The Influence of Sheep and Cattle Grazing on Wooded Meadows in Aland, SW Finland

1990

28 S.

10 Abb., 3 Tab., zahlr. Lit. Ang.

Unselbständiges Werk

200052237

Selective grazing by sheep and cattle was studied during the 1960s and 1970s in wooded meadows, mainly belonging to Natoe Nature Reserve in the Aland Islands, southwesternmost Finland. The methods included field observations of the defoliation of lignses, herbs and graminids. The extent of the defoliation of each plant species was expressed with the aid of a seven- degree preference ranking scale. The sheep ate more herbs and lignoses than the cattle, causing a quantitative impoverishment of certain herbs, especially the tall umbelliferous species Angelica sylvestris, Heracleim sphodnylium and Laserpitium latifolium, and the lignose Viburnum opulus. The plants eaten included some presumably toxic species, e.g. several Ranunculaceae, Vincetoxicum hirundinaria and Taxus baccata. Some species were not eaten, or were eaten only slightly, e.g. Picea abies, Juniperus communis, Corylus avellana, Dryopteris filix-mas, Urtica dioica and Cirsium spp. However, the more intense the grazing was, the greater were the amount of the plant and the number of species consumed. Cattle ate more graminids than sheep, causing a quantitative decrease in several of these species. Some herbs were also decreased quantitatively by the cattle. A few toxic species were eaten, such as Dryopteris filixmas and Convallaria majalis. Plants not eaten by the cattle were mostly the same species as those mentioned for the sheep. The sheep usually grazed more selectively than the cattle. The preference of sheep and cattle for certain species is compared with information obtained from the literature. The habit of the grazing animals, especially sheep, of eating presumably toxic plants is discussed. The management of the wooded meadwos, including grazing by domestic animals, is dealt with.