Understanding Diet Selection in Temperate Biodiverse Pasture Systems

Abstract

The first decade of the 21st century has been dominated by unprecedented environmental challenges. These challenges are associated with intense public awareness and interest in constructive environmental solutions. There is increasing interest by both consumers and producers of agricultural products in the development of a more sustainable agriculture system, with less dependence on external finite resources. Biodiverse pasture systems have the potential to serve agriculture in this regard. Thus, a symposium addressing contemporary, interdisciplinary research on plant–herbivore interactions, animal responses, and grazing management in temperate biodiverse pasture systems was sponsored by the American Society of Animal Science at the annual meetings of the society in July 2007. The resulting articles appear in this Special Feature of Rangeland Ecology & Management.