nfluences of livestock grazing on greater sage-grouse habitat
TRANSCRIPT
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Influences of Livestock Grazing on Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat: Context and Management
Jeff BeckWildlife Habitat Restoration EcologistDepartment of Renewable Resources
University of WyomingACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Karen Launchbaugh – University of IdahoMike Smith – University of Wyoming
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Grazing in the Sagebrush Steppe
In the Intermountain West
Sagebrush Steppe
Great Basin Sagebrush
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Historic Regime
Plant Communities
10,0002.5 mill
Pleistocene
2,000 200Yrs BP Yrs BPYrs BPYrs BP
Plants of Sagebrush Ecosystem Exist in
Various Communities
Communities ofSagebrush Ecosystem
are Formed
Sagebrush CommunitiesAs We Know it Today
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Historic RegimeLivestock arrived in mid 1800’s
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Number of Livestock
1900 20001950
35
25
15
05
Mill
ions
of A
UM
’s
Trends in Grazing on Federal Grazing Lands
------------Year--------------
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Historic Grazing Impact1938
1956
1998
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Livestock and Sage-Grouse
Direct ??
Indirect
Livestock Grazing in the Sage-Steppe
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Implications (Beck and Mitchell 2000)Direct positive (n = 4)
Light and moderate grazing stimulating forbs and use of grassy meadows
Direct negative (n = 6). Trampling nests and nest desertionsSheep bed grounds removed sagebrush on ridges used by grouse in winterOvergrazing degraded meadow hydrology and use of meadows by grouseDensities of nest-depredating ground squirrels likely increased following heavy grazing
Indirect positive (n = 2)Sage-grouse created new leks at sheep salting sitesBrowsing can reduce dense sagebrush, thereby stimulating herbaceous plants used by grouse in summer
Indirect negative (n = 5)Livestock grazing promoted introduction of invasive weedsEfforts to increase grassy forage for livestock reduced grouse food forbs and shrub cover
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Where Grazing Fits In
Sagebrush-Steppe
LivestockGrazing
InvasivePlants Fire
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Restoring Sagebrush Communities
"...game (wildlife) can be restored by the creative use of the same tools which have heretofore destroyed it- axe, cow, plow, fire, and gun." "........Management is their purposeful and continuing alignment.“
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (1949)
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All repeated spring grazing can affect forbs
Grazing Forbs
Spring Grazed Fall Grazed
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Simplified State and Transition Model for Wyoming Big Sagebrush Ecosystems of the Wyoming Basin (10 to 14 inch precipitation, sandy and loamy ESD)
Bunchgrass Sagebrush/Bunchgrass
BA
Sagebrush/Rhizomatous Grass - Bluegrass
Sagebrush/Bare Ground
C
D
Bold solid arrows depict natural progression with time and various types of grazing. Light solid arrows depict changes that require disturbance. Light dashed arrows depict changes that require disturbance and may take generations to occur.
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“Overall, livestock grazing appears to most affect productivity of sage grouse populations. Residual grass cover following grazing is essential to conceal sage grouse nests from predators.”
Beck and Mitchell (2000)
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Sagebrush/Bunchgrass (State B)
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Bunchgrass (State A)
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Sagebrush/Rhizomatous Grass - Bluegrass (State C)
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Sagebrush Bare Ground (State D)
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Sage-Steppe without Ranching?