Packhorse grazing behavior and immediate impact on a timberline meadow
-
-
Authors: K. M. Olson-Rutz, C. B. Marlow, K. Hansen, L. C. Gagnon, and R. J. Rossi
Date: 1996
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 49
Number: 6
Pages: 546-550
Summary of Methods: To determine the impact of occasional or repeated packhorse (Equus caballus) grazing on mountain meadows in southwestern Montana, Olson-Rutz et al. evaluated vegetation use and diet selection for horses that were tied to a picket and allowed to graze on a 15 m rope for 4-, 8-, or 18-hours during July, August, or September. Picketed horses fed avidly for 3 to 4 hours and continued to graze intermittently thereafter throughout their time on picket circles. They moved continuously while grazing, even when preferred forages were available. As grazing time increased the percent of grasses grazed increased and the height of grasses was reduced (less than 12 cm tall), especially in circles grazed more than 8 hours or grazed repeatedly during the summer. Packhorse grazing does have immediate impacts on the vegetation in mountain meadows, however, the authors suggest that the impact level will vary with the horse's previous exercise and picket grazing experience, and the amount of time they are picketed in one circular area.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: equus caballus, diet selection, forage removal, horse, grazing, mountain meadow
Annotation: Elk also use the study site. Horses were constrained to a given area for grazing. The grazing treatments were: a) the duration a circle was grazed (0=ungrazed control, 4, 8, or 18 hours) and b) the month the circle was grazed (July, August, or September). In 1988, there were 4 replicate circles per month by duration combination for a total of 48 circles which were randomly interspersed on a 3 ha portion of the meadow.,In 1989, they applied the same treatments to a different 3 ha portion of the same meadow. They included circles which were grazed repeatedly during the summer (frequency) to asses the impact of repeated visits to a given site. These circles were grazed for 4 or 8 hours in July, again in August, and for a third time in September. All 56 circles used in 1989 were regrazed in 1990 with the same month, duration, and frequency.
-
Get article
Cite article with DOI
-