title: Divergent Impacts of Two Cattle Types on Vegetation in Coastal Meadows: Implications for Management.
abstract: The proportion of beef cattle in relation to the total number of cattle has increased in Europe, which has led to a higher contribution of beef cattle in the management of semi-natural grasslands. Changes in vegetation caused by this change in grazers are virtually unexplored so far. In the present study, the impacts of beef and dairy cattle on vegetation structure and composition were compared on Bothnian Bay coastal meadows. Vegetation parameters were measured in seven beef cattle, six dairy heifer pastures, and in six unmanaged meadows. Compared to unmanaged meadows, vegetation in grazed meadows was significantly lower in height and more frequently colonized by low-growth species. As expected, vegetation grazed by beef cattle was more open than that on dairy heifer pastures where litter cover and proportion of bare ground were in the same level as in the unmanaged meadows. However, the observed differences may have in part arisen from the higher cattle densities in coastal meadows grazed by beef cattle than by dairy heifers. The frequencies of different species groups and the species richness values of vegetation did not differ between the coastal meadows grazed by the two cattle types. One reason for this may be the relatively short management history of the studied pastures. The potential differences in grazing impacts of the two cattle types on vegetation structure can be utilized in the management of coastal meadows for species with divergent habitat requirements.
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tutkimusasemantie 15, 92400, Ruukki, Finland. marika.laurila@luke.fi.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laurila
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tutkimusasemantie 15, 92400, Ruukki, Finland.
authors.forename: Arto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huuskonen
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tutkimusasemantie 15, 92400, Ruukki, Finland.
authors.forename: Maiju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pesonen
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Humppilantie, 31600, Jokioinen, Finland.
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaseva
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tutkimusasemantie 15, 92400, Ruukki, Finland.
authors.forename: Erkki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Joki-Tokola
authors.affiliation: Botany Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 7, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hyvärinen
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002417:Cattle; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D005060:Europe; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D065948:Grassland; D008297:Male
keywords: Cattle type; Coastal meadow; Grazing impact; Semi-natural grassland; Vegetation composition; Vegetation structure