Sward Composition and Grazer Species Effects on Nutritive Value and Herbage Accumulation

In experimental grassland, plant species diversity has often been found to be related to productivity. However, it is not clear whether this relationship also exists in semi‐natural permanent grassland, and how it is affected by the stocking system. We analyzed the effects of cattle (Bos taurus) and sheep (Ovis aries) grazing alone or in combination on annual herbage accumulation and nutritive value of a moderately species‐rich sward (diverse sward) and its grass‐dominated counterpart (grass sward) during 3 yr after the onset of a grazing experiment. The grass sward was established applying selective herbicides against dicot species before the start of the experiment, resulting in a reduction of plant species number by 35% and a yield contribution of dicots of