Adequate management of Mediterranean woodland and scrubland has recently become a serious managerial challenge to the responsible authorities in Israel, as well as in other Mediterranean regions (The Mediterranean Basin, California, South Africa). The most serious problem in these regions, as far as management is concerned, is the amount of dry vegetative material accumulated in protected stands. This material becomes a fuel storage that may support devastating fire causing damage to natural ecosystems, agricultural fields and valuable property. The effectiveness of conservation measures encouraged the regrowth of the woody vegetation, thus aggravating the problem of fuel accumulation over large areas. This paper reviews the literature on the management of dense woodlands with emphasis on the use of goats as a managerial tool. More specifically, the paper examine the feasibility of a combined management scheme: a massive, single opening up of the woodland with a continuous goat grazing. This scheme is proposed for well-defined and fenced areas that are located in strategic sites according to fire hazards. These fuel brakes are supposed to prevent fire passage from highly probable fire sources or to defend areas with a special scenic or economic value. The paper presents the special advantages of the goat, in comparison to other livestock, in the management of woody vegetation and reviews experiments in which combined management has been operated in Israel and abroad. Analyses of the woodland response to the management treatments, both on the level of the individual plant or species and the whole plant community, have shown that the interactions between goats, vegetation and treatment are very comlex and are not yet fully understood in order to propose an efficient management plan for the fuel brakes. The impressive regeneration capabilities of most of the woodland species, and the ecosystem as a whole, should lower the fear from massive opening up of or heavy grazing on dense stands. These capabilities strengthen the neccesity to treat effectively mainly small and well-defined areas.
Adequate management of Mediterranean woodland and scrubland has recently become a serious managerial challenge to the responsible authorities in Israel, as well as in other Mediterranean regions (The Mediterranean Basin, California, South Africa). The most serious problem in these regions, as far as management is concerned, is the amount of dry vegetative material accumulated in protected stands. This material becomes a fuel storage that may support devastating fire causing damage to natural ecosystems, agricultural fields and valuable property. The effectiveness of conservation measures encouraged the regrowth of the woody vegetation, thus aggravating the problem of fuel accumulation over large areas. This paper reviews the literature on the management of dense woodlands with emphasis on the use of goats as a managerial tool. More specifically, the paper examine the feasibility of a combined management scheme: a massive, single opening up of the woodland with a continuous goat grazing. This scheme is proposed for well-defined and fenced areas that are located in strategic sites according to fire hazards. These fuel brakes are supposed to prevent fire passage from highly probable fire sources or to defend areas with a special scenic or economic value. The paper presents the special advantages of the goat, in comparison to other livestock, in the management of woody vegetation and reviews experiments in which combined management has been operated in Israel and abroad. Analyses of the woodland response to the management treatments, both on the level of the individual plant or species and the whole plant community, have shown that the interactions between goats, vegetation and treatment are very comlex and are not yet fully understood in order to propose an efficient management plan for the fuel brakes. The impressive regeneration capabilities of most of the woodland species, and the ecosystem as a whole, should lower the fear from massive opening up of or heavy grazing on dense stands. These capabilities strengthen the neccesity to treat effectively mainly small and well-defined areas.