Location: Range and Meadow Forage Management Research
Title: Cattle grazing improves sagebrush restoration success by promoting growth and decreasing fire probabilityAuthor
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Submitted to: Oregon Cattleman
Publication Type: Trade Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2021 Publication Date: 6/1/2021 Citation: Davies, K.W., Bates, J.D., Boyd, C.S. 2021. Cattle grazing improves sagebrush restoration success by promoting growth and decreasing fire probability. Oregon Cattleman. 5(5):30-33. Interpretive Summary: After planting sagebrush seedlings, there is a need to protect them from fire because sagebrush is fire-intolerant. Grazing is likely the only tool that can be applied feasibly across the landscape to decrease wildfire probability, but there are concerns that grazing by livestock may negatively impact sagebrush seedlings. We investigated effects of grazing by cattle on planted sagebrush seedlings at five blocks for five years. Grazing increased sagebrush cover and reproductive efforts by almost 2-fold and had no effect on survival. This suggests that grazing favored sagebrush, a generally unpalatable shrub, recovery, likely by reducing competition from highly palatable herbaceous vegetation. Therefore, grazing can be applied to reduce the probability of wildfire in areas with planted sagebrush seedlings. This is of interest to rangeland managers, livestock producers, wildlife managers, and restoration practitioners. Technical Abstract: After planting sagebrush seedlings, there is a need to protect them from fire because sagebrush is fire-intolerant. Grazing is likely the only tool that can be applied feasibly across the landscape to decrease wildfire probability, but there are concerns that grazing by livestock may negatively impact sagebrush seedlings. We investigated effects of grazing by cattle on planted sagebrush seedlings at five blocks for five years. Grazing increased sagebrush cover and reproductive efforts by almost 2-fold and had no effect on survival. This suggests that grazing favored sagebrush, a generally unpalatable shrub, recovery, likely by reducing competition from highly palatable herbaceous vegetation. Therefore, grazing can be applied to reduce the probability of wildfire in areas with planted sagebrush seedlings. This is of interest to rangeland managers, livestock producers, wildlife managers, and restoration practitioners. |
