Out on another trail run on a different route across the Malvern Hills, I came across cattle grazing across different parts of the hillside. One advantage of exploring different trail routes across the Malvern Hills is noticing how differently the landscape is used, although the landscape looked the same, the cattle’s grazing behaviour changes. Science often begins with observation of uneven patterns, which leads to this week’s biology question:
Why might cattle graze one side of a hill more heavily than another, even when the landscape appears similar?
Below are some questions we can think about.
1.Suggest three abiotic factors that could affect grazing behaviour.
2. Explain how grazing affects the ecosystem over time.
3. How could you investigate whether cattle prefer certain slopes?
4.What measurements could you collect and what problems arise when collecting data outdoors?
5. Explain why animals try to conserve energy while feeding.
6. How might the direction of the slope and how it faces change vegetation and why do the farmers place the cattle to certain areas of the hillside?
and a higher level question.
7. Why can two areas that look similiar behave differently as ecosystems?
SG Education 