ARS | Publication request: THE ROLE OF GRAZING MANAGEMENT IN REDUCING GRASSHOPPER OUTBREAKS

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 29, 2003
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Little research has examined preventative management strategies that reduce the likelihood or intensity of grasshopper outbreaks. Reducing bare soil or controlling how much vegetation is removed at critical periods of a grasshopper's life cycle can conceivably decrease grasshopper development and survival rates. Grazing management systems differ in how they manipulate the timing, rate, or degree of plant defoliation by livestock. Certain types of grazing management in the northern Great Plains appear to create unfavorable habitats for grasshoppers or spur increases in grasshopper diseases and predators, leading to a reduction in grasshopper population densities. However, the effects of differing types of grazing management on grasshopper population dynamics may only be evident during periods of high grasshopper densities.