In the 18th contribution to BW’s Wilding for Conservation series, Graeme Lyons, Mark Monk-Terry and Malcolm Ausden describe how pulse grazing has been used to good effect to increase habitat variation at Butcherlands, Sussex, and offer perspectives on how this approach compares to other grazing regimes commonly used in rewilding projects.
In this article, we describe the effects on wildlife, especially invertebrates, of using pulse grazing at Butcherlands Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) reserve, and discuss the effects of this approach, particularly in comparison with the use of year-round, naturalistic grazing. At the outset it is useful to identify various approaches to grazing used in conservation.