Managing the Reproductive Development of Grasses by Grazing Practices

Grazing natural grassland communities is necessary for both productive (feeding herbivores) and environmental (maintenance of open landscapes) objectives. Management guidelines should take into account the functional diversity of plant species between and within grassland communities. The management of the heading stage of grasses by grazing is an important tool to maintain acceptable forage quality and to avoid the seeding of low-valued species. The heading stage should be managed even in extensive systems and this needs a good knowledge of the phenological development of dominant species. In this work we illustrate the approach through the study of the development of four contrasting grasses and analysing the consequences for grazing management. This work concerned only diversity of the plant components of the grassland ecosystem