Moderate grazing restores degraded rangelands, outperforming reforestation efforts.
The study compared different ways to restore degraded Mediterranean rangelands in Greece. They looked at four methods: moderate grazing, no grazing, pine plantation in forest gaps, and full reforestation with pine trees. The researchers found that moderate grazing was the best for providing ecosystem services, while heavy grazing was the worst. Pine reforestation helped with water and soil conservation but reduced plant diversity. Overall, managing grazing pressure is better than banning grazing or planting pine trees to restore degraded rangelands.