Regenerative Grazing Series | Tool #2 Pt. II: Living Organism Employees

(The following is from my monthly newsletter. This series began in March 2022 and has continued for nearly a full year, with its final installment in February 2023. Below is the “better” edited version from what I originally emailed to my followers.)

We have many different types of living organism employees that can work for us and/or with us. Commonly we think all we have to help us is the livestock we already own and manage, but there’s so much more than that. Other organisms, as we’ll discuss very soon, act as “partners” with us, primarily as biodiversity and community indicators of what we’re doing right (or wrong) to the land.

Let’s talk about just some of the common living organism employees we have or will encounter on our land regeneration journey. These are, from smallest to largest:

• Soil prokaryotes
• Mycorrhizal fungi
• Earthworms
• Dung beetles.
• Arachnids
• Dragonflies and damselflies
• Pollinators
• Reptiles and amphibians
• Avian species
• Wild mammals
• Our own livestock

Soil Prokaryotes

Archaea and bacteria make up the biggest portion of the soil prokaryotic realm when it comes to having those important living organism employees. While books can be written on the subject, soil bacteria in particular are grouped in several different types:

• Acidic/Alkaline – pH dependent bacteria, where some like very acidic conditions, and others prefer basic (alkaline) conditions.
• Anaerobic/Aerobic – certain bacteria prefer conditions where there is no oxygen present (like in a cow’s rumen). Others thrive in an environment with ample oxygen (as in healthy soils). Certain bacteria, when soils are broken up by tillage which introduces oxygen into the system, come alive and being consuming the organic matter that’s present.
• Autotrophic/Heterotrophic – Some bacteria only need to live off of chemical reactions that occur within themselves or in their environment to survive (autotrophic), whereas others need to eat other bacteria or material from living or dead cells to be able to live (heterotrophic). Most plants need heterotrophic bacteria to have an exchange of nutrients occurring.
• Gram-negative/Gram-positive – these bacteria are grouped according to their cell membrane structure. Basically, gram-positive (GP) has a more “delicate” membrane than gram-negative (GN) bacteria. GN bacteria have a double-fatty membrane with a thin “peptidoglycan” membrane in between, and GP only has a single fatty membrane with a very thick peptidoglycan membrane over top. While their purpose in soils is still not well understood, this study found that the presence of GN and GP bacteria may be helpful in assessing carbon stocks and whether soils are losing carbon (higher GP:GN ratio) as opposed to gaining (lower GP:GN ratio).

Bacteria are also divided into the following types of functional groups:

• Decomposers – these are the organic matter recyclers, the organisms that take complex molecules and compounds from bark, leaves, poop, bones, and other organic tissues and break them down into simpler molecules. These include the famous Actinomycetes.
• Mutualists – these are the ones that participate in the so-called “black market” where they exchange nutrients and liquid carbon with plant roots for their benefit and the plants’. Rhizobacteria are an example, which forms a relationship with legumes and creates these “infections” called root nodules that may be bright pink or, even better, blood red. These bacteria help plants fix nitrogen.
• Pathogens – the organisms that are most notorious for entering a host and causing disease or infection. Pathogens aren’t always bad because they root out the weak and feed the rest of the ecology with the death they incur.
• Lithotrophs – these unique type of bacteria are free N-cycling bacteria. They’re also great at degrading pollutants and hydrocarbons from plastics and petroleum, and will essentially “eat” these compounds without needing carbon as their fuel to live.

I did not go over archaea because they are a different beast altogether. Archaea are found in soils, with their purpose still largely unknown. They are most famous for living in absolutely extreme environments where no other living organisms thought could survive, from the coldest part of Antarctica to the extremely acidic hot springs found in Yellowstone National Park.

Mycorrhizal Fungi

Mycorrhizal fungi are a source of transportation of water and nutrients for plants. Research has also uncovered that fungi act as the messenger between plants, allowing plants to communicate with each other.

We’re most familiar with the fruiting bodies of fungi, being mushrooms. However, most of us don’t know how fungi get from one place to another or even act as a transportation and communication service. This is through their hyphae, which are very long extensions that can travel for miles. New tendrils always replace the old and dead. If a plant dies, the hyphae attached to it do as well, but the part that is still able to grow and reach out to find new plants to partner with still lives.

There are two main types of mycorrhizal fungi you should know about: arbuscular endomycorrhizae, and ectomycorrhizae. Arbuscular endomycorrhizae are the ones that get into the root cells and exchange nutrients with the plant directly. The hyphae do not puncture directly into the cell, instead it basically “invaginates” itself, extending the cell membrane right into the root cell, pushing the internal “guts” of the cell aside. AEM forms relationships with 85% of the plant species on this planet, including forage grasses and legumes, cereal grains, corn, many forbs, and other plant species.

Ectomychorrizae does not “penetrate” into the root cortex. Instead, it forms this big mass of hyphae outside the root hairs and sends hyphae into the cortex, but only in between cells. Ectomycorrhizae forms relationships with fewer plant species than endomycorrhizae, mostly with woody species.

Mycorrhizal fungi are also important for soil aggregation. They excrete a sticky substance called “glomalin” that binds soil particles together to allow for better water and air infiltration into the soil.

Earthworms

Earthworms have always been hailed as great indicators of soil health, for one because they don’t need a microscope to be seen, and two they love plenty of organic matter. If there’s no organic matter present, or very little, they will die off (or, the lucky few find other places to live).

These creatures are best known for their ability to recycle dung and dead plant matter into usable forms of fertility for plants, in the form of “worm castings.” Earthworms are thought to be builders of soil, as Charles Darwin hypothesized and found out–with the limited understanding he did of soil life back then–a few years before his death.

Earthworms are also known for being enhancers of the soil microbial community, and there has been plenty of scientific studies discussing what type and how, but I won’t get into that here. They also help buffer the soil, meaning they create a more neutral environment for all organisms to thrive in. Finally, they help with aggregate stability and making the soil more porous, creating channels and tunnels for water and air to better get into the soil profile.

Dung Beetles

You might be surprised to learn that dung beetles exist in North America too. That’s right, they’re not just exclusive to the African continent. Dung beetles, a large number of species native to the United States and Canada, have been found as far north as in the Peace River country. Sources say that there are about 75 different species of dung beetles in North America.

There are three main types: dwellers, rollers, and tunnellers. Some species also prefer certain types of poop (like horse manure over cattle manure), whereas others are more “generalists.” The most common species in North America are dwellers, which lay eggs in fresh manure and eat bacteria.

Dung beetles are great at breaking down manure pats. One major caveat, though, is the use of cattle insecticides. These have been shown to reduce insect activity on manure, reducing the capability of quick manure breakdown.

Arachnids

Spiders!!

Some of you might hate them, but others (like me!) love them. Spiders have their place in the ecosystem, for sure. They eat a wide variety of insects, other spiders, mites, and other organisms they can either catch themselves or catch in the webs they spin.

A sign of a healthy ecosystem is the presence of spiders and lots of them. This means that there is balance in place, with predators keeping that balance. Without predators, the ecosystem is overrun with plant-eating insects that would be considered pests, like grasshoppers, lygus bugs, caterpillars, flea beetles, and others. Arachnids are just one type of predator in the terrestrial arthropodal phylum.

So far, there are almost 1,400 species of spiders identified in Canada. These include orb weavers, wolf spiders, house spiders, two species of Black Widows and (I just learned this myself) two species of tarantulas. My American friends and subscribers have the bragging rights (some of you might argue otherwise) though because apparently there are 3,500 different species of spiders in the States.

Dragonflies & Damselflies

Dragonflies are aerial predators that are also signs of ecosystem health. These arthropods are borne from wetlands and riparian areas, flying out of their aquatic larval state (they never pupate as butterflies, moths, or many other insects do, instead they undergo what is called “incomplete metamorphosis”) to catch a variety of flying insects to eat, and to mate and lay eggs. Dragonflies eat anything that flies and they can catch, like mosquitoes, butterflies, flies, beetles, other dragonflies and more.

However, their presence isn’t necessarily to do with their adult stage, but rather how they’re able to survive from egg to adult. Dragonflies spend most of their lives as larvae, which, depending on the species, ranges from several months to one to two years. (Other species even longer, like over 5 years.) Larvae live in stagnant waters like ponds, lakes, sloughs, or dugouts, where they feed on insect larvae, tadpoles, snails, leeches, crustaceans and worms. They are also prey to fish, waterfowl, and other dragonfly larvae.

Damselflies are much similar, though their larval lifespan is closer to several months and adult stages are only a few weeks long. They’re generally smaller than dragonflies and target smaller insects.

There are 200 species of dragonflies and damselflies in Canada, with the highest diversity found in the eastern provinces. Numbers in the States range from 350 to over 500 species.

Pollinators

Pollinator species are a big group altogether, covering bees, flies, butterflies, moths, and other insects. Pollinators are those critters that have this mutually beneficial relationship with plants to help them reproduce. Plants reward their pollinator partners by “feeding” them sweet nectar if they land and collect a bunch of pollen on their legs, wings, and feet, and transfer it to other flowers.

Pollinators are especially important for those plants that can’t rely on the slightest breeze to send pollen to other plants. Grasses are good at that, but not flowering forbs, shrubs, and some tree species. Without these pollinators, plants generally cannot produce fruit and viable seeds for the next generation.

In a grazing context, pollinators are needed for pollinating different legumes and forb species. Phacelia, chicory, dandelion, clovers, buckbrush, brassicas, sunflowers, and other good-grazing plants are just a few examples.

Fun fact: Leafcutter bees are needed over honey bees because of their larger sizes to pollinate alfalfa (moreso with pure alfalfa stands intended for the alfalfa seed market). Alfalfa flowers have their stamens housed in the “keel” part of the flower which grows and is kept under immense pressure… up until something lands on it, and splits the keel open. For the poor honey bee, that stamen shoots out like one of those cartoons (i.e., in that famous Coyote vs Roadrunner Looney Tunes episodes) punching-fist that springs out behind some hidden trap door to hit them square in the face (or stomach). Ouch! It only takes one (for the dumb ones, maybe a few more) flower to turn any honey bee off from trying to pollinate an entire alfalfa field!

Thankfully, especially in mixed forage stands, larger-sized bumblebees can take the hit a lot easier. Leaf-cutter bee queens only fly a short distance between flowers and their hive, whereas bumblebees cover much larger areas. Leaf-cutters are preferable for the alfalfa seed market because they’re easier to keep and cover more flowers in a smaller area, making them a lot more reliable than bumblebees.

(I apologize for keeping this very short, as I realize there’s a lot to discuss pollinators. Perhaps in a future newsletter that will be the main topic of the month, so stay tuned!)

Reptiles & Amphibians

Snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, and salamanders. I’ll keep this part very brief also as much can easily be discussed on any one of these critters alone. Briefly: Snakes (and lizards) are good for catching small vermin, like mice, voles, rats, and other animals. Frogs, toads, and salamanders are the night-time (sometimes day time) bug-catchers and have also served as keystone species for monitoring water quality and riparian ecosystem health in all parts of the world.

Avian species

If you’ve got bugs, and other small animals, birds will soon come to fill in that next ecological void that the dragonflies or frogs can’t fill. Songbirds, waterfowl, gamebirds, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, swallows, and corvids (jays, crows, magpies) followed by predators like hawks and owls come in to feast on the abundance of life that sprang up from the land-healing venture of regenerative grazing.

Wild mammals

As with birds, soon the many mammals that may take up temporary residence or merely pass through. Mice, voles, rabbits/hares, deer, elk, moose, ground squirrels, squirrels (if you can have them), and the predators of coyotes, foxes, wolves, bears, and the big cats, whatever they may be depending on where you live. They too fill an ecological void and are there because you’ve provided food and temporary shelter for them.

Annoyingly, there are those that wear out their welcome. That’s another newsletter for another time. But, there are also those that are nice to see and make for some good photography subjects!

Not-so-“wild” mammals (and birds), aka our livestock

Finally, we get to the very animals we are able to manage to do this whole regenerative grazing thing. Previously I talked in very general terms about stock densities and stocking rates, but here I want to super-duper briefly (because this newsletter is very long as it is) talk about some of the advantages of our different livestock.

Poultry is great at picking apart cowpies and going after bugs, especially chickens. Ducks and geese are more grazers and slow-bug catchers. Pigs? Roto-rooters and cow-patty eaters (talk to Joel Salatin about that one!), unless you have those grazing pigs like IPP (Idaho Pasture Pigs) or Kune-Kunes. Goats are your browsers; they do much better in the bush than out on pasture like cattle, sheep and horses. That doesn’t mean they won’t graze, because they sure will too. Sheep are more grazers than browsers, and like goats, have dexterous lips to carefully select what they want to eat and prefer plenty of forbs as well as grasses. Cattle (and bison) are your big ruminant grazers, also going after grasses (they love forbs too, arguably more than the stereotypical “cows eat grass” as I’ve heard from several graziers; bison tend to select more grasses than forbs compared with cattle, according to some studies). Finally, horses are unique because they are also big grazing animals, even though they’re not ruminants, and are better adapted at digesting coarser forage than cattle.

I cannot forget those livestock guardian animals, like dogs, donkeys, and llamas. They’re really important too, especially if predators are a problem in your area and context.

Conclusions

And there you have it! Lots of living organism employees help keep the ecology balanced, at least to what they’re able to contribute. I deliberately left out plants because I felt that were already covered by our previous discussions on mycorrhizal fungi and the solar energy flow.

Next time, we will get into the human side of regenerative grazing. Human creativity is one aspect we’ll explore, where I get to talk about things like “thinking outside the box” when it comes to figuring out the artistic side of grazing.