Trophic rewilding, or year-round natural grazing, is increasingly used as a tool for managing open landscapes. This nature-based solution has the potential to mitigate the loss of biodiversity loss and impacts of climate change. To date, almost twenty such projects have been realized in the Czech Republic, and the number is still growing. Large ungulates, such as the native European bison, and the Exmoor pony with the back-bred aurochs, which serve as replacements for extinct, historically common equine and bovine species, naturally maintain the landscape mosaic of biotopes including open grasslands, ecosystems with the highest biodiversity value in Europe.
Trophic rewilding is a cheaper and more effective alternative to active nature conservation management practices such as mowing or livestock grazing. These traditional approaches are dependent on funding and manpower, and their effectiveness depends on regular repetition. They are therefore not suitable for managing of larger landscape units. While traditional methods focus on maintaining the current state of vegetation, trophic rewilding supports the restoration of natural, self-regulating processes that help the ecosystem mitigate incoming changes. Although this approach is receiving increasing attention, we still lack information that would allow us to examine the pros and cons of trophic rewilding projects.
Scientists from the Department of Ecosystem Biology, in cooperation with colleagues from the Biology Centre CAS and the public-benefit organisation Česká krajina (Czech Landscape; the founders and managers of substantial part of rewilding projects), studied the effect of year-round grazing by large ungulates on plant biomass and soil properties in pasture reserves. The results showed that grazing reduces plant aboveground biomass, but enhances plant nitrogen and water supply, which in turn provides a high-quality forage for grazers. The year-round presence of large ungulates increases the rate of soil nitrogen recycling, supports soil organic matter storage and increases water retention capacity.
The implementation of natural grazing strengthened the relationship between vegetation and soil microbial processes, resulting in better root growth and more effective plant uptake of phosphorus, nitrogen and water. These factors are crucial for maintaining sustainable primary production in grassland ecosystems. Tight interactions between herbivores, vegetation and soil might further support the dynamics and self-regulation of these ecosystems and help them to better respond and adapt to climate change.
Further reading:
- Rewilding by large ungulates contributes to organic carbon storage in soils
- Trophic rewilding by large herbivores reduces plant nitrogen and water limitation across seven sites irrespective of their edaphic conditions
Contact: doc. Mgr. Eva Kaštovská, Ph.D. (
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