and Budger’s bite subtly alters the composition of this community. The shearing of the tallest grasses exposes the pasture’s shorter plants to sunlight, stimulating their growth. This is why a well-grazed pasture will see its population of ground-hugging clovers increase, a boon to grasses and grazers alike. These legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, fertilizing the neighboring grasses from below while supplying nitrogen to the grazers above; the bacteria living in the animal’s rumen will use the nitrogen in these clover leaves to construct new molecules of protein.
