Activity 2.3.2 Ranches as Grassland Conservation

Six-Point Critical Analysis Worksheet

My blog posting is available online at: https://envr1301-sergiotello.blogspot.com/2023/04/activity-232-ranches-as-grassland.html

 

1. Exploratory

Probe basic facts and knowledge found in the video and article. (What research evidence supports _________? Type up several facts and basic knowledge from the video & article. Relate this to what you find in other resources, prior activities for stronger scores.))

Holistic Management shows that grasses of the world evolved to be grazed, we need to graze them for their health. After a few years of holistic management, farmers have seen a huge increase in yields and production on their farms. Grasslands make up 40% of earths surface area. Herbivores complete the decay process for grass by eating it. Herbivores cycle the carbon into the system. Predators are one of the reasons that Herbivores moves away from an already grazed location. This process protects against overgrazing. Grazing is not bad for property; they help keep balance. Grass that isn’t grazed for years is worse off that grass that gets grazed occasionally. The conservationist perspective tells people to take the livestock aways BUT depending on the nature of the environment this may harm the ecosystem with time. The amount area that grasses has grown in went up 34% in places that are being treated by Holistic Management. Portable electric fences are used because of their cheap effectiveness. They can’t be sure if their plan will work perfectly, they might have to adjust it multiple times. At the end of the day, this approach makes more money in the long run. Selling land also becomes more profitable if this process is used. Alan Savory’s book on Holistic management taught Jim Howell how to take care of the grass. Main lesson received on the international trips is that there are commonality’s everywhere when it come to grass.

2. Diagnostic

Probe motives or causes. (Why? (Tell your reader why this occurs. Explain the causes in detail.))

Grass and flora are very good for an environment but keeping grass health is not as easy as it might seem. When grass is grazed by an animal such as a cow, the grass gets depleted. This is not always a bad situation because if grass is not grazed, grass will grow for a while but it will stop when old grass (that isn’t eaten) will layer on top and block sunlight. This ruins the grass layer and kills it off. This will ruin both a farm animals food source and the environment. This situation and remedy are both in contrast to what most environmentalists already believe because they understand that overgrazing is leads to poorer plant growth. This is without the information that too little grazing also has poor effect on grasslands.

3. Cause and Effect

Causal relationships between ideas, actions, or events. (If __________ occurs, what happens?)

If grasslands are overgrazed, the plant matter is almost completely removed. If grass is all eaten by grazing animals, the animals will be forced to move and the ecosystem will suffer. If grazing animals are moved off of grazed grass land, the grass land will heal. If grassland is not grazed in a long time, grass will grow to long, die, and start starving new grass of necessary sunlight. If dead grass is preventing new grass from growing, grazing animals will look for a new place to graze. If grazing animals don’t graze dead grass, new grass will never grow. If new grass never grows, the ecosystem will be destroyed without intervention.

4. Priority

Seek to identify the most important issue. (What is the most important issue?)

The most important issue is over both overgrazing and under-grazing. The true goal that needs to be reached is getting people (farmers and livestock owners) to understand that both overgrazing grass and not grazing it at all is bad for the environment. A balance needs to be found. This is because overgrazing leads to diminished quantities of grass overtime and under-grazing leads to dead grass accumulating on top on new grass which also stops the growth of fresh and new grass.

5. Application

Probe for relationships and connect theory to practice. (How does this apply to you? How is this related to culture as we have studied so far?)

Grass is very common in the United States with grassland taking up 40% of its surface area. My house has grass both in my front and backyard and I am the one tasked with mowing the lawn. It makes me wonder if mowing the grass has the same affect on it as animals that graze it. I would assume that the answer is yes because mowing keeps the grass short which allows sunlight to reach lower parts and gets rid of dead grass but that is just a guess. One thing that I don’t really seem to understand is how does this directly affect farmer’s profit. I understand that it helps shorten the time farm chores might take but I don’t know if that would help create more money. Regardless, cultivating the grass by a cycle of grazing and not grazing seems to be best for the environment and I hope farmers near San Antonio implement this process soon.

6. Critical

Analyze how this challenges your thinking/assumptions. (How did this change your thinking? Did it? Why?)

Grass is not something I spend my time thinking about often. Whenever I am thinking about the environment, I start to imagine turtles or other animals and trees or other large flora. I am surprised that keeping grass healthy is as tough as it is. Considering the only time, I interact with my grass is when I am mowing the lawn, it doesn’t have enough time to accumulate and die of natural process. I’m surprised to know that grass that doesn’t get grazed or chopped up will actually hamper the new grass that wants to grow underneath it. I like many environmentally minded people believed that the best thing we could do for grasslands was keep grazing animals off and let it tend to itself. I’m glad to now have a greater understanding of how the grasslands work and are sustained.

 

Reference:

Roberson, E. (Host). (2016, May 26). Conserving and restoring the world’s grasslands [Audio podcast episode]. In Mountain & Prairie Podcast. http://mountainandprairie.com/jim-howell/