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DOI 10.1007/s10457-012-9510-z
Received: 29 July 2011 / Accepted: 10 March 2012 / Published online: 28 March 2012
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Introduction
In the Mediterranean region, the climatic conditions
(particularly the prolonged dry and hot summer
season) are naturally favorable for wildfires (FAO
2007). The occurrence and impact of wildfires have
increased over the last few decades in southern
European countries (Velez 2004), and this is mainly
attributed to land-use changes associated with socioeconomic development (FAO 2007). Indeed, many
traditional rural activities (e.g., firewood collection
and grazing-based livestock production systems) have
been generally abandoned in favor of other alternatives (e.g., fossil fuels and factory farming). These
changes have led to more homogeneous landscapes
and the accumulation of fuel loads in forests and
rangelands (Moreira et al. 2001; Lasanta et al. 2006),
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(Year 1), 2008 (Year 2) and 2009 (Year 3). The farmer,
who shepherded livestock personally, was offered a
yearly remuneration of 1,600 in exchange for this
service (Varela-Redondo et al. 2008). The flock was
initially composed of 500 sheep (Segurena breed, live
weight: 4550 kg) and 30 goats (mixed breed, live
weight: 4055 kg), but it had grown to 900 sheep and
30 goats by the end of the study period. The study site
was grazed yearly between February and early June,
the period of the year when the largest quantity of fresh
pasture is available in this location. During this period,
livestock did not receive any supplementary feed, but
the flock could also graze on the approximately 400 ha
of pastures available in the Cortijo Conejo y Albarran estate. Therefore, the stocking rate applied on
the 40-ha study site could not be specifically controlled, but rather depended on the management of the
livestock farmer.
At the end of each grazing season (June), fire
prevention personnel performed a technical assessment to determine the extent to which the grazing
objective (i.e., a drastic reduction of the annual
biomass production) had been accomplished. A five
level classification (04) was used, corresponding to
negligible (0), light (1), moderate (2), heavy (3) and
very heavy (4) grazing intensities. The assessments
resulted in the following mean values for Year 1, Year
2, and Year 3, respectively: 2.67, 3.67 and 2, in the
firebreak; 1.33, 3.67 and 1.67, in the fuelbreak. Further
details on the methodology applied in this assessment
can be found in Ruiz-Mirazo et al. (2011).
Firebreak grazing: effect on herbage
The impact of grazing on herbage was monitored in six
plots located along the treeless firebreak. Each plot
comprised two subplots: (1) a 6 m 9 6 m exclosure,
constructed with a 1.2-m-high mesh wire fence (NonGrazed subplot); and (2) an unfenced area of a similar
size (Grazed subplot). Grazed subplots were located
approximately 3 m away from the exclosures, to
ensure a sufficient proximity and so minimize spatial
variation in pastures, while livestock distribution was
not disturbed by the presence of the fences.
The vegetation was characterized in the 12 experimental units (subplots) at the end of the livestock
grazing and vegetation growth season (June) in Year 1,
Year 2 and Year 3, using both destructive and nondestructive procedures. Herbage biomass was
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H
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481
Statistical analysis
Results
Firebreak grazing: effect on herbage
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FAMILY/Species
Non-Grazed
Grazed
Non-Grazed
Grazed
Bromus matritensis L.
21.5 4.97
18.2 3.92
26.7 5.44
32.0 5.27
Aegilops triuncialis L.
Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.
11.1 3.82
3.9 0.68
4.1 1.51
4.4 1.11
15.8 5.04
5.7 1.05
7.4 2.36
8.0 1.87
2.4 1.11
2.7 0.66
2.6 1.12
4.4 1.08
16.2 4.38
POACEAE
Bromus tectorum L.
FABACEAE
Trigonella polyceratia L.
5.9 1.36
5.5 1.17
10.8 2.73
4.5 2.11
2.5 1.17
7.1 3.62
5.9 2.97
Vicia peregrina L.
3.9 0.89
0.1 0.05
4.6 0.94
0.2 0.07
7.9 2.09
3.2 0.95
11.6 3.07
6.3 1.72
1.4 0.49
2.1 0.68
1.5 0.47
3.4 0.96
1.5 1.04
1.2 0.56
1.6 1.02
2.9 1.33
ASTERACEAE
Andryala ragusina L.
CARYOPHYLLACEAE
Only for the species
V. peregrina were
differences in PC and SC
statistically significant
Bufonia tenuifolia L.
PLANTAGINACEAE
Plantago albicans L.
Fig. 3 Mean species richness (S), Shannon diversity index (H), and family contribution (%) in Grazed and Non-Grazed areas through
the course of the experiment
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484
Year 1
Non-Grazed
0.373
0.551
Year 2
Non-Grazed
0.362
0.549
0.518
0.422
Year 1
Grazed
Year 3
Non-Grazed
0.486
Year 2
Grazed
0.474
Discussion
Firebreak grazing: effect on herbage
0.426
Year 3
Grazed
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11.1 0.57
1.4 0.13
Diameter (cm)
Volume (dm3)
Diameter (cm)
Volume (dm3)
Diameter (cm)
Volume (dm3)
Diameter (cm)
Volume (dm3)
11.0 1.33 (?)
1.4 0.14
10.7 0.53
13.4 0.55
P < 0.001
t51 = 4.01b
P = 0.023
t77 = 2.31
P < 0.001
t70 = 6.53b
P = 0.069
t64 = 1.85b
P = 0.573
t77 = 0.57
P < 0.001
t77 = 3.93
P = 0.240
t66 = 1.18b
P = 0.664
t78 = 0.44
P = 0.033
t78 = 2.17
P = 0.979
t78 = 0.03
P = 0.698
t78 = -0.39
P = 0.081
t78 = 1.77
7.0 0.45
20.7 0.66
20.6 0.78
7.1 0.53
20.8 0.57
19.7 0.74
Non-Browsed
P < 0.001
t54 = 4.75b
P < 0.001
t78 = 4.50
P < 0.001
t63 = 5.50b
P = 0.067
t78 = 1.86
P = 0.072
t78 = 1.82
P = 0.025
t78 = 2.29
P = 0.357
t78 = 0.93
P = 0.236
t78 = 1.19
P = 0.876
t78 = 0.16
P = 0.980
t78 = 0.03
P = 0.921
t78 = 0.10
P = 0.418
t78 = -0.81
t-test
Large
39.1 3.95
35.4 1.30
35.8 1.60
Browsed
39.1 3.26
36.7 0.98
34.5 1.45
Non-Browsed
P < 0.001
t76 = 4.39
P < 0.001
t76 = 4.42
P < 0.001
t76 = 5.12
P = 0.067
t78 = 1.89
P = 0.053
t78 = 1.97
P = 0.015
t78 = 2.48
P = 0.418
t78 = 0.81
P = 0.134
t78 = 1.51
P = 0.552
t78 = 0.60
P = 0.997
t78 = 0.001
P = 0.435
t78 = 0.78
P = 0.556
t78 = -0.59
t-test
Unequal variance was detected in this parameter and so Welchs t-test was applied
In Year 0, no grazing had yet been applied. Tests only indicate the equivalence of initial dimensions in the two experimental groups of each size class
Signs in parenthesis within each column indicate a non-significant (=) or a significant (P \ 0.05) increase (?) or decrease (-) in height, diameter and volume since the measurement of the previous year.
Statistically significant differences (P \ 0.05) between Browsed and Non-Browsed holm oaks are highlighted in bold
Height (cm)
Year 3
Height (cm)
Year 2
Height (cm)
Year 1
12.1 0.49
Height (cm)
Year 0a
Medium
Browsed
t-test
Browsed
Non-Browsed
Small
Table 2 Mean values ( the standard error of the mean) of holm oak height (cm), diameter (cm) and volume (dm3) through the course of the experiment
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Conclusions
This 3-year experiment performed in a semiarid
Mediterranean environment provides data that has
been lacking to date concerning the effects of targeted
sheep grazing on herbage and holm oak saplings in a
grazed fuelbreak. According to the results obtained, it
is very important to adjust the stocking rate yearly to
the annual herbage production, in order to ensure that
herbage biomass is minimized every year. Reducing
this biomass to values below 200 kg DM ha-1
through grazing could be difficult but also unnecessary, as this amount of fine fuel can only sustain mild
wildfires with a slow rate of spread.
In conditions similar to those in our experiment,
grazing for wildfire prevention should be expected to
produce a decrease in herbage cover, as well as a
notable increase in bare soil. After more than 1 year of
grazing, it is also likely that litter cover starts to
diminish. On the other hand, fuelbreak grazing will
hardly produce any changes in the botanical composition and diversity of herbage, at least during the first
years of grazing management. Finally, targeted grazing will certainly restrict, but not impede, the growth
of holm oak saplings, as long as grazing is applied with
ovine livestock and in seasons when abundant fresh
herbage is available.
These results provide a valuable reference for
wildfire specialists and forest managers, who will
establish the relative importance of the impacts related
to the silvopastoral management of fuelbreaks in view
of their wildfire prevention function and in comparison with alternative approaches to fuelbreak
maintenance.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge
lvarez, Alicia Garca, Anita Balinga,
Carmen Fallot, Domingo A
Juan Cardoso, Fidel Delgado and Elsa Varela for their help with
lvaro Yeste also collaborated in the experiment by
field work. A
grazing his sheep flock on the study area. The Ideas Need
Communicating Language Services team improved the use of
English in the manuscript. The first author was supported by an
I3P postgraduate grant from the Spanish National Research
Council (CSIC), co-funded by the European Social Fund. This
study was funded by Egmasa (Regional Government of
Andaluca, Spain) through the project Grazed fuelbreaks as a
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Table 3 continued
FC/SC
(%)
FAMILY/Species
6.85
CARYOPHYLLACEAE
2.76
Bufonia tenuifolia L.
1.73
Minuartia campestris L.
0.62
Silene nocturna L.
0.49
Silene conica L.
0.30
0.28
0.27
Velezia rigida L.
0.25
0.13
0.03
FC/SC
(%)
FAMILY/Species
58.85
POACEAE
2.16
PLANTAGINACEAE
31.67
12.17
Bromus matritensis L.
Aegilops triuncialis L.
2.16
Plantago albicans L.
6.63
0.55
0.55
EUPHORBIACEAE
Euphorbia serrata L.
4.02
Bromus tectorum L.
0.41
BRASSICACEAE
1.31
0.22
1.21
0.15
0.01
0.01
0.40
0.01
0.16
Hordeum murinum L.
0.38
OROBANCHACEAE
0.03
0.38
Bartsia trixago L.
FABACEAE
0.32
PAPAVERACEAE
Trigonella polyceratia L.
0.25
0.04
Papaver hybridum L.
3.22
Vicia peregrina L.
0.03
0.22
Astragalus sesameus L.
0.25
DIPSACACEAE
0.01
0.01
0.25
11.92
ASTERACEAE
0.06
0.06
VERONICACEAE
Linaria arvensis (L.) Desf.
8.80
Andryala ragusina L.
0.04
BORAGINACEAE
1.06
0.04
0.86
Filago pyramidata L.
0.03
LINACEAE
Chondrilla juncea L.
0.03
Linum strictum L.
0.18
0.03
RESEDACEAE
0.09
0.03
Reseda undata L.
0.07
0.03
RUBIACEAE
0.03
0.01
Crucianella angustifolia L.
0.01
Galium parisiense L.
0.01
GERANIACEAE
0.01
100/100
0.66
0.58
18.10
9.05
5.58
0.75
0.03
0.03
0.01
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