Liesbeth Bakker of Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research has done some interesting research that relates to multi-species use of grasslands. In an earlier post Ruminants and Rodents the relationship between invasive species and grazing was discussed. Bakker's research adds to that by showing the relationship between cattle, rabbits, diverse herbs, voles, shrubs and trees in grasslands. Briefly, she shows that cattle create habitat that rabbits and herbs like and that rabbits eat shrubs that can provide shelter for tree seedlings.

An interesting observation is that rabbits and voles eat more of the grass than the cattle do. The idea of multi-species grazing using cattle, goats and chickens was discussed in the earlier post Political Science. Perhaps rabbits would be a useful addition to such a system.