Professors Hrvoje Kutnjak and Josip Leto and assistant Lucija Rajčić from the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb have recently set up so-called “exclusion cages”, as part of research for our project.
These roller cages are about a meter and a half in diameter and one meter high, constructed of wire mesh, and attached to the ground. Their purpose is to prevent livestock from accessing this excluded piece of lawn. In this way, the set of grassland is preserved locally as well as the growth of plants. This method ultimately provides experts with the possibility of better insight into the botanical composition and productivity of grasslands in the project area.
A total of six cages have been set up, four of which are in Ježević dry grassland, while two are in the Podinarje area near Kijevo. The cages are marked with leaflets with a message asking random passers-by not to touch the cages and thus help the research conducted in the Dinara area.
This year we plan to set-up additional cages. The results obtained will give a better insight into the utilization of grassland’s natural resource as well as new knowledge useful for grassland management in protected areas.
