Grazing Temperate and Tropical Highlands

Grazing systems in temperate zones and tropical highland

The different climatic zones concerned have in common a more or less long period with low temperature, sometimes with severe frost or snow cover, corresponding to a seasonal resting period of vegetative activity. They include :

- temperate zones where one or more months have a monthly mean temperature below 5°C,
- tropical highlands in the intertropical belt where the mean daily temperature is in the range of 5-20°C during the growing period.

In fact, this classification brings together different climatic regions : temperate oceanic (Europe), cold temperate (Siberia, Canada), steppe climate with cold winter (central Asia, central North America), warm temperate and mediterranean (North Africa, Middle East, part of China, South Australia, South Africa, part of North America and South America) ; tropical highlands lie in central and south America, in eastern Africa, south east Asia, Himalaya and some islands. Conditions of aridity or humidity are diverse, from very arid and cold (central Asia) to humid with hot summer (South-East of China, of USA).

A wide range of vegetation types is included :

- cold steppe or warm steppe dominated by herbaceous species or small shrubs in arid and semi-arid climate with severe temperature conditions,
- grassland and prairie in weter semi-continental or oceanic climate,
- secondary grassland after forest clearing in wet semi-continental or oceanic climate,
- grassland associated with forest in mediterranean climate.

The main environmental constraint for livestock is the lack of grazing resources during winter. Different technologies are used by livestock farmers to provide fodder to animals in winter, e.g forage conservation, transhumance.

The major environmental issues are the degradation of native pasture by overgrazing in fragile environments such as the cold and the warm steppes. Also different types of water pollution in wet climate. The livestock can contribute to prevention of forest fires and to maintaining an open landscape in the warm temperate countries.

Different types of livelihood and livestock production systems are developed under such diverse environmental conditions. Three main livestock sub-systems can be distinguished according to land tenure status and degree of mobility :

- Mobile grazing sub-system on communal areas : LGT1
- Sedentary grazing sub-system on communal areas : LGT2
- Ranching and farming grazing sub-system : LGT3

> > [Livestock & Environment Toolbox Home]