page_title: Grazing (behaviour)
section_title: Environmental
hierarchical_section_title: Grazing (behaviour) / Benefits / Environmental
caption_attribution_description: English: Cattle grazing at the high-mountain pasture of Velika Planina, Slovenia
context_page_description: Grazing is a method of feeding in which a herbivore feeds on low-growing plants such as grasses or other multicellular organisms, such as algae. Many species of animals can be said to be grazers, from large animals such as hippopotamuses to small aquatic snails. Grazing behaviour is a type of feeding strategy within the ecology of a species. Specific grazing strategies include graminivory; coprophagy; pseudoruminant; and grazing on plants other than grass, such as on marine algae.
  Grazing's ecological effects can include redistributing nutrients, keeping grasslands open or favouring a particular species over another.
context_section_description: Grazer urine and feces "recycle nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other plant nutrients and return them to the soil". Grazing can allow for the accumulation of organic matter which may help to combat soil erosion. This acts as nutrition for insects and organisms found within the soil. These organisms “aid in carbon sequestration and water filtration”.
caption: Cattle grazing in a high-elevation environment at the Big Pasture Plateau, Slovenia
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