Papers by Fausto Gusmeroli
Sustainability, 2019
Hay-making structures are part of the agricultural landscape of meadows and pastures. Hay meadows... more Hay-making structures are part of the agricultural landscape of meadows and pastures. Hay meadows are still used and found all over Europe, but their distribution patterns as well as their characteristics and regional features depend on geographical area, climate, culture, and intensity of agriculture. Intensively used hay meadows are the most dominant, using heavy machinery to store hay mostly as rounded or square bales. Traditional hay-making structures represent structures or constructions, used to quickly dry freshly cut fodder and to protect it from humidity. The ‘ancient’ forms of traditional hay-making structures are becoming a relic, due to mechanisation and the use of new technologies. Both the need for drying hay and the traditional methods for doing so were similar across Europe. Our study of hay-making structures focuses on their current state, their development and history, current use and cultural values in various European countries. Regarding the construction and use...
Grass and Forage Science, 2012
Due to decades of loss of grassland diversity across Europe, there is a need to identify factors ... more Due to decades of loss of grassland diversity across Europe, there is a need to identify factors affecting species composition and diversity in managed meadows. The aim of the current study was to assess how ecological, landscape and management factors may affect plant species composition, biodiversity and forage value in Alpine hay meadows. Species composition, Shannon index and forage value were obtained from phytosociological relevé s. Twenty explanatory variables were selected from a set of ecological, landscape and management factors. Their effects on plant species composition, Shannon index and forage value were analysed by applying the variation partitioning approach. Plant species composition was related to sixteen factors, explaining 35Á6% of the variability. Shannon index and forage value were related to eleven factors, explaining 47Á8 and 40Á8% of their total variation respectively. Ecological factors were the main set explaining species composition and diversity, whereas none of the three individual groups of factors (ecological, landscape, management) significantly explained variability within forage value. Overall, the effects of the three groups of factors accounted for 70% of the total variability in plant species composition, but less than half that of Shannon index and of forage value.
In just over two decades, genetically modified (GM) crops have increased their global spread at a... more In just over two decades, genetically modified (GM) crops have increased their global spread at an incredible rate. In the same period, research studies and reviews on their effects and performance have gradually become more frequent. Still today, however, there is a substantial lack of established evidence on GM crops mainly due to deontological, epistemological and methodological distortions that characterize much of the scientific production in this area of life sciences. As a consequence, the real impact of GM crops remains largely unclear and problematic. This situation challenges all promotional campaigns carried out by agribusiness companies. We address some issues related to GM crops and their impact, trying to highlight some obstacles that still prevent us from clarifying what we know, what we do not know and what we will never know by using unreliable scrutiny criteria. GM crops are still a source of heated debate within the scientific community and in public opinion. In m...
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2017
Abstract Alpine meadows have been exposed to relevant management shifts in the last decades, with... more Abstract Alpine meadows have been exposed to relevant management shifts in the last decades, with changes in plant species composition and biodiversity losses often occurring in favor of augmented foraging capabilities, especially in marginal rural contexts. In this study, we analyzed the relationships among the plant species composition, biodiversity and forage value of meadows and two sets of variables, environmental and management ones, in a dairy district of the Central Italian Alps. Results indicate that management variables could only explain limited variability of the meadows under study: for instance, the number of cuts per year is available to justify the plant species composition and biodiversity of such coenoses. Moreover, the environmental variables better described the variability of responses, due to the harsh environmental constraints of the area under examination, located at high altitudes. The shared effects of the two sets explained larger variance than the management set alone, due to the complex relationships of environmental and management factors in the context. The forage value of meadows, an indicator of hay quality, was found negatively associated with the Shannon Index. This behavior highlights a known dilemma which especially refers to high altitude communities as the ones under study, clearly highlighting trade-offs between their production and biodiversity. Some taxa as Anthriscus sylvestris , Heracleum sphondylium and others critically unbalance the species composition of meadows, thus their overall biodiversity, at low altitudes. This finding, explainable by the late first cuttings commonly adopted by all farmers, suggests the eutrophication of coenoses. The management choices inspected did not reflect on the wide variability of meadows, but indeed they made possible to understand how this farming system should be deeply revised, with respect to environmental constraints and meadows’ fodder capabilities.
The past, present and future of hay making structures in Europe. Sustainability 11(20), 5581, 2019
Hay-making structures are part of the agricultural landscape of meadows and pastures. Hay meadows... more Hay-making structures are part of the agricultural landscape of meadows and pastures. Hay meadows are still used and found all over Europe, but their distribution patterns as well as their characteristics and regional features depend on geographical area, climate, culture, and intensity of agriculture. Intensively used hay meadows are the most dominant, using heavy machinery to store hay mostly as rounded or square bales. Traditional hay-making structures Sustainability 2019, 11, 5581 2 of 19 represent structures or constructions, used to quickly dry freshly cut fodder and to protect it from humidity. The 'ancient' forms of traditional hay-making structures are becoming a relic, due to mechanisation and the use of new technologies. Both the need for drying hay and the traditional methods for doing so were similar across Europe. Our study of hay-making structures focuses on their current state, their development and history, current use and cultural values in various European...
Italian Journal of Animal Science, 2014
The 2006 report concerning the environmental impact of the livestock sector published by FAO has ... more The 2006 report concerning the environmental impact of the livestock sector published by FAO has generated scientific debate, especially considering the context of global warming and the need to provide animal products to a growing world population. However, this sector differs widely in terms of environmental context, production targets, degree of intensification and cultural role. The traditional breeding systems in the Alps were largely based on the use of meadows and pastures and produce not only milk and meat but also other fundamental positive externalities and ecosystem services, such as the conservation of genetic resources, water flow regulation, pollination, climate regulation, landscape maintenance, recreation and ecotourism and cultural heritage. In recent decades, the mountain livestock, mainly represented by dairy cattle, have been affected by a dramatic reduction in the number of farms, a strong increase in the number of animals per farm, an increase in indoor production systems, more extensive use of specialised non-indigenous cattle breeds and the increasing use of extra-farm concentrates instead of meadows and pastures for fodder. The first section of this paper describes the livestock sector in the Italian Alps and analyses the most important factors affecting their sustainability. The second section discusses the need to assess the ecosystem services offered by forage-based livestock systems in mountains with particular attention to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and its mitigation by carbon sequestration. It is concluded that the comparison between the different elements of the environmental sustainability of mountain livestock systems must be based on a comprehensive overview of the relationships between animal husbandry, the environment and the socioeconomic context.
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Papers by Fausto Gusmeroli