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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Effects Of Climate Change On Pasture Production And Forage Quality, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Jim A. Nelson, A. Elizabeth Carlisle
Effects Of Climate Change On Pasture Production And Forage Quality, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Jim A. Nelson, A. Elizabeth Carlisle
Plant and Soil Sciences Presentations
Why Study Climate Change and Pastures?
Pastures cover more than 14 million hectares in the eastern half of the United States and support grazing animal and hay production while also contributing to the maintenance of overall environmental quality and ecosystem services. Climate change is likely to alter the function of these ecosystems. This manipulative field experiment evaluated the effect of warming and additional precipitation on forage production and quality.
What Did We Do?
We initiated a multi-factor climate change study, elevating air temperature (+3º C) and increasing growing season precipitation (+30% of long-term mean annual), in a central Kentucky pasture …