Habitat and avifaunal recovery from livestock grazing in a riparian meadow system of the northwestern Great Basin
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Authors: D. S. Dobkin, A. C. Rich, and W. H. Pyle
Date: 1998
Journal: Conservation Biology
Volume: 12
Number: 1
Pages: 209-221
Summary of Methods: Comparison of vegetation attributes between riparian plots inside an exclosure established in 1958 and riparian plots with no grazing for about 4 years but outside the exclosure was conducted in Guano Creek (5807 feet elevation) in the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (HMNAR), Oregon. Three plots of 1.5 hectares (ha) each were established inside and outside the exclosure. Vegetation sampling was conducted in July 1992 and 1994 using vegetation transects running perpendicularly to the stream axis. Foliage height diversity and shrub cover were measured. Recording of birds was assessed during the 1991-1994 breeding season (May-July) along fixed-width line transects.
Article Summary / Main Points: Sedges and forbs were abundant in riparian plots inside a long-term exclosures whereas shrubs (silver sagebrush) and open areas (bareground) were dominant in short-term ungrazed riparian plots. Avian relative abundance and avian species richness were consistently greater in riparian plots inside a long-term exclosure. Ten species typically associated with wetlands and riparian habitats were only found on these plots while five species typically associated with upland habitats were only detected on short-term ungrazed riparian plots. Avian species richness and relative abundance were greater in wet years than in dry years in long-term and short-term ungrazed riparian plots and thus varied as vegetation changed in response to climatic variation. Appearance of key species of wet-meadow birds on short-term ungrazed plots in the third and fourth years following livestock removal signaled the beginning of restoration of the riparian avifauna.
Vegetation Types: Riparian and Wetlands Sagebrush Steppe
MLRA Ecoregions: 21 Klamath and Shasta Valleys and Basins 23 Malheur High Plateau
Agrovoc Control Words: Wildlife Riparian zones Vegetation
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: riparian vegetation, birds, wildlife
Annotation: This highly cited case study compares the pace of vegetation and avian recovery between a long-term and short-term livestock grazing removal in the great basin, particularly of those in the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (HMNAR), Oregon. Thus, the usefulness of this paper is somewhat restrictive to the location of study. In addition, the authors recognized that this was the first quantitative assessment of riparian meadow recovery and that more studies would be needed in order to effectively manage the restoration of these areas. No grazing occurred in the study area while the experiment was being conducted. Grazing intensity was defined as ungrazed and grazed. Vegetation sampling was conducted in July. Bird plots were sampled from May-July. Monthly precipitation was combined from October-June.
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