Ash AJ; McIvor JG; Corfield JP; Winter WH; (CSIRO, Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures)
0167-8809
Land Use; Grazing; Livestock; Vegetation; Land (Grass and Pasture); Tropical Regions; Productivity; Land Degradation; Rangelands; Savannas
Undesirable vegetation change and land degradation has been a feature of human use of the tropical savannas of northern Australia, where grazing for livestock production has been, and continues to be, the most widespread land use. Changes in vegetation composition and land condition that occur in response to grazing in natural grassland systems may alter plant and animal production, but the relationships are poorly understood. The effect of a change in land condition on herbage and animal production in two tropical tall grass regions at Charters Towers QLD and Katherine NT was examined. The stocking rate to live weight gain relationships were quite different for land condition State I, dominated by palatable tussock perennial grasses, and State II, with less palatable tussock perennial grasses, annual grasses and forbs as the major species. Range condition cannot be simply related to animal production and quantifying the link between land condition and livestock performance, will be an important step in improving the adoption of more sustainable grazing practices in rangeland environments (A).
