In view of the decline in the number of farmers and the ongoing shrub encroachment on mountain pastures the valorisation of products and services provided is gaining importance for the conservation of alpine and subalpine ecosystems. Alnus viridis comprises 70% of the shrublands in Switzerland and has been shown to be a serious threat to species diversity. In a grazing experiment, we investigated how robust breeds valorise these abundantly available resources while simultaneously controlling the encroachment or even regaining lost pastures and assessed the forage quality of the Alnus understorey. he species and breeds used were Dexter cattle and Engadine sheep. Both breeds feed on leaves and buds of A. viridis while the sheep even browse the bark of the shrubs. Although digestible organic matter did not difer among vegetation types, crude protein content was highest in the Alnus understorey. Compared to the animals kept on pastures without shrubs there was no decline in meat and carcass quality, and no diferences in average daily weight gain. he sheep grazed on the encroached pastures even had a higher dressing percentage. We conclude that appropriate breeds grazing on shrub-encroached marginal pastures can concurrently produce meat, without loss of quality or animal performance, while preventing shrub encroachment and thus, conserving plant species richness.
