sheep. Near Nemesgulács 4 horses were grazed on a 6 ha pasture under free range grazing system (0.7 horse/ha) on a Cynodonti- Poëtum angustifoliae grassland that is situated on a slope. Sample areas were selected the upper (UTS) and lower (LTS) third of the slope. This area formerly was as vineyard. 5-5 replicates of 2 by 2 m coenological quadrates were monitored on each sample area. Sward composition was investigated by Braun-Blanquet method (1964) in the grazing season of 2008. Ground cover (D) species composition and species number (n) were evaluated as analytical parameters. Relative nitrogen demand (NB), social behavior types (SBT) (Borhidi, 1995) and nature conservation value categories (TVK) (Simon, 2000) were also analyzed. At the LTS of the slope near Nemesgulács we could find species with bigger proportions indicating nutrient rich production sites and N indicating Artemisia vulgaris, characteristic species of manured sites appeared, too. At the UTS their proportion was smaller. The reason for this difference is the nutrient run off the slope and its accumulation at the LTS. The reason for the low nutritive value of the grassland are the lack of valuable Poaceae and pulses species and the low total cover. Valuable plant species were grazed out of the sward and negative effects of trampling could have been observed. Concerning the selective grazing preference of horses, the species composition of this area is not suitable for horse grazing. Instead of horses the area could be more suitable for sheep grazing. Pasture near Köveskál had extremely high proportion of species requiring nutrient rich conditions that can be probably due to frequent depositions of excreta and urine by grazing horses. Both control and pasture areas has the highest (approx. 35% absolute) cover of natural species with disturbance tolerance. The biggest difference in nature conservation value categories was the decrease of association composing species on the pasture. This was mainly caused by the grazing out of Poa angustifolia that was the most valuable species in the association. Overgrazing and grazing method applied caused very low plant cover on the grazed pasture.