Grasslands need grazers and research is proving it

Not exactly a picture from the United Kingdom, but such a great example of why grasslands needs grazers. The above ground biodiversity is astounding, but just imagine what kind of diversity lies below the ground!

In the recently published paper cited Maarten Schrama, Casper Quist, Arjen De Groot, et al. Cessation of grazing causes biodiversity loss and homogenization of soil food webs. Authorea. October 07, 2021 the authors conducted research on “12 montane grasslands sites in the United Kingdom, to test whether cessation of grazing leads to strongly decreased diversity of both soil microbial and faunal diversity. Their results indicate that grazer exclusion from historically grazed montane grasslands has far-ranging consequences for the diversity and composition of below ground food webs, and underscores the importance of grazers for maintaining the diversity of below ground communities, which play a central role in ecosystem functioning.”

To put it simply grassland and savannah ecosystems need grazers to maintain and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem function above and below the soil. Much of South Texas was historically prairie and savannah ecosystems molded by time and grazing ruminants such as bison, deer and antelope. Due to anthropogenic factors our ecosystems are in state of dysfunction and degeneration.