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Perspectives on the concept of rangeland carrying capacity, and their exploration by means of Noy-Meir's two-function model

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  • Ungar, Eugene David

Abstract

Carrying capacity is a fundamental concept in rangeland science and management; however, it is difficult to define, not least because it can be viewed from varied perspectives. With a view to facilitating debate, six perspectives (or definitions) of carrying capacity were formulated, representing: resource productivity; animal production; the system; animal welfare; the environment; and profit. To explore their implications semiquantitatively, Noy-Meir's simple, two-function model of a grazing system was used to simulate the annual herbage production cycle, during which a specified animal population density would be present year-round, except during an early-season grazing deferment of specified duration. The model was extended to calculate a metric for each definition of carrying capacity and then implemented for various combinations of the two key grazing-management-determined parameters: animal density and deferment duration. The metrics were mapped as a series of response surfaces. In general, grazing deferment at the start of the growth season can compensate for an increase in animal density. In other words, carrying capacity is, for most definitions, a contour line on a response surface; it divides the total space into “acceptable” and “unacceptable” regions of grazing-management practice. The contour lines that characterize the various carrying-capacity definitions can then be superimposed to examine the degree of overlap between “acceptable” regions. Two common rules-of-thumb for determining carrying capacity are examined by using this approach. The term “carrying capacity” is vague because it can address various concerns, but some of the most important concerns can be defined in reasonably precise terms and translated into quantitative metrics, based on the fundamental states and rates of a grazing system. Such an approach could facilitate dialogue among those concerned with the continuous refinement of carrying-capacity recommendations.

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  • Ungar, Eugene David, 2019. "Perspectives on the concept of rangeland carrying capacity, and their exploration by means of Noy-Meir's two-function model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 403-413.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:173:y:2019:i:c:p:403-413
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2019.03.023
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    1. Noy-Meir, I., 1976. "Rotational grazing in a continuously growing pasture: A simple model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 87-112, April.
    2. Irmi Seidl & Clem A. Tisdell, 2003. "Carrying capacity reconsidered: from Malthus' population theory to cultural carrying capacity," Chapters, in: Ecological and Environmental Economics, chapter 13, pages 192-206, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Zilverberg, Cody J. & Williams, Jimmy & Jones, Curtis & Harmoney, Keith & Angerer, Jay & Metz, Loretta J. & Fox, William, 2017. "Process-based simulation of prairie growth," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 351(C), pages 24-35.
    4. Carly Golodets & Marcelo Sternberg & Jaime Kigel & Bertrand Boeken & Zalmen Henkin & No’am Seligman & Eugene Ungar, 2013. "From desert to Mediterranean rangelands: will increasing drought and inter-annual rainfall variability affect herbaceous annual primary productivity?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 119(3), pages 785-798, August.
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    3. Arthur Pontes-Prates & Paulo César de Faccio Carvalho & Emilio Andrés Laca, 2020. "Mechanisms of Grazing Management in Heterogeneous Swards," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.

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