Theory 35/Grassland & Savanna/Grazing diversity
Grazing Needs Patchiness
The claim
Grazing maintains grassland diversity only above a threshold in grazing patchiness, so uniform heavy grazing reduces diversity despite high pressure.
01Mechanism
Diversity requires some patches to escape grazing; patchiness sets the fraction that does, and the ratio to pressure determines whether it is enough.
02Prediction
Diversity should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Diversity tracking grazing intensity would remove patchiness.