Activity 2.3.2 - Ranches and Grassland Conservation

 1. Exploratory                                

Probe basic facts and knowledge found in the reading and video. (What research evidence supports _________? Type up several facts and basic knowledge from the reading and video. Relate this to what you find in other resources, prior activities for stronger scores.))

Humans have disrupted the natural grazing cycles of grassland environments. Historically, grasslands evolved to function with grazing periods (Roberson 2016). These environments need periodic grazing to remove dead and decaying biomass so vegetation can grow back healthily after a period of dormancy. Excess biomass left after a period of dormancy will hinder the growth of plants hidden underneath and eventually cause the vegetation to decline (Roberson 2016). However, excess grazing may also lead to a decline in vegetative growth (Roberson 2016). Without fresh vegetation, grazing cannot be sustainable in the same areas. The ecosystem around these areas will be disrupted and negatively affected.

 

2. Diagnostic                                   

Probe motives or causes.  (Why? (Tell your reader why this occurs. Explain the causes in detail.))

The cause of declining vegetation and thus a declining overall environment is due to overgrazing or a lack of grazing. Faulty grazing practices have been done due to a combination of lack of education in the topic as well as an unwillingness to put in the amount of mental effort and patience required to effectively change grazing patterns. When the issue of grazing is addressed by environmentalists, they typically advocate for no grazing and a fully natural environment (Roberson 2016). However, some form of grazing is necessary to keep nutrients and minerals cycling through the ecosystem. The over emphasis on less grazing causes the issue of under grazing.

 

3. Cause and Effect                        

Causal relationships between ideas, actions, or events. (If __________ occurs, what happens?)

When overgrazing occurs, vegetation does not have sufficient time to recover and will die back. The loss of vegetation can lead to a plethora of environmental issues including disruption of the food chain and food web, soil issues, and more. Due to fears of overgrazing, some environmentalists may advocate to quit grazing at all. This seems like it helps the environment short term by allowing vegetation to grow back initially. However, after a couple of years the environment will begin to decline due to a buildup of biomass, showing that a no graze regimen is not the healthiest for the environment. If a grazing regimen is carefully planned to include short, intense bouts of grazing evenly over a landscape, the ecosystem will thrive (Roberson 2016).

 

4. Priority                                        

Seek to identify the most important issue. (What is the most important issue?)

The biggest issue at hand is a combination of tradition and the amount of mental effort and knowledge it takes to implement holistic grazing practices. A lot of farmers do not want to change what they have been doing for years and the amount of mental labor required can be overwhelming.

 

5. Application                                 

Probe for relationships and connect theory to practice. (How does this apply to you? How is this related to culture as we have studied so far?)

The interviewee in the podcast mentioned nutrient cycling, mineral cycling, and carbon cycling. They pointed out that a lot of conservationists and environmentalists do not look at agricultural practices holistically. Rather than seeing how agricultural practices like grazing may be beneficial, they prefer to revert the environment to a purely natural state. In the future, when I enter the field of conservation, I can do my best to view all scenarios from a holistic point of view and recognize the necessity of some human-driven practices. I can be open minded and patient when implementing new ideas or practices.

 

6. Critical                                         

Analyze how this challenges your thinking/assumptions. (How did this change your thinking? Did it? Why?)

Before listening to this podcast, I had only ever heard of the issues associated with overgrazing. I had never put much thought into the pitfalls of the opposite end of the spectrum. This topic has reinforced the idea that balance is key and too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.

 

References

Roberson, E. (Host). (2016, May 26). Conserving and restoring the world’s grasslands [Audio podcast episode]. In Mountain & Prairie Podcast.