Abstract
BackgroundCurrent nature conservation in semi-natural grasslands often includes grazing and hay cutting, as well as the abandonment of draining. Semi-natural grassland and in particular meadows constitute important habitat type for a large number of animal species in today's fragmented and intensively cultivated landscape of Europe. Here we focus on the population characteristics of Common shrews Sorex araneus in relation to livestock grazing intensity in two wet meadows in western Denmark.ResultsHigh grazing intensity had a significant negative effect on Common shrew number compared to low grazing intensity and no grazing. Common shrew abundance was generally, but not significantly, higher on the low grazing intensity plots than on the ungrazed controls. No differences in body mass, sex ratio, or reproductive output between Common shrew individuals from the various grazing treatments were found.ConclusionNo negative effects of low intensity grazing on Common shrew abundance were found compared to the ungrazed control. Low intensity grazing thus seems a suitable management regime for Common shrews, when grazing is needed as part of the meadow management scheme. High intensity grazing on the other hand is not a suitable management tool.
Highlights
Current nature conservation in semi-natural grasslands often includes grazing and hay cutting, as well as the abandonment of draining
Hay cutting and livestock grazing is known to affect a number of organisms, but the response to grazing may vary across classes of organisms and with the intensity of
The three grazing treatments applied on the two meadows affected the population dynamics of the Common shrews markedly, and despite the overall differences in Common shrew numbers between the two meadows, high intensity grazing always resulted in significantly lower Common shrew numbers compared to both low intensity grazing and no grazing
Summary
Current nature conservation in semi-natural grasslands often includes grazing and hay cutting, as well as the abandonment of draining. In Denmark as well as in most other European countries, the amount of land covered by semi-natural grassland has decreased dramatically during the 20th century concurrent with the general intensification of the agricultural production. To reverse this trend, actions are being taken in many places to either maintain or re-establish this biotope, and in particular, the meadow community. Apart from being simple disturbances induced onto the flora and fauna, grazing and haying may change the physical environment, the plant composition and height This may in turn influence the spatio-temporal distribution of the small mammals, and small mammal biomass has been found to decreases with grazing intensity [8,9]
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