Wild ungulate influences on the recovery of willows, black cottonwood and thin-leaf alder following cessation of cattle grazing in northeastern Oregon
-
-
Authors: R. L. Case, and J. B. Kauffman
Date: 1997
Journal: Northwest Science
Volume: 71
Number: 2
Pages: 115-126
Summary of Methods: After more than a century of heavy, season-long cattle grazing, a study was implemented on Meadow creek in the Starkey Experimental Forest, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon. Uplands consist of a ponderosa pine and grand fir community on north slopes with a ponderosa pine bunchgrass community on southern slopes. Prior to removal, the area had a utilization rate of 70% herbaceous growth, with 60-65% shrub utilization. Cattle grazing was removed following the 1990 grazing season. The study looked at the difference in riparian vegetation recovery when 1) cattle were removed and 2) when game-proof enclosures were built. Three large game exclosures were constructed in the fall of 1991 on the upper, middle and lower end of the study site. Measurements were taken from 1991-1993.
Article Summary / Main Points: Removal of cattle caused a significant increase in vegetative vigor of riparian species. Wild herbivores negatively influenced the height of black cottonwood and production of willow catkins (Salix spp.) Nevertheless, riparian species showed a rapid and positive response to cessation of cattle grazing.
Vegetation Types: Riparian and Wetlands
MLRA Ecoregions: 10 Central Rocky and Blue Mountain Foothills
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Grazing Shrubs
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: grazing, wild ungulates, cattle, willow, salix spp., thin-leaf alder, alnus incana, black cottonwood, populus trichocarpa, riparian ecosystems, cessation
Annotation: This study looked at the recovery of shrubs for only two years following removal of grazing by cattle, and large wild herbivores. The long term effects of not grazing a riparian ecosystem were not examined. Degradation of riparian areas by domestic livestock is a threat to the western United States rangelands (Cooperider 1990, Kauffman and Krueger 1984, Fleischner 1994). However, the effects of changing grazing intensity (Clary 1999), and acceptable utilization rates were not explored in this study.
-
Direct link not available.
-