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  Journal of Range Management, Volume 49, Number 6 (November 1996)

  Society for Range Management, 1996-11-01
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  Journal of Range Management, Volume 49, Number 5 (September 1996)

  Society for Range Management, 1996-09-01
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  Journal of Range Management, Volume 49, Number 3 (May 1996)

  Society for Range Management, 1996-05-01
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  Journal of Range Management, Volume 49, Number 4 (July 1996)

  Society for Range Management, 1996-07-01
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  Journal of Range Management, Volume 49, Number 2 (March 1996)

  Society for Range Management, 1996-03-01
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  Journal of Range Management, Volume 49, Number 1 (January 1996)

  Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01
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  Yield and quality of WW-Iron Master and caucasian bluestem regrowth

  White, L. M.; Dewald, C. L. (Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01)

  Old World bluestems (Bothriochloa spp.) have been seeded on over a million hectares of marginal farmland in Oklahoma and Texas, yet we know little about their regrowth yield and quality. The objective was to determine seasonal pattern of forage regrowth yield and quality of leaves and stems of WW-Iron Master (B. ischaemum [L.] Keng) and Caucasian (B. caucasica [Trin.] C.E. Hubb.) bluestem when 4-week regrowth was harvested at weekly intervals from early May through mid-September. Four plots of each bluestem were established in each of the 4 blocks (32 plots total). Harvesting was rotated so that 4-week regrowth of each bluestem was harvested weekly from 1 of the 4 plots in each block during 1988 and 1989 to determine regrowth yield, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), and crude protein (CP) of leaves and stems. Forage regrowth of both species peaked in June both years. Regrowth during August averaged 10 and 35% of June regrowth in 1988 and 1989. WW-Iron Master produced 80 and 45 % greater 4-week regrowth than Caucasian in 1988 and 1989. WW-Iron Master produced 75 and 28% greater leaf regrowth than Caucasian in 1988 and 1989 and twice as many stems both years. Leaf and stem IVDMD of WW-Iron Master averaged 2 to 6 percentage units higher than Caucasian. Leaf CP of WW-Iron Master averaged 2 percentage units higher than Caucasian during May and June. However, stem CP of WW-Iron Master averaged 1 percentage unit lower than Caucasian. Grazing management plans need to consider that the majority of bluestem forage production was restricted to a 1 month period in June. This technique of sampling 4-week regrowth every week during the growing season was an effective method for determining the seasonal regrowth pattern.
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  Wildlife numbers on excellent and good condition Chihuahuan Desert rangelands: An observation

  Smith, G.; Holechek, J. L.; Cardenas, M. (Society for Range Management, 1996-11-01)

  Information is lacking on the influence of range condition on wildlife populations in the Chihuahuan Desert. Wildlife observations were made along transects on ranges in excellent and good ecological condition in south-central New Mexico (86% and 72% of climax vegetation remaining, respectively). Black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda Torr.) dominated the excellent condition range while the good condition range had a mixture of grasses, forbs, and shrubs. Plant species diversity was greater on the good compared to excellent condition range. Total mammal sightings/km2 during the study period were higher (P<0.05) on the good compared to excellent condition range. Sightings of important game species (scaled quail, mourning doves, pronghorn, desert cottontails) were higher on the good compared to excellent condition range. Lack of diversity in vegetation composition and structure appear to explain the lower wildlife sightings on the excellent condition range. Results from this study indicate that Chihuahuan Desert ranges in good ecological condition (51-75% of the climax vegetation) will better meet the needs of most wildlife species than ranges in climax or near climax range condition. Research shows grazing intensities that remove an average of about 1/3 of current year’s growth of key forage species (black grama) are effective in developing and maintaining range in good ecological condition in the Chihuahuan Desert.
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  Volatile oil contents of ashe and redberry juniper and its relationship to preference by Angora and Spanish goats

  Riddle, R. R.; Taylor, C. A.; Kothmann, M. M.; Huston, J. E. (Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01)

  Angora and Spanish goats (Capra bircus) were exposed to ashe (Juniperus ashei Buchholz) female, ashe male, redberry (Juniperus pinchotti Sudw.) female and redberry male branches in cafeteria style feeding trials. Preferences were consistent across seasons (except winter). Spanish goats generally consumed more juniper than Angoras. Both breeds preferred ashe over redberry juniper and female over male plants. Concentrations of volatile oils varied significantly between species of juniper and among seasons, but not between sexes. Concentrations of total oils were greater in the spring and summer than in the fall and winter. Concentrations of sabinine+beta-pinene were greater in redberry than ashe for all seasons. Concentrations of myrcene were significantly greater for redberry during the spring and summer. Significant correlation of oil concentration with grams of juniper consumed indicated that specific oils were influencing preference for juniper. Correlations were similar for Angora and Spanish goats, indicating no differences between goat breeds in sensitivity to oils.
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  Visitor perceptions about cattle grazing on National Forest land

  Mitchell, J. E.; Wallace, G. N.; Wells, M. D. (Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01)

  Visitors to the Big Cimarron Watershed in the Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado, had varying attitudes about cattle grazing. Without cuing, 9% of all visitors listed livestock as a source of interference. Local and rural Colorado residents tended to be more agreeable to livestock presence than other visitors in 1992; however, significant differences could not be detected the following year. No relationship existed between the prevalence of a perceived grazing-recreation conflict and visitors' home community size, nor the size of the community where they grew up. Visitors in dispersed campsites tended to be more critical of grazing than those in developed campgrounds. When given a choice, the number of visitors indicating that range livestock added to their stay (34%) was no different than the number stating a negative relationship (33%). Understanding visitor characteristics during range allotment planning may help lessen conflicts between livestock grazing and recreational usage by aiding in plan development and the design of effective interpretive programs.
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  Viewpoint: Western juniper expansion: Is it a threat to arid northwestern ecosystems?

  Belsky, A. J. (Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01)

  Many ranchers, rangeland managers, and range scientists in the Pacific Northwest consider western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) to be an invading weed that reduces water infiltration, dries up springs and streams, increases erosion, reduces biodiversity, and reduces the quality and quantity of forage for livestock and wildlife species. Although there is little scientific evidence supporting most of these beliefs, they are currently being used as rationales for controlling juniper on public and private lands. Similar views were held about pinyon-juniper woodlands in the Southwest and Great Basin from the 1940's through the 1960's, when efforts were also made to control woodland expansion. Pressures to control the further spread of western juniper and reduce its density in woodlands are increasing. Because of the paucity of information on the environmental effects of western juniper expansion in the Northwest, this paper primarily reviews evidence from earlier studies of pinyon-juniper woodlands in the Southwest and Great Basin. These studies rejected similar assumptions about the deleterious effects of pinyon-juniper expansion on ecosystem properties and call into question current rationales for controlling western juniper in the Northwest. These studies also suggest that while the expansion of juniper might alter species composition and decrease herbaceous biomass in grasslands and shrublands, they have few detrimental effects on streamflow, aquatic organisms, soil properties, or wildlife habitat.
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  Viewpoint: Sustaining rangeland landscapes: a social and ecological process

  Huntsinger, L.; Hopkinson, P. (Society for Range Management, 1996-03-01)

  Sustaining rangeland ecosystems is as much a social process as an ecological one. It requires application of many of the same principles as those used in planning for wildlife reserves, but the tenets of conservation biology need to be applied to conserve social as well as ecological structural elements and processes. For some rangelands, a crucial element in a sustainable, culturally meaningful, and ecologically rich landscape is ranching, which is at once a collection of ecological processes and interactions, and an expression of human community. Results of several surveys and studies are used to highlight the "culture clashes" that occur at the ecological and social edges of landscape elements. Unfortunately, differing expectations of what conserved areas should be like has hindered the creation of alliances between environmentalists and ranchers that might prevent the degradation of the landscape by uncontrolled residential and urban development. In one California case, successful planning and alliance building led to the conservation of ranchlands. Zoning, conservation easements, political and financial support for the livestock industry, community leadership, and recognition of the heritage value of rural lifeways all played a part in this success. Similar patterns have been noted in other parts of the West. To conserve some of the most productive and biodiverse rangeland landscapes, ranching must not just be tolerated as a means to an environmental end, but valued and planned for, ecologically, socially, and economically. Rangeland professionals have an important role to play in the development of sustainable social relationships that support sustainable rangelands.
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  Viewpoint: Concept design in range management science

  Scarnecchia, D. L. (Society for Range Management, 1996-09-01)

  This paper is an analysis of general principles involved in designing concepts for range science. It discusses the diversity of conceptuality in range science, from dimensional units to variables to simple models to more complex decision-aiding models. It examines how considerations of abstraction, confounding, and generalization allow development of multi-objective concepts needed in a range management science of many variable, interactions, and models. Examples related to each principle are provided. The paper discusses the importance of avoiding internal confounding within concepts and the necessity that such confounding be avoided in order to allow clear analyses. Ad hoc indices are characterized as inadequate substitutes for explicit models of more complex concepts such as preference and diet selection. Design efforts emphasizing multiple objectives will produce concepts of general use in range management science.
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  Viewpoint: A theoretical basis for planning woody plant control to maintain species diversity

  Fulbright, T. E. (Society for Range Management, 1996-11-01)

  Range improvement practices have been criticized by scientists and the public because of negative impacts on biodiversity. I present a conceptual model based on ecological theory for designing and planning woody plant control to maintain plant and wildlife species richness and diversity. Broad areas of rangeland have been impacted by overgrazing by livestock and attempted brush control in a manner that has resulted in dense woody plant communities that are resistant to natural disturbances such as fire. State-and-transition models of vegetation dynamics predict these biotic assemblages to be temporally stable and not responsive to successional trends. Cultural energy input in the form of woody plant control is required to change the vegetation configuration of these ecosystems. Anthropogenic input conceptualized and designed based on the intermediate disturbance hypothesis can maximize landscape diversity and may result in a landscape mosaic that supports greater species richness, provides increased forage for livestock, and enhances habitat for many wildlife species. A problem with this approach is that continuing inputs are required to maintain the selected landscape architecture. Development of models to predict the effects of woody plant control patterns on biodiversity will enable range managers to implement management strategies that maintain or increase plant and vertebrate species richness and diversity.
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  Ungulate foraging areas on seasonal rangeland in northeastern Oregon

  Sheehy, D. P.; Vavra, M. (Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01)

  In much of the west, seasonal rangeland provides important foraging opportunities for wild and domestic ungulates during times when forage is often limited. We studied the use of foraging areas by Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsonii Bailey), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus Rafinesque), and cattle grazing the same seasonal rangeland in northeastern Oregon. We determined the potential for ungulate use to overlap and the influence of vegetation and terrain features on that use. Vegetation and terrain features of plant communities in the Festuca-Agropyron and Agropyron-Poa Associations were inventoried on a 1,844 ha study area of privately owned seasonal rangeland to define characteristics of ungulate foraging areas. Slope, aspect, elevation and, edge between bunchgrass and forested vegetation types, were evaluated from topographic quadrats. Observations of ungulate distribution on the study area were also obtained. A Geographical Information System using map overlays intersected spatially defined plant communities and terrain features with location of ungulates. Indices of ungulate preference for plant communities and terrain features were established. Discriminant analysis was used to determine which features were most likely to influence ungulate selection of foraging areas. Terrain features having greatest influence on ungulate selection of foraging areas were, distance to the ecotonal edge between steppe and forest communities, and elevation. Cattle preferred foraging areas comprised of Idaho fescue-annual grass plant communities located at medium distance from the forest edge and on moderate elevation. Elk preferred foraging areas comprised of bluebunch wheatgrass-annual grass and Idaho fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass near the forest edge at higher elevations. Mule deer preferred buckwheat-bluegrass scabland plant communities at medium distance from the forest edge at higher elevation. Probability of ungulates using similar foraging areas was highest for elk and cattle and least for elk and mule deer.
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  Technical Note: Spring grazing preference of wheatgrass taxa by Rocky Mountain elk

  Jones, T. A.; Urness, P. J.; Nielson, D. C. (Society for Range Management, 1996-09-01)

  We measured the grazing preference of 3 castrated male Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) for 2 crested (Agropyron desertorum [Fischer ex Link] Schultes), 5 thickspike (Elymus lanceolatus ssp. lanceolatus [Scribner &J.G. Smith] Gould), 3 Snake River (proposed name E. lanceolatus ssp. wawawaiensis), and 2 bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata [Pursh] A. Love) entries. Number of bites and visits were highly correlated in early May (r2=0.77) and late May (r2=0.83). 'Critana' and 'Elbee' thickspike and 'Hycrest' and 'Nordan' crested wheatgrasses can be recommended for seedings for elk spring grazing where these grasses are adapted.
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  Tallgrass prairie vegetation response to spring burning dates, fertilizer, and atrazine

  Mitchell, R. B.; Masters, R. A.; Waller, S. S.; Moore, K. J.; Young, L. J. (Society for Range Management, 1996-03-01)

  Tallgrass prairies provide an important source of hay and summer forage in eastern Nebraska. A study was conducted in 1989 and 1990 on 2 late seral tallgrass prairies near Lincoln and Virginia, Nebraska to determine if production of selected components of tallgrass prairie communities could be altered by burning (not burned, or burned in either early, mid-, or late spring)and applying fertilizer (0 and 67-23 kg N-P ha-1) and atrazine [6-chloro-N-ethyl-N'-(1-methylethyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine] (0 and 2.2 kg a.iha-1). Vegetation was harvested the year treatments were applied at about 30-day intervals starting in June and ending in August. Maximum big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii Vitman) accumulated standing crop (ASC) on unburned areas and areas burned in mid-spring occurred later in 1990 than in 1989. Burning in late spring 1989 maintained big bluestem ASC above 1,100 kg ha-1 through July, whereas big bluestem ASC declined below 840 kg ha-1 in July on areas where other burn treatments were applied. In 1990, big bluestem ASC exceeded 1,570 kg ha-1 in June on areas burned in early and midspring and exceeded 1,500 kg ha-1 in July on areas that were not burned or burned in mid- or late spring. From July to August 1990 big bluestem ASC declined below 730 kg ha-1 for all treatments except the late spring burn treatment where ASC was 1,340 kg ha-1. Burning in late spring reduced prairie dropseed [Sporobolus heterolepis (A. Gray) A. Gray] and tall dropseed [S. asper (Michx.) Kunth.] ASC by at least 67% in June 1990 compared to areas burned in early and mid-spring. Cool-season grass ASC at Virginia declined 86% in June when burned in late spring compared to areas that were not burned. Fertilization increased big bluestem ASC by about 23 and 29% in June and July. Vegetation response to atrazine was variable. Atrazine had a negligible effect on big bluestem ASC. Burning late seral tallgrass prairie in late spring increased big bluestem ASC later in the growing season and decreased cool-season grasses more effectively than burning earlier in the spring.
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  Switchgrass recruitment from broadcast seed vs. seed fed to cattle

  Ocumpaugh, W. R.; Archer, S.; Stuth, J. W. (Society for Range Management, 1996-07-01)

  Fecal seeding by livestock may be an effective, low-cost means of rangeland restoration. We compared recruitment of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) from seed fed to cattle and deposited in dung to that of broadcast-seeded plots receiving a comparable number of unfed seed. Although germinability of seed passed through livestock (52 to 62%) was reduced relative to that of broadcast seed (85 to 91%), recruitment of switchgrass from seed in cattle feces was equal to or superior to that of broadcast seed in terms of establishment (frequency of occurrence and density), plant growth and final plant size. The frequency of plot with emerging switchgrass plants ranged from 62 to 100% when seeds were delivered in feces, but only 2 to 40% when seeds were broadcast. After 1 year, the frequency of occurrence of switchgrass plant in fecal vs. broadcast-seeded plot was comparable for autumn trials. However, evaluations 1 year after the spring trials continue to result in higher frequency of plot with switchgrass plant from seed delivered in feces than of broadcast seedings (56 vs. 4% for May 1990, P < 0.05; and 90 vs. 51% for May 1991, P less than or equal to 0.01). Enhanced plant recruitment on fecal-seeded plots occurred even though broadcast-seeded plots received 1.5 to 1.7 times more pure live seed (PLS). Plants on fecal-seeded plots had a greater plant size score (based on visual ratings of height, culm density, and biomass) than plants on broadcast-seeded plots (P < 0.05 for May seedings; P < 0.05 for October 1990; P < 0.10 for October 1991). Results suggest significant advantages of fecal seeding over conventional broadcast seeding in terms of seedling emergence, establishment and growth.
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  Spiny hopsage fruit and seed morphology

  Shaw, N. L.; Hurd, E. G.; Haferkamp, M. R. (Society for Range Management, 1996-11-01)

  Rangeland seedings of spiny hopsage (Grayia spinosa [Hook.] Moq.) may be made with either bracted utricles or seeds. Problems have resulted from inconsistent use of terminology describing these 2 structures and the fact their germination and seedling emergence is not the same with similar environmental conditions and seeding techniques. We examined the flower, fruit, and seed morphology of spiny hopsage microscopically to resolve these discrepancies and provide a basis for discussing the functional roles of bracted utricle and seed components. The spiny hopsage fruit is a utricle consisting of a single disk-shaped seed contained within a thin pericarp. The utricle is enclosed in 2 papery bracteoles. Failure to recognize the obscure pericarp plus inaccurate use of terminology appear responsible for confusion in the literature. The presence and condition of seed and fruit structures can affect seeding requirements and embryo response to environmental conditions. Consequently, accurate identification of all structures associated with the fruit or seed combined with a review of seed biology and seedling establishment literature is essential for designing effective wildland seeding practices.
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  Sources of variation in attitudes and beliefs about federal rangeland management

  Brunson, M. W.; Steel, B. S. (Society for Range Management, 1996-01-01)

  Successful managers of federal rangelands in the next century will have to implement politically supportable policies that address both forage and non-forage values. To do so will require an understanding of beliefs and attitudes across a wider spectrum of American society than the traditional range clientele. In 1993 a study was conducted to examine geographic variation in general public attitudes and beliefs about federal range management, and the linkage between general environmental values, attitudes toward federal range policiy and management, and beliefs about environmental conditions on federal rangelands. While there was some evidence of an East-West dichotomy on range issues, greater support was found for a dichotomy between urban areas throughout the U.S. and rural regions where rangelands are important to local economies. Attitudes and beliefs about rangelands were typically rooted in simplistic, value-based ideas about the goodness or badness of range practices and conditions.

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