iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Grazing

Enlarge picture
Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) grazing.
Grazing generally describes a type of predation in which an herbivore feeds on plants (such as grasses), or more broadly on a multicellular autotrophs (such as kelp). Grazing differs from true predation because the organism being eaten is not killed, and it differs from parasitism as the two organisms do not live together, nor is the grazer necessarily so limited in what it can eat (but see generalist and specialist species). Grazing, in some contexts, is distinguished from browsing in that grazers eat grass and browsers eat leaves from trees.

Grazing may be associated with mammals feeding on grasslands, or more specifically livestock feeding on a farm. However, ecologists sometimes use the word in a much broader sense, including any organism that feeds on any other without living in close association with it or ending its life by the act of feeding on it, as described above.[1] An example that might seem counterintuitive to the everyday use of the word is a mosquito, which is not a parasite in that it does not form any lasting association with its prey, and is not a true predator in that it does not kill them by this act (although they can act as a vector for fatal diseases such as malaria). In this sense it is the antithesis of parasitoidism, in which an organism (typically the larval stage of a wasp) feeds on another by eating it from within. In this case, the prey is inevitably killed by successful predation, and has an intimate association with its predator, such that its premature death would also see the parasitoid die as well. Use of the term varies however, for example a marine biologist may describe herbivorous sea urchins that feed on kelp as grazers even when they consistently kill the organism by cutting the plant down at the base.

Many smaller, selective herbivores follow grazers because they skim off the highest, tough growth of plants exposing tender shoots.

See also

References

1. ^ Begon, M., Townsend, C., Harper, J. (1996) Ecology (Third edition) Blackwell Science, London
predation describes a biological interaction where a predator organism feeds on another living organism or organisms known as prey.[1] Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them.
..... Click the link for more information.
Herbivory is a form of predation in which an organism known as an herbivore, consumes principally autotrophs[1] such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria.
..... Click the link for more information.
Plantae
Haeckel, 1866[1]

Divisions

Green algae
  • Chlorophyta
  • Charophyta
Land plants (embryophytes)
  • Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes)

..... Click the link for more information.
Grass is a common word that generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Gramineae (Poaceae). True grasses include most plants grown as grains, for pasture, and for lawns (turf).
..... Click the link for more information.
autotroph (from the Greek autos = self and trophe = nutrition) is an organism that produces complex organic compounds from simple inorganic molecules and an external source of energy, such as light or chemical reactions of inorganic compounds.
..... Click the link for more information.
Laminariales
Migula

Families

Alariaceae
Chordaceae
Laminariaceae
Lessoniaceae
Phyllariaceae
Pseudochordaceae

Kelp are large seaweeds (algae), belonging to the brown algae and classified in the order Laminariales.
..... Click the link for more information.
Death is the permanent end of the life of a biological organism. Death may refer to the end of life as either an event or condition.[1] Many factors can cause or contribute to an organism's death, including predation, disease, habitat destruction, senescence,
..... Click the link for more information.
Parasitism is one version of symbiosis ("living together"), a phenomenon in which two organisms which are phylogenetically unrelated co-exist over a prolonged period of time, usually the lifetime of one of the individuals.
..... Click the link for more information.
symbiosis (from the Greek: συμ, sym, "with"; and βίοσίς, biosis, "living") can be used to describe various degrees of close relationship between organisms of different species.
..... Click the link for more information.
generalist species is able to thrive in a wide variety of environmental conditions and can make use of a variety of different resources (for example, a heterotroph with a varied diet).
..... Click the link for more information.
leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat (laminar) and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast (chlorenchyma tissue, a type of parenchyma) to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate
..... Click the link for more information.
tree is a perennial woody plant. It is sometimes defined as a woody plant that attains diameter of 10 cm (30 cm girth) or more at breast height (130 cm above ground).
..... Click the link for more information.
Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

..... Click the link for more information.
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae) and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants (forbs). Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica, and in many other areas they have replaced the natural vegetation due to human influence.
..... Click the link for more information.
Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally) to a domesticated animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to make produce such as food or fibre, or for its labour.

Livestock may be raised for subsistence or for profit.
..... Click the link for more information.
farm is an area of land devoted to the production and management of food, either produce or livestock. It is the basic unit in agricultural production.[1] Farms may be owned and operated by a single individual, family, or community, or by a corporation or company.
..... Click the link for more information.
An ecologist studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms and how the distribution and abundance are affected by interactions between the organisms and their environment. Ecologist is derived from the Greek terms oikos, meaning household, and logos, meaning knowledge.
..... Click the link for more information.
MOSQUITO is a stream cypher algorithm designed by Joan Daemen and Paris Kitsos. It has been submitted to the eSTREAM Project of the eCRYPT network.


..... Click the link for more information.
In epidemiology, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another.

A classic example is the anopheles mosquito which acts as a vector for the disease malaria by transmitting the malarial
..... Click the link for more information.
Malaria
Classification & external resources

Plasmodium falciparum ring-forms and gametocytes in human blood.
ICD-10 B 50.
ICD-9 084

OMIM 248310
DiseasesDB 7728
MedlinePlus 000621
eMedicine med/1385   emerg/305 ped/1357
..... Click the link for more information.
parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism which it ultimately kills (and often consumes) in the process. Thus they are similar to typical parasites except in the certain fate of the host.
..... Click the link for more information.
larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians).

The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly.
..... Click the link for more information.
wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is not a bee or ant. The suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies and wood wasps, which differ from members of Apocrita by having a broader connection between the mesosoma and metasoma.
..... Click the link for more information.
Echinoidea
Leske, 1778

Subclasses
  • Subclass Perischoechinoidea
  • Order Cidaroida (pencil urchins)
  • Subclass Euechinoidea

..... Click the link for more information.
worldwide view of the subject.
Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page.


Grazing rights is a legal term referring to the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed (graze) in a given area.
..... Click the link for more information.
Management Intensive Grazing (MIG,) is the practice of using rotational grazing and careful, usually daily, management to get optimal production. The technique is applied with herds of sheep, cattle, and occasionally other animals.
..... Click the link for more information.
Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to livestock grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It reduces the usefulness of the land and is one cause of desertification and erosion.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter