Grazing

Grazing is the consumption by animals of herbaceous vegetation at its place of growth, whether in pasture or on rangeland. In its noun form, grazing refers to the land where this takes place. The term shares etymological roots with grass; technically, grazing is a subset of herbivory and is distinct from browsing, which involves woody or brushy plants rather than grasses and forbs. In common usage, however, this distinction is often overlooked, with grazing employed as a synonym for herbivory, perhaps because many animals are both grazers and browsers. Grazing animals are diverse, including both wild and domesticated species and several taxa, including birds such as geese, insects such as grasshoppers, and mammals ranging from mice to kangaroos to elk. Here again, common usage often ...