Location: Livestock and Range Research Laboratory
Project Number: 3030-21500-001-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Feb 27, 2024
End Date: Feb 26, 2029
Objective:
Objective 1. Use precision management technologies to facilitate optimal management of rangelands, balancing livestock production and ecosystem services. (NP215 C4, PS4B PS4C; NP101 C1, PS1A PS1B)
Subobjective 1A. Determine effects of dormant autumn/winter rangeland forage utilization on heifer development and reproductive performance. (Angerer, Waterman [NP101], McGranahan)
Subobjective 1B. Develop management strategies and decision support tools to improve rangeland cattle production and ecological stability through effective use of rangeland forage and supplementation. (Angerer, McGranahan, Waterman [NP101])
OBJECTIVE 2: Use ecological factors affecting invasive plant establishment and competition to develop management strategies promoting native perennial plant species. (NP215 C4, PS4B)
Subobjective 2A: Determine effects of precipitation and litter on cheatgrass and Japanese brome. (Vermeire, Rinella, Reinhart)
Subobjective 2B: Develop fire and grazing management strategies to reduce invasive annual grasses. (Vermeire, Angerer, Reinhart, McGranahan)
OBJECTIVE 3: Develop management strategies to restore degraded rangelands and limit weeds. (NP215 C4, PS4B)
Subobjective 3A: Identify cool-season perennial grass seed rates and herbicide treatments for establishing diverse plant communities on disturbed rangelands. (Rinella, Reinhart, Vermeire)
Subobjective 3B: Test herbicide treatments to benefit wildflower establishment on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands. (Rinella)
OBJECTIVE 4: Develop fire and grazing strategies that deliver multiple ecosystem services and ensure sustainable outcomes and are resilient in the face of climate uncertainty. (NP215 C4, PS4A PS4B PS4C)
Subobjective 4A: Enhance supporting and provisioning services in fire-prone landscapes: Describe optimal interaction between fire and grazing regimes to maintain rangeland stability and livestock production. (McGranahan, Vermeire)
Subobjective 4B: Determine how stocking rate and plant community characteristics interact with calving date, weather, and grazing management to affect calf growth. (Rinella, Vermeire, Angerer)
Subobjective 4C: Assess and compare capacity of cattle grazing strategies to sustainably increase long-term accrual of soil carbon to mitigate atmospheric carbon concentrations. (Reinhart, Vermeire)
Subobjective 4D: Determine how climate, woody plant encroachment, and herbaceous fuel dynamics interact with weather and grazing management to drive wildfire incidence and impacts. (McGranahan, Angerer, Vermeire)
Subobjective 4E: Using a simulation modeling approach, examine how grazing management strategies and projected changes in climate affect livestock forage availability and fine fuel loads. (Angerer, McGranahan, Vermeire)
Approach:
Sustainable rangeland production hinges on the ability of plant communities to resist change and recover from disturbance (stability) because changes in species composition, forage production, and forage quality fundamentally affect the animal community. Primary forces of change in rangelands are weather, grazing, alien plants, fire and their interactions. This project is designed to improve ecological sustainability and rangeland production by using precision technologies to allow rapid responses and addressing opportunities for increased efficiency of livestock nutrient conversion, mechanisms affecting restoration success and weed control, and interacting effects of management with weather. We will address improved efficiency of nutrient conversion from rangeland forages through experiments evaluating plant and animal responses to grazing and supplementation strategies. Rangeland restoration methods will be evaluated for direct weed control and mechanisms controlling successful establishment of desirable species. Water manipulations and historical weather data will be included in experiments to determine weather and long-term climate effects on plants and livestock because precipitation is the primary controlling factor for plant productivity and community composition. Long-term interactions of grazing management and precipitation will be evaluated to determine effects on plant communities and soil carbon. Fire research will focus on fuel, weather and grazing interactions and development of fire prescriptions that reduce weedy species, promote desirable species, and increase availability of quality forage. Scientists will be integrated across objectives to determine interacting effects of precipitation, grazing, weeds, and fire on soil and plant communities (production, species composition, diversity, propagation, survival) and cattle (weight gain, reproductive performance, diet quality). Understanding mechanisms that control rangeland stability and animal responses to alterations in plant communities will assist land managers and livestock producers in improving rangeland integrity (diverse communities dominated by native species) and efficiency of livestock production. Results will also provide scientists with a greater understanding of the complex interacting forces on rangelands.
