1. Patch-Burn Grazing Impacts Forage Resources in Subtropical Humid Grazing Lands
- Author
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Boughton, Elizabeth H., Gomez-Casanovas, Nuria, Swain, Hilary, Bernacchi, Carl, Boughton, Raoul K., Brinsko, Keith, Li, Haoyu, Rivero, Alan, DeLucia, Evan H., and Sparks, Jed
- Abstract
Subtropical humid grazing lands represent a large global land use and are important for livestock production, as well as supplying multiple ecosystem services. Patch-burn grazing (PBG) management is applied in temperate grazing lands to enhance environmental and economic sustainability; however, this management system has not been widely tested in subtropical humid grazing lands. The objective of this study was to determine how PBG affected forage resources, in comparison with the business-as-usual full-burn (FB) management in both intensively managed pastures (IMP) and seminative (SN) pastures in subtropical humid grazinglands. We hypothesized that PBG management would create patch contrasts in forage quantity and nutritive value in both IMP and SN pastures, with a greater effect in SN pastures. A randomized block design experiment was established in 2017 with 16 pastures (16 ha each), 8 each in IMP and SN at Archbold Biological Station's Buck Island Ranch in Florida.
- Published
- 2022
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