Tierberg Mammal Exclosures

Plots were fenced at Tierberg in 1988 in order to exclude all grazers and thereby assess grazing influences. In ongoing periodic surveys, data on plant cover and species composition are compared between exclosures and adjacent areas with different levels of grazing by wildlife and livestock. Indications are that overgrazing has long-term effects over many decades, whereas even decades of exclusion of all grazers has relatively minor effects on vegetation composition.