Grazing Management: Technology for Sustaining Rangeland Ecosystems?

Abstract

This paper examines the ecological, economic, and social aspects of grazing management technology as it relates to sustaining rangeland ecosystems. We adopt FAO's definition of sustainable agriculture, that is, 'The management and conservation of the resource base and the orientation of technological and institutional changes in such a manner as to insure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations. Such sustainable development is environmentally non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable." We explore the ecological aspects of grazing management as they relate to the need to balance solar energy capture and harvest efficiency so as to maximize productivity on a sustained basis. The long- term success or failure of all grazing strategies hinges around management's ability to control the frequency and severity of defoliation of individual plants over time and space. This is a particularly formidable challenge in rangeland environments because of high levels of environmental uncertainty. We then focus attention on the social aspects of grazing management. Grazing management is a social process by virtue of its human component and the major social dilemma encountered in grazed agroecosystems centers around the impacts that ever-increasing human desires have on rangeland resources. We examine the role of ecological economics and the impact of varying human value systems on management of rangeland resources. The fundamental problem encountered in the management of natural resources such as rangeland ecosystems is absence of perfect ecological knowledge. We conclude that the major social dilemma of grazing management stems largely from two phenomena: 1) supply side management tactics designed to meet ever increasing human demands; and 2) potential failure to accurately factor long-term ecological costs into present day value systems. As such, we conclude that current grazing management technology necessarily requires moderate rates of stocking be employed to insure rangeland agriculture (i.e. grazing) is ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially acceptable.