ABSTRACT
Domestic livestock can be used to maintain and improve ecosystem health. Grazing is a complex interaction between herbivore and vegetation that can be done to “prescription” in order to meet ecosystem management needs. Herein is discussed the ecological dimensions of what can be called “grazing to prescription” in Mediterranean California. The chapter is organized loosely by scale, starting at the landscape level, then going to the community level, then to the individual plant level, and, finally, returning to the landscape level to close. This chapter is not an attempt to argue the desirability or appropriateness of grazing for any particular site or situation, but only to explain some of the possibilities of livestock grazing management and what it can offer in stewarding diverse and changing ecosystems.
