Knowledge co-production with traditional herders on cattle grazing behaviour for better management of species-rich grasslands

The research gap between rangeland/livestock science and conservation biology/vegetation ecology has led to a lack of evidence needed for grazing-related conservation management. Connecting scientific understanding with traditional ecological knowledge of local livestock keepers could help bridge this research and knowledge gap.
1. We studied the grazing behaviour (plant selection and avoidance) of beef cattle (ca. 33 000 bites) on species-rich lowland pastures in Central Europe and traditional herding practices. We also did >450 outdoor interviews with traditional herders about livestock behaviour, herders’ decisions to modify grazing behaviour, and effects of modified grazing on pasture vegetation.
2. We found that cattle grazing on species-rich pastures displayed at least 10 different behavioural elements as they encountered 117 forage species from highly desired to rejected. The small discrimination error suggests that cattle recognize all listed plants ‘by species’.
3. We also f...