Sheep pasturage as a factor of conservation of Sudety pastures overgrowth in the example of Sienna village and the Puchaczówka Saddle

Sienna with a hamlet on the Puchaczówka Saddle (864 m) is a disappearing, mountain, farming village, although in the past it was an important center for sheep breeding and at the same time, a village with rich traditions of mining and tourism. The result of the collapse of agriculture and rural depopulation is the wilderness of mountain meadows and pastures, which may prevent even limited sheep grazing. The studies compared quantitative and species composition of 10 experimental fields grazed and non-grazed by animals. Test results indicate that even limited sheep grazing (400 sheep on the area of 300 ha) effectively stops the invasion of shrubs and trees, and it also has an influence on the botanical composition of pasture.