Woody-herbaceous-livestock species interaction

Woody and herbaceous species interaction in disturbed and natural environments has attracted a great deal of research attention due to its implications for land cover change, land surface-atmosphere interaction, global carbon budget (House et al. 2003), biodiversity, primary and secondary productivity, and the associated land use management (Archer 1994). Ecosystems of mixed woody and herbaceous plants comprise 15-35% of the terrestrial surface area and are distributed from hot tropical to cold temperate climates across varying topography and soils (House et al. 2003). Mixed woody-herbaceous ecosystems are often heavily impacted by natural and anthropogenic factors such as fire and grazing (House et al. 2003).