Prescribed fire effects on resource selection by cattle in mesic sagebrush steppe. Part 2: Mid-summer grazing

Clark, Patrick E.; Lee, Jaechoul; Ko, Kyungduk; Nielson, Ryan M.; Johnson, Douglas E.; Ganskopp, David C.; Pierson, F. B.; Hardegree, Stuart P.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.03.005

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Specifically, the foraging paths in burnt rangelands, despite possibly being longer, become less tortuous, allowing the animals to spend more time foraging and less time traveling between vegetation patches [72]. This was explained by the decrease in competition imposed on herbaceous vegetation by woody plants, with the resultant increase in forage production shortly after the fire [73]. This accords with Pearson et al [74], who reported for the semi-arid grasslands and sagebrush steppe of the Yellowstone National Park, in western USA, that elk (Cervus elaphus) and bison (Bison bison) tended to prefer grazing in post-burnt rangelands, because of greater forage availability than that in non-burnt lands.…”

Section: Post-fire Ungulate Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfires in Grasslands and Shrublands: A Review of Impacts on Vegetation, Soil, Hydrology, and Geomorphology

Stavi

2019

Water

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Wildfires are prevalent in grasslands and shrublands. The objective of this study is to provide land managers with a general overview, by assessing the main impacts of wildfire, including those on plant communities (e.g., secondary succession and species invasion), soil characteristics (e.g., water repellency (hydrophobicity), aggregation and structure stability, and contents of organic carbon and nutrients), and surface processes (e.g., ash deposition, ground surface clogging, water runoff, soil erosion, hillslope debris flow, and dry ravel). Additionally, the study discusses the effects of livestock grazing on the functioning of post-fire grasslands and shrublands. Although mesic regions are mentioned, this review focuses on drylands. The comparatively low-to-moderate fuel loads that characterize grasslands and shrublands generate wildfires of relatively moderate intensity, resulting in moderate burn severity. Yet, it seems that because of decreased soil aggregate stability following burning, the hoof action of livestock that access burnt lands shortly after the fire increases the shearing and detachment of mineral material from the ground surface; this increases soil erodibility, with the possible risk of accelerated land degradation. The review ends with an assessment of general implications for environmental sustainability and health, and provides recommendations on wildfire control in rangelands, and on restoration of burnt lands.

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Section: Post-fire Ungulate Grazingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildfires in Grasslands and Shrublands: A Review of Impacts on Vegetation, Soil, Hydrology, and Geomorphology

Stavi

2019

Water

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“…Most rangelands are considered fire-dependent ecosystems, where historical fire regimen maintained under control woodland expansion (Limb et al, 2016). Prescribed fire has been used as a management tool in rangeland ecosystems, for regenerating pastures, because fire can promote forage production, quality and palatability, and also opens up new foraging areas where canopy closure by shrubs obstructed the access to grasslands areas (Hobbs and Spowart, 1984;Cook et al, 1994;Cubit, 1996;Collins et al, 1998;Fernandes et al, 2013;Clark et al, 2016;Santín and Doerr, 2016). Although there is large knowledge on the effects of fire on forests (Pausas et al, 2008;Fernandes et al, 2013;Santín and Doerr, 2016), the response of ecosystems to fire is still not fully understood because it depends on the spatial and temporal scale, the historical fire regime, and presence of other environmental stressors (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clearing vs. burning for restoring Pyrenean grasslands after shrub encroachment

Alados

Sáiz

Nuche

et al. 2019

CIG

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Anthropogenic activities have modified vegetation on subalpine belts for a long time, lowering the treeline ecotone and influencing the landscape mainly through grazing and fire. The abandonment of these traditional land use practices during the last decades and global warming are contributing largely to the colonization of woody species in subalpine grasslands, causing irreversible changes in ecosystem functioning. A variety of management strategies requiring the use of fire and/or clear-cutting are carried out to prevent the expansion of highly encroaching shrubs and improve the conservation status of subhumid high-productive grasslands ecosystems. However, it is still poorly understood how different management strategies affect the recovery of subalpine grasslands, which is influenced concurrently by the vegetation community involved. In this study we used field experiments to test the impact of management treatments on soil properties and vegetation responses in subalpine Bromion erecti grassland communities colonized by the pyrophyte shrub Echinospartum horridum (Vahl) Rothm. on the southern Pyrenees. Vegetation was monitored for 5 years in E. horridum plots (two plots per treatment) where the vegetation was removed by prescribed fire (Burnt treatment) or by mechanical removal (Clear-cut treatment). Undisturbed E. horridum plots were used as a control (C-Erizón) for shrub removal treatments and a Bromion erecti grassland community regularly grazed (C-Grass) was used as a control for subalpine grassland. Clear-cut treatment of E. horridum community was more effective to control E. horridum colonization than Burnt treatment and contributed to a higher extent to recover original grassland vegetation, because E. horridum seedling performed worse (lower germination rates) and plant species were more similar to the original grassland (legumes, non-legume forbs, and grasses). Shrubs and sub-shrubs cover in Burnt areas increased faster than in Clear-cut areas during the 5 years following the treatment, although it did not reach the level of C-Erizón. Species richness and diversity increased in comparison with C-Erizón in both treatments, but they were significantly lower than those in the C-Grass. Network connectivity was larger in well preserved grasslands, i.e, C-Grass, than in any other treatments, mainly dominated by negative plant-plant association. Soils nutrients declined in Burnt sites 4 years after the fire treatment and no difference was observed between Clear-cut and C-Erizón sites, although they did not reach the soil fertility values of C-Grass in terms of organic matter and C/N ratio. This study showed that grazing favors plant diversity and community complexity in subalpine grasslands. It also demonstrated that clearing is a better strategy than burning to restore grasslands after shrub encroachment because burning entails deeper soil degradation and faster recovering of the pyrophyte shrub, E. horridum.

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“…Stephenson and Bailey [ 17 ] found that cows on southern short grass prairie in central New Mexico, a site with terrain similar to DWR, had no HWI above 0.25 and 0.50 at 75 m and 500 m criteria, respectively. Clark et al [ 49 ] considered cattle behaving independently when they spent more than 75% of their time at distances greater than 75 m. Cattle in our study at the DWR appeared to distribute themselves independently based on this 75% of the time at greater than 75 m apart criterion. The low HWI of even the most associated dyads at 75 m suggests that cattle may have chosen grazing patch sites without strong influences from other GPS tracked cattle in the study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 59%

Temporal Changes in Association Patterns of Cattle Grazing at Two Stocking Densities in a Central Arizona Rangeland

Tobin

Bailey

Stephenson

et al. 2021

Animals

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Proper grazing management of arid and semi-arid rangelands requires experienced personnel and monitoring. Applications of GPS tracking and sensor technologies could help ranchers identify livestock well-being and grazing management issues so that they can promptly respond. The objective of this case study was to evaluate temporal changes in cattle association patterns using global positioning system (GPS) tracking in pastures with different stocking densities (low stocking density [LSD] = 0.123 animals ha−1, high stocking density [HSD] = 0.417 animals ha−1) at a ranch near Prescott, Arizona. Both pastures contained similar herd sizes (135 and 130 cows, respectively). A total of 32 cows in the HSD herd and 29 cows in the LSD herd were tracked using GPS collars at location fixes of 30 min during a 6-week trial in the summer of 2019. A half-weight index (HWI) value was calculated for each pair of GPS-tracked cattle (i.e., dyads) to determine the proportion of time that cattle were within 75 m and 500 m of each other. Forage mass of both pastures were relatively similar at the beginning of the study and forage utilization increased from 5 to 24% in the HSD pasture and increased from 10 to 20% in the LSD pasture. Cattle in both pastures exhibited relatively low mean association values (HWI < 0.25) at both spatial scales. Near the end of the study, cattle began to disperse likely in search of forages (p < 0.01) and travelled farther (p < 0.01) from water than during earlier periods. Real-time GPS tracking has the potential to remotely detect changes in animal spatial association (e.g., HWI), and identify when cows disperse, likely searching for forage.

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Prescribed fire effects on resource selection by cattle in mesic sagebrush steppe. Part 2: Mid-summer grazing

Cited by 16 publications

References 76 publications

Wildfires in Grasslands and Shrublands: A Review of Impacts on Vegetation, Soil, Hydrology, and Geomorphology

Wildfires in Grasslands and Shrublands: A Review of Impacts on Vegetation, Soil, Hydrology, and Geomorphology

Clearing vs. burning for restoring Pyrenean grasslands after shrub encroachment

Temporal Changes in Association Patterns of Cattle Grazing at Two Stocking Densities in a Central Arizona Rangeland

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