Upland pasture (rough grazing and/or semi-natural rough grazing) is a type of semi-natural grassland located in uplands of rolling foothills or upon higher slopes, greater than 350 meters (1148.29 feet) and less than 600 meters (1968.50 feet) from ground level, that is used primarily for grazing. [1] Upland pastures occur in most grassland systems where topographic slope prevents feasible crop production; they are a primary component of rangelands, but are not necessarily water limited. Upland pastures include highlands, moorland, and other grasslands in regions of upland soils (said to have the potential for hydric inclusions, rather than definitive hydric inclusion; meaning there is potential for " saturation, flooding, or ponding long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions"). [2] [3]
Locations
The term originates in the British Isles where upland pastures constitute approximately 9 million hectares, 48% of agricultural land use in the UK. [1] Upland pastures are widely managed in the United States in New England and Appalachia, and in semi-arid mountain regions in the inter-mountain west where their management is an important aspect of historic farming, wildlife preservation, and range livestock production. [4] [5] [6] Upland pastures are also of primary importance to livestock production in western Australia, [7] the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland ecoregion, [8] in the Andes of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and western Brazil, in the Eurasian Steppes, in South Africa's Highveld, in Switzerland and the Alps, Sweden, Iceland, India, Juniper grasslands around Jabal Sawda in Saudi Arabia and other Juniper encroached grasslands in the Middle East including in Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Kazakhstan, as well as in eastern European nations, and, Tibet, New Zealand, Ethiopia, Canada, Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Yemen, Ghana, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Syria, and Cantabria. [9] [10]
Pictures of upland pastures
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Black Scottish Highland bull in upland pasture overlooking Haltwhistle, UK -
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Highland shrubs in Agua Fria National Monument, Arizona, USA -
Sheep in New Zealand upland pasture -
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upland pasture in Horton Plains Valley, Horton Plains National Park in central highlands of Sri Lanka -
Upland pasture in Lincoln National Forest, southern New Mexico, USA -
(NRCS_Photo_Gallery).jpg)
See also
- Upland (mountain range)
- Hill farming
- Upland game bird
- Pasture
- Fell
- Alpine pasture
- Lowland semi-natural grassland
Sources
- ^ a b Davies, A.; Fothergill, M.; Jones, J.R. (1998). "Efficient Use of Upland Pasture" (PDF). IGER Innovations: 59–63. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Hydric soils definition". United States Department of Agriculture: Natural Resources Conservation Service Caribbean Area. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ Beall, Barbra B. "Wetland FAQs". New York State Wetland Forum. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ Mires, Peter B. (December 1993). "The importance of aspect to historic farmstead site location in the green mountains of Vermont". Historical Archaeology. 27 (4): 82–91. doi: 10.1007/bf03373575. ISSN 0440-9213.
- ^ Jurney, D. H.; Stahle, D. W. (2004). "Old-growth wooded pasture in the Ozarks". Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73: 42–52.
- ^ Clary, Warren P.; Webster, Bert F. (1989). "Managing grazing of riparian areas in the Intermountain Region". Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-263. 11: 263.
- ^ "Mitchell grass upland pastures of the Kimberley". Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia. 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ Carpenter, Chris. "Mongolian-Manchurian grassland". Washington, DC: World Wildlife Fund. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ Dotson, Brandon (2009). Contemporary visions in Tibetan studies: proceedings of the First International Seminar of Young Tibetologists (1st ed.). Chicago: Serindia Publications. ISBN 9781932476453. OCLC 426147229.
- ^ Ross, Mars; Cooper, H. Stonehewer (1885). The Highlands of Cantabria; or, Three days from England. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. p. 491. Retrieved 21 September 2018.