Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Dubois, Idaho » Range Sheep Production Efficiency Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #173559
Title: EFFECTS OF GRAZING AFTER FIRE IN SAGEBRUSH STEPPE COMMUNITIES

Author
item ROSELLE, LOVINA - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item LAUNCHBAUGH, KAREN - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item Seefeldt, Steven

Submitted to: Society of Range Management
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/22/2004
Publication Date: 1/10/2005
Citation: Roselle, L.M., Launchbaugh, K.L., Seefeldt, S.S. 2005. Effects of grazing after fire in sagebrush steppe communities. In: Society for Range Management Proceedings. 58th Annual Society for Range Management Meeting, February 5-11, 2005, Fort Worth, Texas. 2005 CDROM.

Interpretive Summary: Federal land management agencies have instituted mandatory rest from grazing after fire on rangelands that they manage. No research has been conducted to determine whether this rest is beneficial to the plant community. Our study determined the change in numbers of key plant species (threetip sagebrush, tapertip hawksbeard, arrow leaf balsamroot, antelope bitterbrush, and downy brome) caused by differences in the length of the rest from grazing after a wildfire that burned at the USDA-ARS U.S. Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, ID. A preliminary analysis of the data reveals that tapertip hawksbeard, an important range species, was larger in the fall and non-grazed paddocks, bitterbrush, another important range species was reduced in fall grazed paddocks, and threetip sagebrush and downy brome densities were not altered in the grazing treatments. The results of this study will have implication for management of rangeland after fire in the sagebrush steppe.

Technical Abstract: The ecological implications of livestock grazing after fire on rangelands are not well known. Few studies have addressed the influence of post-fire grazing in sagebrush steppe communities, yet federal land management agencies place mandatory rest from grazing after fire. This study examines the ecological impacts of seasonal grazing 1, 2, and 3 years after fire on: a) sagebrush recruitment, b) abundance of downy brome and other noxious rangeland weeds, and c) persistence of native forbs and grasses. Research was conducted from 2001 to 2004 in southeastern Idaho in cooperation with the USDA-ARS U.S. Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, ID. The research site was burned by a wildfire in July 2000. Six grazing treatments were applied with 4 replications per treatment resulting in 24 paddocks (about 2.7 ha/each). Sheep grazed for 5 to 8 days at a stocking rate sufficient to remove 40 % of available biomass. We examined density of threetip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartitia), tapertip hawksbeard (Crepis acuminata), antelope bitter brush (Purshia tridentata), and downy brome (Bromus tectorum) and measured canopy cover of all herbaceous plants throughout each paddock. Preliminary analysis of density measurements revealed a trend for increased tapertip hawksbeard density in control and fall grazed paddocks versus spring grazed paddocks (p < 0.10). A reduction in density of bitterbrush is evident in fall grazed paddocks versus spring grazed paddocks (p = 0.05). No differences in density of threetip sagebrush or downy brome were observed among treatments. Results from measurement of cover and implications for management will also be discussed.