grassland ecosystems enable little or moderate human influence and use without any
risk for the survival of their biota.
2 Wild Herbivors, Human Influence and Trends
in the Livestock Sector
Hunting cultures in many parts of the world have set fires to expand open landscapes.
Controlled fire was used by humans (huminids) at least since 0.2 but most probably
since more than one million years. Since people domesticated horse, cattle, goat,
sheep and pig they also used forest and felled trees to expand pastoralism (James
et al. 1989; Poschlod 2015).
The ecology of grassland is connected with the ecology of wild and domestic
herbivors. However, during the last decades grasslands declined in quantity, the
number and mass of wild herbivors such as ungulates decreased and the number of
domestic animals increased dramatically. The global mass of livestock today (c. 0.1
Pg C), dominated by cattle and pigs, is estimated 15 times larger than the mass of
wild mammals in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems (0.007 Pg C; Bar-On et al.
2018). However, currently an increasing number of domestic animals is bred indoor.
Nomadism dropped almost totally, and was replaced by transhumance or
settledness. Transhumance is a practice of moving lifestock in a seasonal cycle,
typically to lowlands or other warmer regions in winter and highlands or other less
productive regions in summer. The herders normally live in houses but are absent for
weeks or months a year to manage their migrating livestock. During this time they
may live in yurts, tents, cars or other quarters.
According to the FAO statistics, the meat and milk production increased more or
less continuously in both developing and developed countries during the last
decades. Livestock breeding has been an important force of deforestation in S
America and overgrazing also in other regions (http://www.fao.org/3/i2490e/
i2490e03c.pdf; assessed 17/5/2019). Almost all nomadic and moderate-intensity
systems with low influence on the natural species diversity collapsed while intensification on the one hand and abandonment on the other were the consequence of
settledness and intensification of crop production.
Today, the demand for livestock products such as meat and milk is stagnating in
developed countries whereas in developing countries the consumption is increasing
due to population and income growth. As a consequence the production and trade is
increasing in both developed and developing countries (Thornton 2010).
However, increasing numbers of cattle, sheep and goat do not automatically mean
overgrazing in grasslands since also the composition of food and husbandry conditions are relevant. In many regions of Europe but also in parts of Asia, Africa and the
Americas the interest in using grassland and the number of domestic herbivores in
the landscape decreased during the last hundred years (Pärtel et al. 2005; Hirata et al.
2018) while the whole number of livestock increased. In former times domestic
Development and Future of Grassland Ecosystems: Do We Need a Paradigm Shift?
333
risk for the survival of their biota.
2 Wild Herbivors, Human Influence and Trends
in the Livestock Sector
Hunting cultures in many parts of the world have set fires to expand open landscapes.
Controlled fire was used by humans (huminids) at least since 0.2 but most probably
since more than one million years. Since people domesticated horse, cattle, goat,
sheep and pig they also used forest and felled trees to expand pastoralism (James
et al. 1989; Poschlod 2015).
The ecology of grassland is connected with the ecology of wild and domestic
herbivors. However, during the last decades grasslands declined in quantity, the
number and mass of wild herbivors such as ungulates decreased and the number of
domestic animals increased dramatically. The global mass of livestock today (c. 0.1
Pg C), dominated by cattle and pigs, is estimated 15 times larger than the mass of
wild mammals in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems (0.007 Pg C; Bar-On et al.
2018). However, currently an increasing number of domestic animals is bred indoor.
Nomadism dropped almost totally, and was replaced by transhumance or
settledness. Transhumance is a practice of moving lifestock in a seasonal cycle,
typically to lowlands or other warmer regions in winter and highlands or other less
productive regions in summer. The herders normally live in houses but are absent for
weeks or months a year to manage their migrating livestock. During this time they
may live in yurts, tents, cars or other quarters.
According to the FAO statistics, the meat and milk production increased more or
less continuously in both developing and developed countries during the last
decades. Livestock breeding has been an important force of deforestation in S
America and overgrazing also in other regions (http://www.fao.org/3/i2490e/
i2490e03c.pdf; assessed 17/5/2019). Almost all nomadic and moderate-intensity
systems with low influence on the natural species diversity collapsed while intensification on the one hand and abandonment on the other were the consequence of
settledness and intensification of crop production.
Today, the demand for livestock products such as meat and milk is stagnating in
developed countries whereas in developing countries the consumption is increasing
due to population and income growth. As a consequence the production and trade is
increasing in both developed and developing countries (Thornton 2010).
However, increasing numbers of cattle, sheep and goat do not automatically mean
overgrazing in grasslands since also the composition of food and husbandry conditions are relevant. In many regions of Europe but also in parts of Asia, Africa and the
Americas the interest in using grassland and the number of domestic herbivores in
the landscape decreased during the last hundred years (Pärtel et al. 2005; Hirata et al.
2018) while the whole number of livestock increased. In former times domestic
Development and Future of Grassland Ecosystems: Do We Need a Paradigm Shift?
333