Vegetal Change in the Absence of Livestock Grazing, Mountain Brush Zone, Utah

Abstract

Canopy cover of vegetation dominated by Gambel oak was determined in 1983 in adjacent canyons characterized by different grazing histories. Results were compared with data collected in 1935, and the methods replicated those used in the earlier study. Vegetal changes since 1935 in Red Butte Canyon where livestock grazing had been excluded since 1905 were small compared with those of Emigration Canyon where heavy grazing continued into the 1930's, but was gradually phased out and discontinued in 1957. Large differences in vegetal cover between the 2 canyons reported in 1935 were mostly eliminated by 1983.