Changes to lecture schedule

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Changes to lecture schedule

• Monday, 2/12 SRM. No class or lab.
• Wednesday, 2/14 Hydrology and Erosion
• Monday 2/19 Presidents day. No class or lab
• Wednesday 2/21 Morphology and Physiology 1
• Monday 2/26 Morphology and Physiology 1
• Lab

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SRM Meetings

• Feb 10-16
• The Nugget, in Sparks
• On Monday the 12th, pick from 8 options
• Write down 2-3 main points from each talk in the
  session you attend, or a summary of what you
  learned in the monitoring workshop

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SRM Meetings

• Sage-grouse Management
• Weed Control and Restoration
• Riparian Meadows
• Effects of Climate Change on Rangeland

• Livestock/Landscape Interactions
• Rangeland Nutrition
• Rangeland Restoration
• Hands-on Monitoring Workshop

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Rangeland types

• Pacific
• California Annual grassland
• Western coniferous forest
• Mountain browse
• Oak woodland
• Great Basin
• Palouse Prairie
• Cold desert
• Salt desert shrubland
• Pinon-Juniper woodland

• Southwestern
• Southern mixed prairie
• Hot desert
• Plains
• Northern Mixed Prairie
• Shortgrass Prairie
• Tall grass prairie
• Eastern
• Eastern deciduous forest
• Florida
• Southern pine forest

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Questions

• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages
  of grazing an annual plant community?
• Where is the Palouse prairie?
• What are some of the problems associated with
  artificial watering sites in deserts?
• Describe the seasonal grazing use of Great Basin
  plant communities
• What are some ways to limit overgrazing of
  riparian areas?

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Coniferous forest
Temperate rain forest
Deciduous forest
Desert, sagebrush, saltbush
Grasslands
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Rangeland types

• Pacific
• California Annual grassland
• Western coniferous forest
• Mountain browse
• Oak woodland
• Great Basin
• Palouse Prairie
• Cold desert
• Salt desert shrubland
• Pinon-Juniper woodland

• Southwestern
• Southern mixed prairie
• Hot desert
• Plains
• Northern Mixed Prairie
• Shortgrass Prairie
• Tall grass prairie
• Eastern
• Eastern deciduous forest
• Florida
• Southern pine forest

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Variation in forage production in NA rangelands
KG/HA
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California annual grassland
Pacific Climate

• Original vegetation was dominated by cool-season
  perennial bunchgrasses
• Mixture of native annual forbs, both early season
  and late season species
• Proved to be extremely fragile communities

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Major playerspurple needlegrass

• Roots can be 20 feet deep
• Plants can live 200 years

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Annual forbs, spring
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Annual forbs, summer
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Large-scale conversion

• California has one of the longest grazing
  histories in the west
• Original vegetation not grazed for 10,000-12,000
  years
• Combination of drought years with very high
  stocking rates in the 1800s caused transition to
  annual community
• Cultivation of Central Valley didnt help
• May have been annual-dominated for 100 years

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Annual grasses, and secondary invasions

• Annual life cycle is very well adapted to
  Californias Mediterranean climate
• Kind of a mystery why there arent more native
  annual grasses

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Grazing in annual grasslands

• Dont have to worry as much about damage to
  plants
• Annual plant establishment is rarely limited by
  seeds
• Graze lightly during germination and
  establishment in the fall
• Can increase grazing intensity after that (but
  must be careful of erosion)

Advantages
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Grazing in annual grasslands

• Forage quantity fluctuates drastically from year
  to year
• Can be inadequate forage in fall and winter
• Inadequate forage quality in the summer
• Prone to invasion by some nasty stuff

Disadvantages
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Palouse Prairie
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Palouse Prairie
Pacific Climate

• Once an extensive prairie of bunchgrasses
  (bluebunch wheatgrass and Idaho fescue)
• Today, virtually the entire valley is planted
  with crops
• Only 1 of native prairie still remains

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Endangered wildlife

• Earthworm can grow up to 1 meter long!
• Smells like lillies
• Spits in self-defense

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Mojave Desert

• Low forage and limited water sources limit range
  animal production

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Mojave Desert

• Artificial water sites can have significant
  ecological effects in arid (and semi-arid)
  environments
• Concentrated animal use affects plant community
  composition (usually more invasive species, soil
  compaction, soil nutrients, etc.

piosphere
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Mojave Desert

• A major concern in the Mojave Desert has been the
  desert tortoise. Livestock grazing has been
  excluded or severely restricted in several areas
  for tortoise protection.

• ATV recreation vehicles destroy both tortoises
  and their habitat. In some situations, ranchers
  have been returned to certain permits due to
  their "policeman's" role to help control ATV
  activity.

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Cold Desert Shrublands
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Cold Desert Shrublands

• Central Nevada and Utah north through eastern
  Oregon and southern Idaho (Great Basin).
• An important range type, covering a large portion
  of the Great Basin
• Generally a mixture of shrubs, grasses and some
  forbs. Mostly cool-season grasses.

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Cold Desert Shrublands

• Large variability in rainfall patterns from year
  to year
• Rainfall in wet years can be 3-4 times higher
  than in dry years
• Long periods of dry years

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Cold Desert Shrublands

• More years with below average rainfall than above
  average- because wet years are very, very wet

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Cold Desert Shrublands

• Adaptations of desert shrubs and perennial
  grasses adaptations to variation in rainfall
  include
• Deep roots (sometimes up to 30 ft)
• Growing limited leaves (reduces water use)
• Investing in seed production only in good years
• Seedling establishment only in good years

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Cold Desert Shrublands

• These ranges are the preferred winter ranges for
  sheep and antelope, with some mule deer use.
• Cattle generally use these ranges in the late
  fall and early spring.

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Two main shrublands
Sagebrush Steppe
Salt Desert Shrub
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Sagebrush grasslands (shrub steppe)

• An important range in cold deserts of Great Basin
  that covers a wide range of elevation and
  rainfall.
• Precipitation ranges from 7-20 inches, with
  elevation varying from 4000-8000 ft, and most
  rainfall occurring in the winter and spring

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Sagebrush-grasslands

• Covers a wide range of elevation and rainfall.
• Precipitation ranges from 7-20 inches, with
  elevation varying from 4000-8000 ft

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Sagebrush-grass Range

• Lower elevation grasses include cheatgrass,
  Indian ricegrass, Sandberg's bluegrass and
  squirreltail. The dominant shrubs are Wyoming big
  sage, greasewood, white sage and bud sage.
• Intermediate elevation grasses include bluebunch
  wheatgrass, Idaho fescue and needle and thread.
  The dominant shrubs are big sage, black sage and
  bud sage.
• The higher elevations generally contain a good
  mix of grasses, forbs and important shrubs such
  as bitterbrush, snowberry, wild currant,
  chokecherry, serviceberry and mountain mahogany.

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Salt Flats

• Found on tight alkali soils in desert valley
  floors, and often interspersed with playa lakes
• Major vegetation is greasewood, alkali sacaton,
  rabbit brush, saltgrass, with some Great Basin
  wildrye and squirreltail
• Ranges are very low in productivity and are
  fragile ecosystems- may provide limited grazing
  in late fall or winter
• Had been resistant to cheatgrass invasion, but it
  is starting to move in

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Salt desert shrub
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Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
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Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
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Pinyon-Juniper

• Usually found on upland sites within
  sagebrush-grasslands
• Include many of the same understory species
  (grasses, forbs and shrubs) found in the
  intermediate to higher elevation sagebrush
• Areas with moderate densities of pinyon and
  juniper provide an important forage resource for
  deer and livestock.
• Water is usually limited, causing animal
  distribution problems

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Pinyon-Juniper expansion
Shoshone Mountains, NV, 1973
Shoshone Mountains, NV, 2005
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Pinyon-Juniper expansion

• PJ woodlands have been expanding in the Great
  Basin since the late 1800s
• Fire suppression is believed to be a primary
  cause of expansion
• PJ woodlands previously confined to
  fire-protected sites
• As PJ increases, understory species decrease

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Alpine communities

• Include high mountain meadows and forested
  grasslands, usually above 6500 ft elevation.
• Moisture is at 20 or more inches, largely as
  snowfall at higher elevations.
• Generally a mixture of grasses, forbs and shrubs
• Alpine areas are usually Forest Service land.
• Conflict between aesthetic value, recreation,
  timber harvest, wildlife, and livestock

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Alpine Ranges

• These ranges are important summer grazing ranges
  for deer, elk, bighorn sheep
• Livestock grazing is usually from mid to late
  June to mid-September
• Moderate stocking rates are used to protect
  critical wildlife habitat
• Common use by livestock and wildlife is normal,
  although grazing may be at different times of the
  day

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Moving livestock through the Sagebrush-grass Range
move upslope as season progresses, following
plant development
graze low elevations at low to moderate levels in
early to mid-spring
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Some special range types

• Cheatgrass
• Crested wheatgrass
• Riparian areas

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Cheatgrass
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Cheatgrass

• Native to Europe and Asia
• Introduced to the US in the 1800s, first NV
  record in Elko in 1806
• Estimated that it dominates 25 million acres of
  the Great Basin, which is 1/3 of the land area
• Annual plant (different from most native grasses)
• Germinates in mid-April, peek growth in mid-May,
  then dries out quickly

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Cheatgrass

• Forage quality and amount varies greatly from
  year to year
• Very short growing period most years
• Extremely flammable, and populations benefit from
  frequent fires
• May be prone to invasion by other perennial weeds
• Early spring grazing can favor native perennial
  grasses (if they are around), if grazing ends
  while there is still moisture in the soil
• October/November grazing?

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Crested Wheatgrass
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Crested Wheatgrass

• An introduced grass from Russia and Siberia
• Planted following wildfire or removal of
  sagebrush and other plants in the intermediate
  sagebrush-grass and pinyon-juniper
• Growth starts early in the spring and withstands
  heavy grazing.
• Considered more competitive with cheatgrass than
  native perennial grasses
• Early growth can replace late winter hay feeding
  and avoids the need for early season grazing of
  other range types.

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Crested Wheatgrass

• Estimated that up to 2 million acres of crested
  wheatgrass have been seeded in the Great Basin.
• A concern is that large monoculture reseeding
  projects have significant negative impacts on
  biodiversity
• Monocultures may be susceptible to disease or
  invasion,
• May lack variability necessary to respond to
  changing conditions
• Current practice is to intermix crested
  wheatgrass plantings with other species, though
  severe cheatgrass invasions may be replaced with
  a crested wheatgrass seeding

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Riparian Areas
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Riparian Areas

• Riparian areas occur throughout all range types
• Riparian areas often the primary, and sometimes
  the only, water for livestock
• Wildlife, fisheries, and recreational use also
  depend on these areas

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Riparian Areas

• Overuse problems tend to occur along riparian
  areas in arid and semi-arid ecosystems
• It is not uncommon for riparian areas to cover
  less than 5 of an allotment, produce over 20 of
  the vegetation, and provide over 60 of the
  grazing use.
• How to improve grazing in riparian areas?

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Riparian areas

• Avoid grazing the same place at the same time
  year after year
• Defoliate primary forage plants only moderately
• Attract livestock away from riparian areas
• Develop off-site water sources
• Upland seeding, or pastures
• Brush and tree clearing
• Placing supplements in upland areas
• Modify behavior of livestock
• Change type of livestock
• Fence

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Riparian Areas
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Riparian Meadows Wetlands

• These occur in valleys, generally contiguous to
  streams, and are usually sub-irrigated.
• The vast majority of these lands are privately
  owned in Nevada.
• Important for water quality and quantity,
  fisheries, water bird foraging and nesting,
  wildlife and plants

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Riparian Meadows Wetlands

• Vegetation
• Willows, rushes and sedges in wetter areas, and
  cool season grasses in the sub irrigated meadows.
  
• The grasses are often cut for hay or winter
  feeding.
• They may also be grazed full season by some
  producers (usually used from late fall to early
  spring)
• These are increasingly popular winter areas of
  elk and deer.

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QUESTIONS?