Demeter's Cows
The above map shows the counties of Virginia (blue line), as well as the study area of my project within the state (red line). I chose this study area due to proximity to me and also due to the diversity of pasture systems in this area. The gold line demarcates the approximate boundary between the Coastal Plain to the east and the Piedmont/Blue Ridge to the west. These are two very different geologic areas with different soil types, growing seasons, and environmental conditions – which makes the pasture systems vary greatly between the two areas. I plan to compare the types, health, and productivity of these two pasture systems.
My experience working with ArcMap is limited (as my map shows), but I hope to learn more through this study. Eventually, I hope to incorporate multiple layers which show the types of forages species and soil health across ranges of the study area.
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Biodiversity, generally, can be defined as the type, variety, and abundance of organisms living in a certain area, habitat, or ecosystem.
Biodiversity is a diagnostic metric in all healthy ecosystems, functioning to regulate populations and minimize disease spread it keeps ecosystems balanced as well as driving necessary biological cycles. Local and regional biodiversity heavily influences large-scale, national and international, biodiversity, because these large-scale trends are simply the representation of the health of localized ecosystems. In terms of pastures and agroecosystems, biodiversity is influenced from one field to another and one farm to another, and in this way localized biodiversity influences regional, and so on. Furthermore, pollinators, like honeybees cover large areas and multiple farms, which has a tremendous impact on biodiversity and genetic resistance. When ecosystems are diverse and healthy on a local level, then large-scale ecosystems will reflect this diversity as well. The study area and focus of this blog is the biodiversity and ecological structure in actively grazed pastures, specifically, grass forage pastures in Virginia. Having worked at the Soil & Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) for a number of years, I have worked closely with livestock farmers to fence cattle from streams and set up rotational grazing systems. While doing this work, I became interested by the incredible diversity of plants, invertebrates (isects), and mammals that inhabit even in small pasture fields. Furthermore, as I have helped these farmers increase the diversity and vigor of forage species in their pastures, I have noticed a corresponding increase in biodiversity and soil health, thus creating a healthier ecosystem (not to mention healthier cows). With this blog, I intend to explore this relationship further.
Through work, I have access to cattle pastures on various farms in southeast and central Virginia. Through this research I would like to examine the impact that the diversity of forages in a pasture has on the health of the ecosystem as a whole; agriculturally managed ecosystems are often referred to as "agroecosystems." To quantify this, I will use metrics such as soil health, distribution and abundance of insect/pollinator species, dry weight of forages, etc. Overall, I aim to better understand the relationship between forage diversity and pasture health, and to examine if managing pastures as self-sustaining ecosystems is better (environmentally and financially) in the long-term. Previous ModulePreviousTry AgainNext ModuleNext |