Holtcamp Published in American Forests Magazine , Summer 1998. Livestock grazing is a long-ignored cause of the decline of Western forests, say researchers Joy Belsky and Dana Blumenthal in their recent Conservation Biology paper, and they compiled fifty years of evidence to support their claim. When cows trample and graze understory grasses and herbs, they remove competition for young saplings, allowing the young trees to grow in unnaturally high densities.
Cattle also compact the soil, increase erosion, and change understory plant composition.
Specifically, they are concerned that Belsky's findings may not apply to other regions and habitats.