Demeter's Cows
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
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