![]() ![]() Surpluses in biomass production during the summer could be stored for the winter, preventing damages to forests and grasslands as there was no longer the need for livestock grazing during the winter. The ability to produce livestock fodder on meadows had a significant advantage for livestock production, as animals could be kept in enclosures, simplifying the control over breeding. Their roots go way back to the Iron Age, when appropriate tools for the hay harvest emerged. In agriculture, a meadow is grassland which is not regularly grazed by domestic livestock, but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to produce hay. However, grasslands and meadows also have an important climate change mitigation potential as carbon sinks deep-rooted grasses store a substantial amount of carbon in soil. Like other ecosystems, meadows will experience increased pressure (including on their biodiversity) due to climate change, especially as precipitation and weather conditions change. There are multiple types of meadows, including agricultural, transitional, and perpetual – each playing a unique and important part of the ecosystem. Intensified agricultural practices (too frequent mowing, use of mineral fertilizers, manure and insecticides), may lead to declines in the abundance of organizms and species diversity. They are ecologically important as they provide areas for animal courtship displays, nesting, food gathering, pollinating insects, and sometimes sheltering, if the vegetation is high enough. Meadows attract a multitude of wildlife, and support flora and fauna that could not thrive in other habitats. Meadow habitats, as a group, are characterized as "semi-natural grasslands", meaning that they are largely composed of species native to the region, with only limited human intervention. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable conditions, but are often artificially created from cleared shrub or woodland for the production of hay, fodder, or livestock. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Wildflower meadow in the Bavarian AlpsĪ meadow ( / ˈ m ɛ d oʊ/ MED-oh) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. For other uses, see Meadow (disambiguation) and Meadows (disambiguation). ![]()
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