Journal article

Publication year: 1998

Pages: 129-142

Journal: Archives Animal Breeding = Archiv Tierzucht

Volume number: 41

Issue number: 1-2

ISSN: 0003-9438

Publisher: Copernicus Publications

Abstract: 

Internationally applicable environmental indicators of livestock production are not yet agreed on. The paper describes an indicator model and suggests a methodology for the assessment of environmental effects of livestock production taking a grazing ecosystem in northwestern Nigeria as an example. Key indicators influenced by livestock are selected in order to judge upon the status of the environmental media soil vegetation and water. Soil fertility, vegetation cover of the soil, composition of herbal layer and tree layer, standing biomass, risk of erosion and water quality are taken as status indicators for the description of the ecosystem. Relevant parameters to measure these indicators are given for the Zamfara Reserve.

The pressure from grazing livestock is characterised by the seasonal stocking rate of cattle, sheep, and goats in the reserve. Grazing pressure is influenced by the migration of nomadic and transhumant livestock herds and depends on the supply of alternative feed resources such as stubble. The degree of tree lopping is an indicator for the pressure on the tree layer of the Sudan savanna.

Harvard Citation style: Hoffmann, I., Willeke-Wetstein, C. and Schafer, C. (1998) Description of a grazing ecosystem in northwestern Nigeria with environmental indicators, Archives Animal Breeding, 41(1-2), pp. 129-142

APA Citation style: Hoffmann, I., Willeke-Wetstein, C., & Schafer, C. (1998). Description of a grazing ecosystem in northwestern Nigeria with environmental indicators. Archives Animal Breeding. 41(1-2), 129-142.