Upland pasture (rough grazing and/or semi-natural rough grazing) is a type of semi-naturalgrassland located inuplands of rollingfoothills or upon higher slopes, greater than 350 meters (1148.29 feet) and less than 600 meters (1968.50 feet) from ground level, that is used primarily for grazing.[1] Upland pastures occur in most grassland systems where topographic slope prevents feasible crop production; they are a primary component ofrangelands, but are not necessarily water limited. Upland pastures includehighlands,moorland, and other grasslands in regions of upland soils (said to have thepotential for hydric inclusions, rather than definitive hydric inclusion; meaning there is potential for "saturation,flooding, orponding long enough during thegrowing season to developanaerobic conditions").[2][3]
The term originates in theBritish Isles where upland pastures constitute approximately 9 million hectares, 48% of agricultural land use in the UK.[1] Upland pastures are widely managed in the United States inNew England andAppalachia, and insemi-arid mountain regions in theinter-mountain west where theirmanagement is an important aspect ofhistoric farming,wildlife preservation, andrange livestock production.[4][5][6] Upland pastures are also of primary importance to livestock production in western Australia,[7] theMongolian-Manchurian grassland ecoregion,[8] in the Andes ofArgentina,Uruguay,Paraguay, and westernBrazil, in theEurasian Steppes, inSouth Africa'sHighveld, inSwitzerland and theAlps,Sweden,Iceland,India,Juniper grasslands aroundJabal Sawda inSaudi Arabia and other Juniper encroached grasslands in theMiddle East including inJordan,Israel,Turkey,Kazakhstan, as well as ineastern European nations, and,Tibet,New Zealand,Ethiopia,Canada,Kenya,Tanzania,Eritrea,Yemen,Ghana,Nigeria,Papua New Guinea,Syria, andCantabria.[9][10]
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![Chianina cattle in Valmarecchia [it], Italy upland pasture](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aValmarecchia_2.jpg)