Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems [symposium abstracts]

Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems 29-30 November 2012; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

Society for Range Management

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Symposium • poster session • trade show • ranch tour

rangelands.org/strategicgrazing

http://www.rangelands.org/strategicgrazing



Symposium program 2

Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems

Introduction to the Symposium

Grazing ecosystems are what scientists call complex adaptive systems: the whole is greater than the sum

of the parts because of the relationships between the parts. The relationships form the web of life, so

intricate that their individual and collective behaviors exhibit patterns that are beyond complicated: self-

organization with emergent properties, unpredictability, and nonlinear dynamics. This panarchy of nested

adaptive cycles between order and chaos is what land managers call “the real world.”

Considerable debate has existed in both the rangeland profession and the ranching community,

regarding the efficacy of planned grazing management to achieve plant community, livestock production,

and profitability goals. Most grazing studies have found little or no advantage to rotational grazing

systems over continuous grazing with regard to plant or animal production, particularly in more arid

environments, especially when pastures were small and lacking diversity, and grazing treatments were

applied rigidly for the sake of scientific rigor.

However, there is substantial evidence in the scientific literature, documented case studies, and

practical experience of ranchers indicating that strategic grazing management that incorporates relatively

short grazing periods with adequate recovery afterward can—if well-planned and adaptively managed—

have profound and positive effects on the landscape, animal production, and ranch economics.

Both sides of this apparent discrepancy are right, in different ways. In the science of complexity, the

types of questions asked and the interpretation of results often differ depending on whether the observer’s

orientation is primarily reductionist (emphasizing parts) or holistic (emphasizing systems). Relativity and

quantum physics greatly expand scientific understanding, but classical Newtonian physics “works” on

most relevant scales and still stands. Similarly, classical range science still stands, but practical

experience and the context of complexity expand our frame of reference.

This symposium is intended to move the discussion beyond the old debate. The pertinent question is

not “is rotational grazing better?” but “How can grazing management be informed by ecological

processes, and what principles should be applied strategically to adapt to complexity and change?”

Collectively, grazing studies and on-the-ground experience provide evidence for widely applicable

guidelines for ecological process-based management to achieve ecological and economic goals by

manipulating grazing intensity, distribution across time and space, the diversity of plants available to

grazing animals, and animals’ selection thereof. Effective management of these grazing parameters

depends primarily on four sets of variables: (1) stocking rate, both for a grazing period and for the grazing

season or year; (2) timing and length of grazing periods, and adequate recovery; (3) spatial distribution of

grazing; and (4) diversity of plants available, and selection of those plants by grazing animals.

This symposium provides a rough answer to the above question using these four variables as a

framework, alternating between presentations of the underlying science and corroborating case studies.

On behalf of the team of people who put this together, welcome, and we hope you find it an adaptive

learning experience.

Matt Barnes Symposium organizer and editor

President-elect (2012)

Colorado Section Society for Range Management



Symposium program 3

Sponsors


Colorado Section Society for Range Management

Colorado State University Student Chapter, Society for Range Management

Colorado Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

TAMUK - Ceasar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute

Shining Horizons Land Management, LLC

Exhibitors

Colorado Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative

Colorado State University – Western Center for Integrated Resource Mgt.

Country Natural Beef

Pawnee Buttes Seed, Inc.

Shining Horizons Land Management, LLC

Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance

Truax Company, Inc.

DuPont – Range and Pasture

Granite Seed Company

Advertisers

Colorado Cattlemen’s Association – Cattle Guard

The Fence Post

High Country News

Society for Range Management – Rangeland News, RangeFlash

Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance – Forage For Thought

The Stockman GrassFarmer

Western Livestock Journal

Collaborators

Rob Alexander

Kelley Beaudoin

Shaan Bliss

Kimberly Diller

Nick Dormer

Julie Elliot

Maria Fernandez-Gimenez

Gary Frasier

Marshall Frasier

John Fusaro

Barb Gohlke

Meaghan Huffman

David Jessup

Jenna Lanphier

Paul Meiman

Ge Moore

Rachel Murph

Dan Nosal

Kim Obele

Lynelle Pahl

Randy Reichert

Roy Roath

Pat Shaver

Tim Steffens

Terri Stewart

Jenny Stricker

Vicky Trujillo

Lisa VanAmburg

Colorado Section

Student Chapter SRM

http://www.cssrm.org/

http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/index.php?Itemid=1016

http://www.rangelands.org/

http://www.cssrm.org/

http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/departments/frs


http://warnercnr.colostate.edu/index.php?Itemid=1016

http://www.glci.org/

http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/Rangeland/Rangeland.html

http://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/

http://www.shininghorizons.com



Symposium program 4

Agenda Wednesday evening, November 28

6:00 – 9:00 Colorado Section SRM Board of Directors Meeting

Beau Jo’s Pizza

Thursday, November 29

8:00 – 8:15 Registration

Lory Student Center

Session: Science, Management, and Historical Background North Ballroom

8:15 – 8:30 Welcome and introduction Matt Barnes, President-Elect, Colorado Section SRM

8:30 - 9:15 Complex Adaptive Landscapes: Principles, Processes, Practices, and Philosophies Fred Provenza, Professor Emeritus, Utah State University – Wildland Resources

9:15 – 10:00 Rangeland Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP): Overview with Emphasis on the Literature Review of Rangeland Practices Pat Shaver, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS West National Tech Support Center

10:00 – 10:20 Break in trade show and poster area Cherokee Park Room

Session: Optimum Stocking Rate North Ballroom

10:20 – 11:05 Optimum Stocking Rate: the Significance of Scale and the Link to Profitability Marshall Frasier, Professor, Colorado State University – Western Center for IRM

11:05 – 11:50 Case study: Optimum Stocking Rate, Monitoring, and Flexibility: Key Components of Successful Grazing Management “Poncho” Ortega-Santos, Professor, Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute, TAMUK

12:00 – 1:15 Lunch – burger buffet Colorado Section SRM Business Meeting Kimberly Diller, President, Colorado Section SRM

Theatre

1:30 – 2:30 Load-up and travel via CSU bus Travel – CSU to SDR

2:30 – 4:30

4:45 – 5:15

Ranch tour

Ranch presentation David Jessup, ranch owner, Sylvan Dale Ranch

Sylvan Dale Ranch

The Heritage Room

5:15 – 6:00 Social with Live music by Chuck Pyle with Dick Anderson; cash bar 6:00 – 6:45 6:45 – 7:15 7:15 – 8:30

Dinner – featuring Sylvan Dale Ranch’s grass-finished Heart-J Beef Colorado Section SRM Awards Julie Elliott, Awards Committee Chairperson, Colorado Section SRM Live music by Chuck Pyle with Dick Anderson

8:30 – 9:30 Load-up and travel via CSU bus Travel – SDR to CSU

http://mapq.st/URJ9gb

http://www.sc.colostate.edu/maps.aspx#upperlevel

http://mapq.st/Q7zOfO

http://www.chuckpyle.com/




Symposium program 5

Agenda, continued

Friday, November 30 Lory Student Center

Session: Temporal Distribution North Ballroom

8:00 – 8:45 Rest Vs. Recovery: It’s Not Enough to Just Move From Pasture to Pasture Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS Colorado

8:45 – 9:30 Case Study: Adaptive Grazing Management at Rancho Largo Cattle Company Grady Grissom, Rancher, Rancho Largo Cattle Company

9:30 – 10:00 Break in trade show and poster area

Cherokee Park Room

Session: Spatial Distribution North Ballroom

10:00 – 10:45 Grazing Management Can Improve Livestock Distribution Ben Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Utah State University – Wildland Resources

10:45 – 11:30 Case Study: Multiple-Pasture Grazing Distributes Utilization Across Heterogeneous Mountain Landscapes Matt Barnes, Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management ; Manager, The Howell Ranch

11:45 – 12:30 Lunch – barbeque buffet Colorado Section SRM business meeting, continued (if needed)

Theatre

12:30 – 1:15 Contributed Poster Session

Cherokee Park Room

Session: Diet Selection North Ballroom

1:15 – 2:00 Diet Selection and Stocking Density: It Ain’t As Simple As You’ve Heard Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS Colorado

2:00 – 2:45 Case Study: Stocking Density and Diet Selection Doug Peterson, Rancher; State Soil Health Conservationist, USDA-NRCS Missouri

2:45 – 3:00 Summary, conclusion, and benediction Matt Barnes, President-Elect, Colorado Section SRM

http://www.sc.colostate.edu/maps.aspx#upperlevel



Symposium program 6

Thursday afternoon-evening: ranch tour, social, dinner, awards, and music

Special event sold out! Includes bus transportation.

Sylvan Dale Ranch

2939 N County Road 31D, Loveland, Colorado 80538

David Jessup, Ranch Owner, Sylvan Dale Ranch

Dinner: Heart-J Grassfed Beef

Buffet-style, featuring meatloaf of grass-finished beef, with vegetarian sides and options available.

Gluten-free dishes available by advance request.

“Natural beef has been a tradition at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch since the mid-60’s when Maurice

and Mayme Jessup bought their first herd of Charolais. They soon developed a breeding program

with registered Saler and Gelbvieh bulls, resulting in a unique herd well-suited to the grasslands

of our Rocky Mountain foothills. Recently we have introduced Red Angus breeding stock which

is known for its tenderness. Our goal for the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch cattle program is to

produce the best, most tender grass fed and grass finished beef possible. We keep our cattle on

grass or grass hay year round.”

Our Working Ranch Department contributes to our

sustainability mission—to apply practices in our daily work

routine that support a sustainable operation in harmony

with the natural environment through the principles of

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle—by: using rotational grazing of the

cattle and horses; using cattle and horse manures for

fertilizing the pastures; locally selling natural and grass fed

beef (Heart-J Beef); using a trail and land preservation

program; using solar pumps for stock watering; converting

to more efficient hay irrigation system; experimenting with

windrow grazing instead of hay harvesting; and using all

organic fertilizers and soil supplements. The ranch was the

Upper South Platte Watershed Conservationist of the Year

2008.

David Jessup is also the author of a brand new, critically

acclaimed, local historical novel, Mariano’s Crossing.

http://www.sylvandale.com/

http://mapq.st/Q7zOfO

http://www.sylvandale.com/grass-fed-and-finished-natural-beef.html

http://www.sylvandale.com/

http://www.sylvandale.com/grass-fed-and-finished-natural-beef.html



Symposium program 7

Chuck Pyle with Dick Anderson

Chuck Pyle has won high praise throughout an inspired performance

career of over 40 years. When reviewers first gave him the "Zen

Cowboy" moniker, he decided to, as he says, "Always ride the horse

in the direction it's going," and took the nickname to heart, shaving

his head and blending his upbeat perspective with old-fashioned horse sense. He mixes infectiously

hummable melodies with straight-from-the-saddle poetry, quoting bumper stickers, proverbs, world

leaders and old cowboys. The first time he made an audience laugh, he was "hooked".

An accomplished songwriter, Chuck's songs have been

recorded by Chris LeDoux ("The Other Side of the Hill

[Cadillac Cowboy]"), Jerry Jeff Walker ("Jaded Lover"), John

Denver (“High, Wide and Handsome”), Bill and Bonnie

Hearne (“Endless Sky”), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Suzy

Bogguss.

A nimble guitarist, critics say his sense of rhythm is more like a

fine classical, or jazz, soloist, his songwriting musically

sophisticated yet full of uncluttered space. The Chuck Pyle

Finger-Style approach to guitar has distinguished him as a true original. Since writing “Colorado,” the

theme-song for a PBS series called Spirit of Colorado, he's attained local fame, and even sings for the

opening session of the Colorado State Legislature.

Chuck Pyle rides a trail of inspiration, gathering his spiritual search into a thought-

provoking performance that is at once hopeful and skeptical. You'll be won over

by his vulnerability as he explores Western living, closely comparing the oriental

metaphor to high-plains, saddle philosophy. His pursuit of an 'inner' life' has led

him down many different paths. In the more secular circles of performing

songwriters, he is a famed Western singer/songwriter, who talks straight about his

journey. For one of life's quintessential feel-good moments, come spend an evening with this man's

unique perspective, and see the familiar parts of your own life, through the eyes of a gifted artist.




Symposium program 8

Colorado Section SRM Awards

Julie Elliott, Awards Committee Chairperson, Colorado Section SRM

Excellence in Range Management Award Grady Grissom, managing partner of Rancho Largo Cattle Company, has improved the rangeland

resources under his care during his tenure and has shared what he has learned with those around him in

any way he can. Not only has he used grazing management on his own to increase plant species diversity,

improve watershed function and increase the diversity and quality of habitat for multiple wildlife species,

but he has also worked with diverse partners including Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and USDA-

NRCS to investigate and demonstrate innovative rangeland conservation measures including changing the

management of a playa lake to promote habitat for wetland species, patch burning for juniper control and

promoting structural diversity for wildlife.

When Grady took over the operation in 1995, plant communities on the uplands contained almost

exclusively short grasses. Because of poor distribution and extended grazing periods with no recovery,

many areas were severely degraded, and it was difficult to maintain cow reproductive performance.

Grady improved the existing water system, and split the original 9 pastures into the current 38.

Initially, his recovery periods were too short and he did not see significant improvement. He, therefore,

determined that he needed longer (9-month average) recovery periods between grazing events and to keep

stocking rates flexible to allow for high nutrient intake and adequate residual plant material following

graze periods. He knew that with this type of recovery and the animals’ natural species preferences with

changing seasons, his pasture numbers would effectively allow 2 growing seasons of recovery between

defoliations on target species, since cattle would not use them if given the choice except when green in

the early part of the year and again in the late fall.

As a result of Grady’s management, it is virtually impossible to get out of sight of cool season grasses

or winterfat. Warm season mid- and tall-grasses are also becoming more common in the draws, creek

bottoms and sandstone-breaks ecological sites. Trails are virtually nonexistent now and former headcuts

in the draws are reaching an angle of repose and revegetating. In addition, rarer species are being seen in

the more mesic locations.

He has also shared his knowledge and experience in the Quivira Coalition Journal, and presentations

at symposia sponsored by the SRM and the Colorado Chapter of The Wildlife Society. He is featured in

the Hope on the Range video developed by the SRM and the Bureau of Land Management.

http://www.cssrm.org/admin/pdfs/awardhistory.pdf



Symposium program 9

Trail Boss Award

Roy Roath, Extension Rangeland Specialist Emeritus at Colorado State

University has been an outstanding, dedicated leader in this Society for four

decades. He taught livestock and wildlife nutrition classes in the CSU

College of Natural Resources, Animal Sciences and the Veterinary Teaching

Hospital; and as a visiting professor at the Federal University of Uberlandia

in Brasil. Roy has authored or coauthored over 200 publications, both

scientific and technical. He pioneered the Grazing Response Index (GRI) for

rangeland planning.

Roy’s passion and dedication to collaboration is exemplified by the

resource partnerships and programs which he has helped develop and been

involved in, including the GLCI/SRM Ranch Management Schools, the

CPW Habitat Partnership and Ranching for Wildlife programs, development

of the Wildlife habitat Evaluation Models and related workshops for sage-

grouse habitat management in Colorado and Wyoming, the Owl Mountain

Partnership, and numerous government agencies and livestock associations.

Roy’s involvement has been significant in driving the Coordinated Resource

Management Process (CRM) in the western U.S. He also taught a CRMP

workshop at the International Rangeland Congress in Queensland, Australia.

Roy has unwaveringly served SRM through the parent society and the

Colorado Section throughout his career, serving on too many committees and

task forces to list, especially supporting involvement of youth in the society.

Under Roy’s guidance, both the section meeting and Denver meeting of the

parent society have been some of the best attended and financially successful

in the history of the SRM. Roy has also been recognized for his

contribution, service, and dedication through the SRM Fellow, Outstanding

Achievement, and Chapline Stewardship Awards.

The Trail Boss symbolizes the one who cares for the land, livestock and

people, who determines when and where the herd travels. Like all proper

symbols he represents the founding of the society. Distinctly North

American, but recognizable by gauchos of South America or herdsmen of

central Asia. Originally a pen-and-ink drawing by Charles M. Russell, later

watercolored over. It was made the emblem of the SRM by founder Frederic

Renner, namesake of the Renner Award – appropriately, the parent-society-

level equivalent to the section-level Trail Boss Award, the highest given to a

Section member for outstanding accomplishments to the rangeland

management profession and for exceptional service to the section.

Past Recipients

2011 none 2010 none 2009 Tim Steffens 2008 Rob Alexander 2007 Lana Pearson 2006 none 2005 Wayne Leininger 2004 Don Hijar 2003 none 2002 Jeff Burwell 2001 Dave Bradford 2000 Floyd Reed 1999 Rene Crane 1998 Robbie Baird-LeValley 1997 Craig Whittekend 1996 Theresea M. Foppe 1995 Larry Rittenhouse 1994 Gene Mullings 1993 Ben Berlinger 1992 none 1991 Joe Trlica 1990 James C. Free 1989 John Mitchell 1988 David Kathmann 1987 William McGinnies 1986 Harvey Sprock 1985 Elbert H. Reid 1984 Bob Bernent 1983 Bill Laycock 1982 Tom Bartlett 1981 Jack Smith 1980 Thane Johnson 1979 George L. Burnett 1978 Donald G. Smith 1977 Ed Dennis 1976 Tad Paxton 1975 John C. Clark 1974 Thomas K. Eaman 1973 Bill Hoffman 1972 C. Wayne Cook 1971 Jerry Martinez 1970 Cotton Meredith 1969 Lyman Linger 1968 Clint Wasser



Invited symposium abstracts 10

Session: Science, Management, and Historical Background

Keynote address

Complex Adaptive Landscapes: Principles, Processes, Practices, and Philosophies

Fred Provenza, Professor Emeritus, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA; [email protected] Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA

Richard Teague, Professor & Associate Resident Director, Texas AgriLife Research, Vernon, TX 76384, USA

Hugh Pringle, Landscape Ecologist, Ecosystem Management Understanding, Alice Springs, NT 0871, Australia

Bruce Maynard, pastoralist, consultant, and Partner, Stress Free Stockmanship, Narromine, NSW 2821, Australia

Chip Hines, rancher and author, Bunkhouse Marketing, Yuma, CO 80759, USA

Complex adaptive systems are interrelationships among organisms adapting to ever-changing

environments that evolve unexpectedly and mostly unpredictably due to environmental stochasticity, so

the “same interactions” yield different results at different times. In complex adaptive grazing systems,

landscape-level effects arise from interactions among climate, soil, plants, herbivores, and people as they

influence four factors related to grazing: 1) overall intensity—measured by stocking rate relative to

grazing capacity; 2) time—the seasonality, timing, duration, and frequency of grazing and recovery; 3)

space— the dispersal and density of animals, and the varying intensity of their grazing relative to the

distribution of landscape features, vegetation and water resources; and 4) animal behavior—the

interactions of individuals with social and biophysical environments as they select foods and habitats.

Any changes in management affect processes of adaptation in soils, vegetation, herbivores, and people.

Research can illuminate principles and processes of adaptation, but they are not to be confused with their

manifold manifestations -- uniquely inflecting in space and time as climate, soil, plants, herbivores, and

people continually adapt within particular ecological, social, and economic contexts. When researchers

conduct grazing trials, they become managers of land. Through the questions they ask and the ways they

design, implement, and interpret their studies, they influence the outcomes. Thus, there is no “unbiased

observer” in science or practice. Every study, replicated or not, is a case study. In practice, a manager

must continually adapt to his/her unique ecological, economic, and social conditions. They do so best by

linking understanding of the processes of adaptation with the flexibility to respond to ever-changing

environments.

Fred Provenza is originally from Colorado, where he managed a ranch near

Salida and earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University. He

earned his MS and PhD at Utah State University, where he was a professor in the

Department of Wildland Resources from 1982 to 2009. His group’s ground-

breaking research laid the foundations for what is now known as behavior-based

management of landscapes, and led to the formation of

an international network of scientists and land managers

known as BEHAVE (www.behave.net), integrating

behavioral principles and processes with local

knowledge to enhance ecological, economic, and social

values of rural and urban communities. Their goal is to

create Locally Adapted Networks that help people use

behavioral principles and processes to foster healthy relationships among soil, plants,

herbivores, and people. He has received numerous awards, including the W.R.

Chapline Research Award, the most prestigious award given by the Society for Range

Management for achievements in research. He and his wife Sue are living once again

in the mountains of Colorado.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.cnr.usu.edu/wild/htm/faculty-staff/memberID=884

http://extension.usu.edu/behave/

http://www.cnr.usu.edu/wild/




Agency-focused presentation and discussion

Sponsored by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Rangeland Conservation Effects Assessment Program

(CEAP): Overview with Emphasis on the Literature Review of

Rangeland Practices

Pat Shaver, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA–NRCS West National

Technology Support Center, Portland, OR 97232, USA; [email protected]

The Conservation Effects Assessment Program (CEAP) is a multi-agency effort to quantify the

environmental effects of conservation practices and programs and develop the science base for managing

the agricultural landscape for environmental quality. Project findings will be used to guide USDA

conservation policy and program development and help conservationists, farmers and ranchers make

more informed conservation decisions. Assessments in CEAP are carried out at national, regional and

watershed scales on cropland, grazing lands, wetlands and for wildlife. The three principal components

of CEAP—the national assessments, the watershed assessment studies, and the bibliographies and

literature reviews— contribute to building the science base for conservation. That process includes

research, modeling, assessment, monitoring and data collection, outreach, and extension education. Focus

is being given to translating CEAP science into practice. Rangeland national assessment is a combination

of ground and remotely sensed measurements and modeling; regional and watershed studies include

quantification of cumulative effects of conservation practice application; dynamic bibliographies and

literature synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature. The literature synthesis covered more than 3.5 years

of 40 rangeland scientists reviewing the peer-reviewed literature to evaluate the effectiveness of seven

major NRCS conservation practices on the purported environmental benefits of those practices. Those

conservation practices included; Prescribed Grazing, Prescribed Burning, Brush Management, Range

Planting, Riparian Herbaceous Cover, Upland Wildlife Habitat Management and Herbaceous Weed

Control. Two crosscutting issues were also looked at – Landscape Effects Analysis and Socioeconomics

and Ecosystem Services.

Pat Shaver, CPRM, is a Rangeland Management Specialist in the USDA

Natural Resources Conservation Service’s West National Technology

Support Center in Portland, Oregon, serving primarily the western region

of the United States. He served as NRCS advisor to the CEAP Rangeland

Literature Review teams for Prescribed Grazing, Prescribed Burning, and

Brush Management. During his 39+ year career with the NRCS, he has

worked in all of the western states as well as Russia, China, Kenya, and

Mongolia. He earned his BS in range science at New Mexico State

University, and his PhD from Oregon State University (2010). He has been

active in the New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Pacific Northwest sections of

SRM as well as serving on several SRM committees and on the Board of

Directors from 1998 – 2000. When not playing with grandchildren or

making apple cider, most of Pat’s leisure time revolves around taking his bow for hikes in the woods.


http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/wntsc




Session: Optimum Stocking Rate

The applied science

Optimum Stocking Rate: the Significance of Scale and the Link to Profitability

Marshall Frasier, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics / Western Center for Integrated Resource Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA; [email protected]

Stocking rate (SR) is the number of animals per unit area for a unit of time, whether for a management

unit for the grazing season or full year or for for a paddock while it is being grazed. In economic terms,

optimum SR occurs when profit, not production, is maximized, and applies to a specific set of

environmental and management conditions and given type of livestock. Optimum as well as actual SR

vary across the landscape and may be mismatched as a result of differences in productivity and quality of

vegetation, microclimate, topography, and proximity to water. Disparities between SR and carrying

capacity across the landscape can result in long-term degradation of preferred areas and short-term

decreased carrying capacity because of under-utilized plant communities. When maximum sustained

livestock net return is the management goal, the goal of grazing management is for every available forage

plant that can be mixed to achieve performance targets to contribute to animal intake under ecologically

safe circumstances. Therefore, adjustments to infrastructure and grazing management can increase the

optimum economic SR. At the same SR for a management unit, rotational grazing creates an opportunity

to meet the principle management challenge of more precisely matching carrying capacity at smaller

spatial scales and providing heavily defoliated, preferred plants enough time between defoliations to

increase their vigor and abundance. Addressing that challenge in this way can have profound

implications regarding the financial rewards of forage based livestock operations.

Marshall Frasier is a professor in Agricultural and Resource Economics, and

the Western Center for Integrated Resource Management, at Colorado State

University. His teaching and research interests focus on the management of

agricultural enterprises in the western US and the interplay between those

activities and the natural resource base which sustains them. Dr. Frasier grew

up on a diversified cropping and livestock operation in southwest Nebraska.

He earned his BS (1983) and MS (1990) degrees from the University of

Nebraska, focusing on these enterprises. He served as technical coordinator

for Nebraska’s IRM demonstration program from 1984-1989. Prior to coming

to CSU, Dr. Frasier spent three years at Washington State University where

he earned his PhD, focusing his research on the allocation and management of

water in irrigated enterprises. He now also serves as coordinator of

undergraduate programs in his department. Following several extended trips

to New Zealand, Dr. Frasier and his wife have developed a strong interest in

backpacking and enjoy a host of summer and winter activities the Colorado

mountains have to offer.


http://dare.colostate.edu/mfrasier/index.aspx

http://wcirm.colostate.edu/

http://wcirm.colostate.edu/




The art of management

Case study: Optimum Stocking Rate, Monitoring, and Flexibility:

Key Components of Successful Grazing Management

J. Alfonso Ortega-Santos, Professor & Research Scientist, Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Department of

Animal, Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences / Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute, Kingsville, TX 78363,

USA; [email protected]

Steven D. Lukefahr, Regents Professor, Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Department of Animal, Rangeland, and

Wildlife Sciences, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA

Fred C. Bryant, Professor & Director of Wildlife Research, Texas A&M University-Kingsville – Department of Animal,

Rangeland, and Wildlife Sciences / Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research Institute, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA

A case study of the complexity of the optimum stocking

rate determination, as well as the importance of

monitoring the variation in the optimum stocking rate,

and using that monitoring to make timely management

decisions with maximum flexibility to accomplish

specific objectives. 10 years of data from the ranch in

south Texas support principles of grazing management,

including stocking rate adjustments, monitoring

protocols, and grazing management decisions during a

drought, and in wet years (e.g., keeping weanlings and

buying stockers). How we use flexible stocking rate to

accomplish rangeland conservation, animal production,

and profitability goals in a drought-prone environment.

J. Alfonso “Poncho” Ortega-Santos is a professor at Texas A&M

University-Kingsville, Department of Animal, Rangeland, and Wildlife

Sciences, and research scientist at the Caesar Kleburg Wildlife Research

Institute. He was previously Researcher and National Leader of the Range

and Forage Program at Mexico’s National Research Institute of Forestry,

Crops and Livestock. He obtained his PhD at the University of Florida.

Most of his research experience has been on grazing management and

cattle – wildlife interactions. Among other honors he received

Outstanding Achievement Awards from the SRM and the Texas Section

SRM. He is coauthor of the book White-tailed Deer Habitat: Ecology and

Management on Rangelands, published in English and Spanish, which

won the Special Publication Award by the

Texas Section SRM and the Outstanding

Publication Award by the Texas Chapter of the Wildlife Society. Poncho is

also a rancher in south Texas and Mexico, where he raises cattle and Quarter

Horses, as well as a professional horse trainer and farrier.


http://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/who-we-are/science-team/alfonso-ortega-santos-phd/

http://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/




Session: Temporal Distribution

The applied science

Rest Vs. Recovery:

It’s Not Enough to Just Move From Pasture to Pasture

Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS, Springfield, CO 81073, USA;

[email protected]

Roy Roath, Extension Rangeland Specialist Emeritus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA

Grady Grissom, Managing Partner, Rancho Largo Cattle Company, Fowler, CO 81039, USA

Plant recovery from grazing depends on ecological processes. It is species-specific and determined by

growing conditions, optimum climatic conditions for that species, severity of defoliation of that plant,

particularly in relation to neighboring plants, number of days with adequate climatic conditions to allow

sufficient regrowth of existing plants to maintain or improve vigor, as well as the number of days of good

growing conditions needed vs. available for new plants to establish and the effects of defoliation during

establishment on those plants. Excluding grazing without adequate growth is not recovery. Changes in

palatability of different species can provide more recovery than the non-grazing period.

Tim Steffens, CPRM, is a rancher and a Multi-county

Rangeland Management Specialist with the USDA Natural

Resources Conservation Service in Springfield, Colorado. He

specializes in prescribed grazing and prescribed burning on the

plains of southeastern Colorado. He was previously an

Extension Rangeland Specialist with Colorado State

University, where he earned his PhD. A Past President of the

Colorado Section Society for Range Management, Tim

organized the Strategy Vs. System: Grazing for Desired

Outcomes symposium in 2008, for which he received the

Colorado Section’s Trail Boss Award and the SRM’s

Outstanding Achievement Award. His Texas drawl engages

audiences throughout Colorado and the West.


http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov





Case Study: Adaptive Grazing Management at Rancho Largo Cattle Company

Grady Grissom, Managing Partner, Rancho Largo Cattle Company, Fowler, CO 81039, USA; [email protected]

Rancho Largo Cattle Co. implemented a rotational grazing system in 1996 utilizing 40 to 60 day non-

grazing periods (2-3 grazing periods per growing season). That grazing system did not produce positive

economic or ecological results. In 2000 management began a series of adaptations that eventually tied

grazing protocols to ecological processes. A key adaptation was to define the length of non-grazing

periods by plant physiology, creating true recovery periods. Species targeted for recruitment were

allowed to complete their life cycle (produce seed) on a significant portion of the ranch each year.

Seasonal grazing considerations also allowed seedlings extended periods without exposure to defoliation

during establishment. A second key adaptation made seasonal animal selectivity of plant species integral

to grazing decisions. These adaptations were largely in place by 2004. Return on investment (ROI) for

the years 2004 - 2011 was 19% higher compared to 1996 - 1999. Aerial coverage dominated by cool

season grasses (targeted species) also doubled when comparing the same time increments. Stocking rates

were slightly higher from 2004 to 2011 than from 1996 to 1999, while average rainfall was lower in the

later time period.

Grady Grissom is partner and manager of Rancho

Largo Cattle Company, LLC, near Fowler, Colorado.

Under Grady’s management since 1995, Rancho Largo

has converted from a cow-calf operation utilizing

continuous grazing to a multi faceted cattle business

encompassing stocker, yearling, cow-calf, and custom

grazing enterprises within a planned grazing regime.

Grady received a BA in Geology from Princeton

University in 1984. He worked on ranches in eastern

Colorado until 1987 when he returned to graduate

school. He finished a PhD at Stanford University in

1991, studying geology in northwestern Argentina.





Session: Spatial Distribution

The applied science

Grazing Management Can Improve Livestock Distribution

Brien E. Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan,

UT 84321, USA; [email protected]

Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA

Richard Teague, Professor & Associate Resident Director, Texas AgriLife Research, Vernon, TX 76384, USA

Unmanaged livestock repeatedly graze preferred plants in preferred areas, resulting in overgrazed patches

that expand over time, even at low stocking rates. Grazing management has the power to alter this pattern

and improve distribution over the landscape. This is most apparent, and most important, at larger scales

and with more variation in topography and vegetation. Most historic grazing studies were done at very

small scales and so effectively minimized the primary problem associated with extensive grazing, and

thus found little or no advantage to more intensive management. Landscape subdivision reduces pasture

size; rotation increases stocking density, reduces grazing period, and increases recovery period—all of

which promotes improved distribution across the landscape. Improved distribution promotes rangeland

health as well as increases effective grazing capacity and harvest efficiency.

Brien E. “Ben” Norton is Emeritus Associate Professor of

Range Science in the Department of Wildland Resources at

Utah State University. A native of Australia, Ben has worked

with pastoralists on rangelands in Australia, the United States,

the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia. After “retiring” from

Utah State, he worked at the International Center for

Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria,

then directed the Centre for the Management of Arid

Environments in Western Australia, and initiated a major

rangeland restoration project in Libya, evacuating by ship

during the Arab Spring revolution. Ben lives with his wife

Tracie in Logan, Utah.


http://www.cnr.usu.edu/wild/htm/faculty-staff/memberID=4064



http://vernon.tamu.edu/





Case study: Multiple-Pasture Grazing Distributes Utilization across Heterogeneous

Mountain Landscapes

Matt Barnes, Ranch Manager, The Howell Ranch; Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land

Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA; [email protected]

Jim Howell, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Del Cerro LLC / The Howell Ranch, Cimarron, CO 81220, USA

Planned grazing has improved the spatial distribution of utilization on the Howell Ranch with shorter

grazing periods, higher stocking density, and smaller paddocks than the extensive management practiced

previously on the ranch and currently on many ranches. Cattle regularly graze steep mountainsides and

plants often considered unpalatable, without damaging riparian areas,

at moderate overall utilization, while maintaining good animal

performance. These areas comprise most of the land and much of the

forage base of the ranch; if they were not utilized the ranch would

sustain a much lower grazing capacity, and if they were only utilized

when preferred areas and plant species were overgrazed, rangeland

health and livestock performance would suffer. Monitoring data from

1997-2011 show increases in plant basal and litter cover, and a

decrease in bare ground, while the stocking rate averaged about 50%

higher under planned grazing than under previous season-long

grazing management, and about 400% higher than adjacent public

land allotments. This landscape scale demonstration supports recent

experimental evidence that well-planned and adaptively managed

multiple-paddock grazing can improve the distribution of livestock

grazing across a heterogeneous landscape and across plant species,

providing a resolution to the debate over grazing management.

Matt Barnes, CPRM, is owner and rangeland consultant at Shining

Horizons Land Management, LLC, providing grazing planning,

implementation, and monitoring for whole-systems resilience. He manages

the Howell Ranch near Cimarron, Colorado, from May to October. He is

President-elect (2012) of the Colorado Section Society for Range

Management, and serves on the SRM Applied Science Task Force and the

Rangelands Editorial Board. He was Ben Norton’s last graduate student at

Utah State University. A scientist, conservationist, and rancher, as well as a

writer, photographer, and artist, he explores the mountains, deserts, and

rivers of the west, and rangelands of the world, by foot, horse, boat, and

pickup truck.


https://plus.google.com/113013663751959122929/about




Session: Diet Selection

The applied science

Diet Selection and Stocking Density: It Ain’t As Simple As You’ve Heard

Tim Steffens, Multi-County Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA-NRCS, Springfield, CO 81073, USA;

[email protected]

Larry Rittenhouse, Professor Emeritus, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA

Matt Barnes, Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA

Fred Provenza, Professor Emeritus, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA

Short grazing periods at high stocking density can influence diet

selection and animal learning. Increasing the breadth of plants

selected by animals may not mean that either selectivity or diet

quality has been compromised. Increased stocking density

increases instantaneous grazing pressure, but does not necessarily

reduce diet quality and nutrient intake. Grazing animals select

higher quality plants first; longer grazing periods increase

differential diet quality from the beginning to the end of the period,

limiting the total amount of lower quality forage that can be mixed

to provide a diet that meets requirements. Subdividing with a given

recovery period, grazing period decreases faster than stocking

density increases; thus the proportion of available forage that

animals can mix to meet requirements increases relative to a longer grazing period at lower density.

Increasing paddocks and stocking density can change distribution of utilization while maintaining diet

quality by keeping the grazing period stocking rate light enough to allow animals to meet their

requirements. This requires adaptive management.

Tim Steffens, CPRM, is a rancher and a Multi-county Rangeland Management

Specialist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in Springfield,

Colorado. He specializes in prescribed grazing and prescribed burning on the plains of

southeastern Colorado. He was previously an Extension Rangeland Specialist with

Colorado State University, where he earned his PhD. A Past President of the Colorado

Section Society for Range Management, Tim organized the Strategy Vs. System:

Grazing for Desired Outcomes symposium in 2008, for which he received the

Colorado Section’s Trail Boss Award and the SRM’s Outstanding Achievement Award. His Texas drawl

engages audiences throughout Colorado and the West.


http://www.shininghorizons.com


http://extension.usu.edu/behave/

http://www.co.nrcs.usda.gov






Case Study: Stocking Density And Diet Selection

Doug Peterson, Rancher, Medicine Creek Ranch; State Soil Health Conservationist, USDA-NRCS, Gallatin, MO

64663, USA; [email protected]

Mark Brownlee, Rancher, Brownlee Ranch, Lowry City, MO 64763, USA

Tim Kelley, Rancher, Kelley Ranch, Elmo, MO 64445, USA

Stocking density is a powerful tool to manage grazing land resources, as demonstrated on prairie and

pasture in Missouri. Utilizing different stock densities, we can achieve different goals, including affecting

diet selection, weed and brush control, improving utilization and manure distribution, and even improving

seed-to-soil contact. We allow sufficient recovery periods between grazing events to increase plant

diversity and develop as much above- and below-ground biomass as possible. During grazing periods we

use high stocking density at the proper stocking rate to manipulate the proportion of the plant community

that animals can select to maintain a desired level of performance, and the amount of forage trampling

that occurs. Trampling can have a very positive impact on water and mineral cycles, building soil and

increasing fertility in our perennial grasslands.

Doug Peterson operates Medicine Creek Ranch, Newtown, Missouri. He is

also State Soil Health Conservationist, and formerly State Grassland

Conservationist, with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in

Missouri. Peterson spends much of his time helping livestock producers

improve their land and their grazing management. As a rancher, he puts into

practice those same grazing and conservation concepts. Peterson markets a

portion of his cattle as grass-fed, and others are earning premiums when sold as

feeder cattle into the niche “all-natural” market.


http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov



Contributed poster abstracts 20

Session: Contributed Posters (alphabetical by lead author)



Paddock Size and Stocking Density Affect Spatial Heterogeneity of Grazing

Matthew K. Barnes, former Graduate Research Assistant, Utah State University; Owner & Rangeland Consultant,

Shining Horizons Land Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA; [email protected]

Brien E. Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA

Motoko Maeno, former Graduate Research Assistant, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA

John C. Malechek, Professor Emeritus, Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA

The claim that intensive rotational grazing (IRG) can sustain higher stocking rates may be partially

explained by more even spatial distribution of grazing such that livestock consume forage from a greater

proportion of a pasture (Norton et al., p. 16; Barnes et al., p. 17). To test the hypothesis that utilization is

more even at the higher stocking densities of smaller paddocks, mean absolute deviation (heterogeneity)

of utilization estimates by plot was compared in paddocks of sizes and stocking densities representing

increasing subdivision from 2-paddock deferred rotation grazing (DRG) to 16-, 32-, and 64-paddock, 2-

cycle IRG. These 70-, 4-, 2-, and 1-ha paddocks were grazed for 7 weeks, 4 days, 2 days, and 1 day,

respectively, at 32 animal unit days (AUD) ∙ ha-1 during 2000 and 34 AUD ∙ ha-1 during 2001. Within

IRG there was no response to the treatment gradient. After 1 cycle in the IRG paddocks, heterogeneity of

use was generally lower than in the DRG paddocks, both in 2000 (3%–11% [outlier 18%] vs. 14%–19%)

and 2001 (9%–17% vs. 24%–28%). After a 2nd cycle in 2001, heterogeneity in half of the IRG paddocks

(17%–21%) was nearly as high as the early-grazed (24%), but not the late-grazed (28%), of the DRG

paddocks. This lack of a stronger difference

between systems was probably due to the

fixed 2-cycle IRG schedule and lack of plant

growth during the non-grazing interval.

Across both systems, heterogeneity of

utilization was strongly positively correlated

with paddock size. Because utilization was

not severely patchy in the largest treatment,

the difference between systems would likely

be greater in commercial-scale paddocks.

Thus grazing distribution can be more even

under intensive than extensive management,

but this depends on how adaptively the

system, particularly the aspects of timing and

frequency, is managed.

In IRG, grazing was also fairly even across

plant species (Maeno et al., p. 26).

Rangeland Ecology & Management 61:380-388.

Figure 1. Unevenness of utilization within a paddock decreased as paddock size and grazing period decreased from deferred rotation paddocks (2) to intensive rotational grazing paddocks (representing rotations of 16-64 paddocks). The effect weakened when a second grazing cycle was applied without adequate recovery.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

64 32 16 2

1 ha 2 ha 4 ha 70 ha

Intensive rotational grazing Deferred rotation

Mea

n a

bso

lute

devia

tion

of u

tiliz

atio

n (

%)

Number of paddocks in rotation Paddock size (ha)Grazing system

Cycle 1 Cycle 2






Targeted Grazing in Southeastern Arizona:

Using Cattle to Reduce Fine Fuel Loads

Retta Bruegger, former Graduate Research Assistant, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University

of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA; [email protected]

Larry D. Howery, Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ,

85721, USA

Derek W. Bailey, Professor, Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces,

NM 88003, USA

Effectively managing the risk of unwanted wildfires is a growing concern in the western U.S. Targeted

grazing (TG), or managing livestock grazing to achieve specific vegetation goals, is one possible tool. In

this two-year study on Forest Service land in the Santa Rita mountains of Arizona, we tested the efficacy

of using TG using low-stress herding (LSH) and low moisture block (LMB) supplement to achieve fuel-

reduction goals on rangelands that were steep, rocky and > 0.75 km from water, and dominated by

Lehmann lovegrass (Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees.). The cow herd consisted of 58 red angus cows and 2

bulls. Five of the cows were fitted with GPS collars. Two grazing treatments (i.e., herding and

supplement = TG treatment vs. no herding and no supplement = Control) were randomly assigned to two

pairs of study sites.Vegetation measurements were taken before and after grazing treatments were

imposed. GPS-collared cows spent 34% of their time within 100 m of TG sites during herding periods

compared to <1% of their time during non-herding periods. Mean utilization (%) of Lehmann lovegrass

was 26% in TG sites compared to 11% in control sites. Mean stubble height of Lehmann lovegrass was

reduced from 71 to 35 cm in TG sites (pre-and post-herding) vs. from 70 to 52 cm in control sites (pre-

and post-herding). Even though average utilization was light (26%) in TG sites, a fire model created using

Behave Plus predicted that TG would have reduced the rate of spread by > 47% in three different fire

conditions in the two major vegetation types (grassland and grass/shrub). Application of TG will require

careful calibration of animal numbers, supplement amounts, and length of herding periods to achieve fuel

reduction objectives.






Adaptive Grazing Management Experiment: The New Frontier of Grazing Research

Justin D. Derner, Research Leader, USDA-ARS, Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY 82009,

USA; [email protected]

David J. Augustine, Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY 82009, USA

David D. Briske, Professor, Department of Ecosystem Science & Management, Texas A&M University, College

Station, TX 77843, USA

Maria Fernandez-Gimenez, Associate Professor, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State

University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA

Ken W. Tate, Russell L. Rustici Endowed Chair in Rangeland Watershed Science, Department of Plant Sciences,

University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Emily J. Kachergis, Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY 82009, USA

Leslie M. Roche, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA

95616, USA

The Adaptive Grazing Management experiment at the USDA-ARS Central Plains Experimental Range

(shortgrass steppe, MLRA 67B) addresses important gaps in our current understanding of grazing

management including: 1) lack of management-science partnerships to more fully understand the effect of

management decisions, 2) need for management practices that optimize both livestock production and

conservation benefits, and 3) need to conduct ranch-scale experiments. The novel experiment utilizes a

collaborative approach with a Stakeholder Group, consisting of 11 members representing a diverse cross-

section of interests. The Stakeholder Group will create an Adaptive Grazing Management Plan for ten

320-acre pastures (total of 3,200 acres). Each pasture contains multiple ecological sites and is paired with

a similar 320 acre control pasture (in terms of size, soils, topography, prior management history). Control

pastures will be managed in a traditional manner: grazed season-long from mid-May to early October at a

moderate stocking rate. The Stakeholder group will 1) choose outcomes for livestock production and

conservation, 2) determine objectives for each outcome, 3) identify management strategies to implement

during the same grazing season (mid-May to early October), 4) select appropriate background information

and monitoring data (indicators) needed to inform adaptive management, and 5) select triggers for

movement of livestock among pastures. This experiment, beginning in May 2013 and planned for a

minimum ten years, incorporates different ecological sites, highly variable environmental conditions, and

management decisions as the new frontier in grazing research to examine grazing management decisions

in managing semiarid rangelands.

Collaborative approach with management-science partnerships to understand the effects of adaptive management.






A Beef Producer’s Experience Thinking “Outside the Box”:

An Integrated Approach to Improve Rangeland Health While Marketing Grassfed Beef

Kimberly Diller, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pueblo, CO


Steve Oswald, Rancher, Oswald Cattle Company, Cotopaxi, CO 81223, USA

Daniel Nosal, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Franktown, CO

80116, USA

Ben Berlinger, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, La Junta, CO

81050, USA

Steve and Nancy Oswald are working toward the goal of increasing species diversity, litter, and

productivity on the Oswald Ranch on meadows and uplands, primarily Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)

woodlands, in the Southern Rocky Mountains (MLRA 48A). They changed from early spring calving and

fall weaning to summer calving and spring weaning. Sub-irrigated meadows, formerly hayed, have been

converted to pastures. They intensified their grazing management from a two pasture system with season-

long grazing to short duration grazing, now with >70 pastures and grazing periods as short as 1 day on the

meadows. They run cow/calf pairs, steers, and goats, in one or two herds. These methods facilitate more

effective utilization of the landscape in both space and time. Range trends are monitored at 13 permanent

transects with photo points to provide a basis for adjustments in the grazing schedule and stocking rates.

The changed calving and weaning periods better fit the annual forage cycle, and facilitate flexibility in

marketing. The Oswalds work with government partners and urban neighbors to provide wildlife habitat

and make improvements on the land. The Oswalds received the 2006 Excellence in Rangeland

Conservation Award from the Colorado Section SRM for their integrated approach to improve the health,

vigor, and production of their rangeland resource base while marketing a natural, grass-fed beef product

to the public.

NRCS Rangeland Management Specialists learning from rancher Steve Oswald at the Oswald Cattle Co., Cotopaxi, Colo.






Home on a Transitioning Range: Extending State and Transition Models as a Tool for Adaptive Grazing Management

Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, Associate Professor, Dept. of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State

University, 80523, USA; [email protected]

James Pritchett, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State

University, 80523, USA

Emily Kachergis, Ecologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, High Plains Research Station, Cheyenne, WY

82009, USA

Jay Parsons, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics; Western Center for

Integrated Resource Management, Colorado State University, 80523, USA

John Ritten, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming,

Laramie, WY 82071, USA

State and transition models (STMs) have been adopted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation

Service, USDA Forest Service, USDI Bureau of Land Management, and other organizations as the basis

for rangeland assessment and monitoring. STMs also hold potential as an important tool to facilitate

adaptive grazing management. For example, STMs can help ranchers evaluate the costs and probability

of success of using grazing management as a tool to restore plant communities to a desired composition

for specific management objectives. Although many natural resource management professionals are

aware of STMs, fewer have used them, and in a 2009 survey of Colorado and Wyoming only 31% of

ranchers had heard of STMs and 2% had used them. To address this gap in awareness and application of

STMs as a tool for adaptive management, we developed a series of outreach materials, including

presentations, fact sheets and a ranch simulation game, based on STMs developed from local knowledge

and ecological field data in Northwest Colorado. To date the game has been used in 4 workshops and

numerous public and classroom demonstrations to help current and future land managers understand the

value of state and transition models for decision making and allow them to apply STMs to management

decisions on a “model

ranch” based on

characteristics of

ranches in the Elkhead

Watershed, Routt and

Moffat Counties,

Colorado. This poster

describes the S&T

Ranch Game, reports

the results of our initial

workshop evaluations,

and allows participants

to play the game in a

hands-on demonstration

during the poster

session.






Characterizing Wyoming Ranching Operations:

Natural Resource Goals, Management Practices and Information Sources

Emily Kachergis, Postdoctoral Ecologist, USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY, USA;

[email protected]

Justin Derner, Research Leader, USDA-ARS Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Cheyenne, WY, USA

Rachel Mealor, Extension Specialist, University of Wyoming Extension, Laramie, WY, USA

Jim Magagna, Executive Vice President, Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Cheyenne, WY, USA

Kenneth Tate, Professor and Rangeland Watershed Specialist, Department of Plant Sciences, University of

California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA

Mark Lubell, Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA,

USA

Valerie Eviner, Associate Professor, of Plant Sciences, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, USA

Leslie Roche, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Plant Sciences, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA,

USA

What are the characteristics of Wyoming ranches, and how do they manage natural resources on 29

million acres of rangelands? In cooperation with the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA)—a

predominant agricultural organization in the state—we asked WSGA producer members about their

operations via a mail survey. A total of 307 ranchers (50%) responded to the survey. Livestock

production and forage production were the top natural resource management goals, with ecosystem

characteristics that support these goals (e.g. soil health, water quality) tied for second. Survey

respondents’ ranches had a median size of 10,440 acres, but ranged up to 458,000 acres; 71% of

operations included public land permits and 60% included private leased land. Reporting operations

generally grazed cow-calf pairs (91%), with a median of 260 pairs per ranch. Most survey respondents

managed grazing by moving one to five herds of livestock (84%) among two or more pastures (92%) after

less than three months of grazing (87%). Most operations also included other activities that affect land

management (72%), including extractive recreation (55%), conventional energy development (23%), and

other agricultural production (20%). Survey respondents primarily got information about grazing

management from other ranchers (97%), and preferred print publications (68%) rather than internet

resources. Wyoming ranching operations are diverse in operation characteristics and management

practices, presenting a challenge for efforts to improve food production and conservation in Wyoming.

Programs that focus on livestock and forage production and supporting ecosystem functions are most

likely to find synergies with ongoing management goals and strategies.

Figure 1. Survey respondents’ natural resource management goals. Photo credits: Jack Dykinga; Emily Kachergis;

Emily Kachergis; Emily Kachergis; Kira Puntenney; Jaepil Cho.

NA

TUR

AL

RES

OU

RC

E G

OA

LS

Tier 1: Livestock Production and Forage Production

Tier 2: Soil Health, Water Quality, Riparian and/or Meadow Health, and Invasive Weed Management






Do Paddock Size and Stocking Density Affect Species Selectivity of Grazing?

Motoko Maeno, former Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan,

Utah 84322, USA

Brien E. Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Dept. Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah


Matthew K. Barnes, former Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. Wildland Resources, Utah State University;

Owner & Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA

Rotational stocking may change the diet selection of grazing animals relative to more extensive

grazing methods such as continuous stocking, thus increasing grazing capacity (Norton et al., p. 16;

Steffens et al., p. 18). We tested the hypotheses that, as stocking density increased under intensive

rotational stocking, grazing use would be distributed over a higher proportion of species, and the

tillers of preferred species would be grazed more evenly.

At Cedar Mountain, Utah (2600 m elevation; 76 mm mean annual precipitation), during July-

August, we stocked cattle on a gradient of 3 levels of decreasing paddock size and increasing stocking

density, representing increasing intensity of landscape subdivision (16-, 32-, and 64-paddock

rotations) at the same stocking rate: 4-, 2-, and 1-ha paddocks grazed for 4, 2, and 1 days, at 4, 8, and

16 animal units (AU)/ha (Barnes et al., p. 20; Maeno et al., p. 27). We measured height of 300

marked tillers in each paddock before and after grazing. Effects of species (codominant graminoids)

and treatment levels on proportions of grazed tillers were assessed with a logit model, and effects of

treatment levels on standard deviation of defoliated tiller length were assessed with ANOVA.

Utilization was light, so there was ample opportunity

for cattle to express selectivity. However, there was no

difference between treatment levels in proportions of

species grazed (P = 0.6518), overall utilization (P =

0.58), or utilization of graminoids (P = 0.63). A

correlation between the proportion of each species in a

paddock and the utilization of that species suggests that

selectivity was low regardless of treatment.

The lack of response to the treatment gradient, and the

correlation between use and availability, are consistent

with the findings (Barnes et al., p. 20) that the spatial

heterogeneity of utilization was similar in the rotational

stocking treatments, but lower than in rotationally

deferred 70-ha paddocks on the same site. These results

imply that the small paddocks and high stocking densities

of rotational stocking can make a higher proportion of

herbage effectively available relative to extensive grazing

methods (Norton et al., p. 16; Steffens et al., p. 18), but

that ever higher stocking densities do not necessarily

result in even lower selectivity and spatial heterogeneity

of grazing.

Cattle grazing in a 2-ha paddock for 2 days, Cedar Mountain, Utah. Photo by Matt Barnes.






Minimal Repeat Defoliation, and Feeding Choice Shift, During Short Grazing Periods

Motoko Maeno, former Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

84322, USA

Brien E. Norton, Associate Professor Emeritus, Dept. Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah


Matthew K. Barnes, former Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. Wildland Resources, Utah State University; Owner &

Rangeland Consultant, Shining Horizons Land Management LLC, San Luis, CO 81152, USA

Rotational stocking may reduce repeat grazing of preferred plants relative to more extensive grazing

methods such as continuous stocking, thus increasing effective grazing capacity. We measured repeat

defoliation and documented a shift in feeding choice over short grazing periods in small paddocks.

At Cedar Mountain, Utah (2600 m elevation; 76 mm mean annual precipitation), during July-August,

we stocked cattle at 2 levels of decreasing paddock size and increasing stocking density, representing

increasing intensity of landscape subdivision (16- and 32-paddock rotations) at the same stocking rate: 4-

and 2-ha paddocks grazed for 4 and 2 days, at 4 and 8 animal units (AU)/ha, with 2 replicates (Barnes et

al., p. 20; Maeno et al., p.26). We measured height of 300 marked tillers in each paddock at the

beginning, midpoint, and end of the grazing periods. The differences in grazed tiller length of the 4

codominant grass species between days 2-4 of the 4-day treatment, and days 1-2 of the 2-day treatment,

were assessed using one-way ANOVA for each species.

Utilization was light, so there was ample opportunity for cattle to express selectivity. However, the

proportion of tillers grazed in both the first and the second half of the grazing period was only 5.41% in

the 4-day, and 3.17% in the 2-day paddocks. There were significant interactions between day and species

in the 4-day (P = 0.0006) and the 2-day (P = 0.0019) grazing periods, indicating that a shift of feeding

choice happened during the grazing periods. Mountain brome (Bromus marginatus) was preferred in the

first and avoided in the second half, while (generally less-palatable) Letterman needlegrass (Achnatherum

lettermanii) was avoided in the first but preferred in the second half of the periods.

The lack of repeat defoliation is probably due to lack of regrowth during the grazing periods, and is

consistent with the findings (Barnes et al., p. 20) that the spatial heterogeneity of utilization was similar in

the rotational stocking treatments, but lower than in rotationally deferred 70-ha paddocks on the same

site. Short grazing periods, small paddocks, and high stocking densities can increase the proportion of

herbage effectively available to meet nutritional requirements if livestock mix more lower-quality forage

in their diet earlier in the grazing period, evening out diet quality over time (Steffens et al., p. 18).

Table 1. Proportion of repeat-grazed tillers in paddocks representing two levels of rotational stocking.

Treatment Replicate Repeat-grazed tillers

16 paddocks/herd: 4 days, 4 ha, 4 AU/ha Replicate 1 1.02% Replicate 2 9.76% Mean 5.41%

32 paddocks/herd: 2 days, 2, ha, 8 AU/ha Replicate 1 3.01% Replicate 2 3.33% Mean 3.17%

Total Mean 4.29%






An Adaptive Management Approach to Livestock Grazing

on the Santa Rita Experimental Range

Fadzayi Mashiri, Senior Research Specialist, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of

Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA; [email protected]

George Ruyle, Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

85721, USA

Mitchel P. McClaran, Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson,

AZ 85721, USA

Larry Howery, Professor, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

85721, USA

Mark Heitlinger, Santa Rita Experimental Range Manager, University of Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station,

Tucson, AZ 85721, USA

Alisha Phipps, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Tucson, AZ

85705, USA

Andrew McGibbon, Rancher, Santa Rita Ranch, Green Valley, AZ 85622, USA

A previous study at the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) found no significant differences between

rotational vs. yearlong grazing after 34 years. Like many grazing studies with inflexible application of

treatments over time, the stocking rate and grazing seasons were set based on long-term average plant

production and phenology, with little flexibility in annual stocking rates and grazing periods despite the

characteristic extreme temporal variability in plant growing conditions. In 2007, an adaptive management

(AM) approach to livestock grazing was introduced in order to better respond to high temporal variability.

About 20 pastures (360-1900 ha) are grazed by a large herd (~540 AU). The AM we employ emphasizes

continual assessment of resource conditions by collecting peak standing herbaceous biomass data,

mapping utilization patterns, and monitoring a network of precipitation gauges. These data, along with a

history of actual use information, are used to adjust stocking rates and plan grazing periods for the

dormant and the active growing seasons of the warm season grasses. Grazing periods range from 10 to 60

days during the dormant season, depending on pasture size and biomass production, and about 10 days

during the growing season, to prevent regrazing during the time when grasses are most sensitive to

grazing. Preliminary results show that even with high temporal and spatial variability in production,

average utilization is around 40% (Fig. 1). This approach may provide for sustainable livestock grazing

in semiarid ecosystems and for generating large scale predictive models of relationships among stocking

rates, vegetation production, and precipitation.

Figure 1. Area of the Santa Rita Experimental Range grazed at different utilization classes in 2010/2011.

Are

a (

acre

s)

Utilization class






The Effect of Grazing Intensity on Grassland and Cattle Performance

in South-Central North Dakota

Bob Patton, Range Scientist, North Dakota State University (NDSU) – Central Grasslands Research Extension

Center (CGREC), Streeter ND 58483, USA; [email protected]

Paul Nyren, Range Scientist, NDSU – CGREC, Streeter ND 58483, USA

Anne Nyren, Research Specialist, NDSU – CGREC, Streeter ND 58483, USA

A grazing intensity study began at CGREC in 1989 to determine ecological and economic effects of

season-long cattle grazing. Five treatments - no grazing, light, moderate, heavy, and extreme grazing - are

each replicated three times. Thirty-acre pastures are stocked so that when the cattle are removed in the

fall, 65, 50, 35, and 20% of the forage remains on the light, moderate, heavy, and extreme grazing

treatments respectively. The no grazing treatment consists of six 0.3-acre exclosures.

On loamy sites, forage production is highest under light grazing. On loamy overflow sites, production

does not differ between light, moderate, and heavy grazing, but ungrazed and extreme treatments produce

significantly less forage.

Of the 165 plant species found on the loamy sites, 38% have shown a response to grazing based on

frequency, density, or basal cover. On the loamy overflow sites, 29% of the 175 species have responded

to grazing. Of these species, the majority are favored by a moderate or heavy level of grazing.

Since 1990, average daily gain and animal body condition scores have decreased with increasing

grazing intensity. Initially, gain/ton of available forage increases as the grazing pressure increases, but

declines at higher grazing pressures.

We cannot predict which grazing pressure will give the maximum gain/ton of forage in a particular

year. However, the grazing pressure which would have given the highest average gain from 1991-

2011would have been 2.49 AUM/ton and would have averaged 77.2 lbs. of gain/ton. The grazing pressure

with the maximum return/ton over the last 21 years would be 1.91 AUM/ton, with an average annual

return of $30.19/ton.

Figure 1. Relationships between grazing pressure, animal gains, and economic returns at the Central Grasslands

Research Extension Center, North Dakota, from 1991-2011.






Ultra-High Stocking Densities on Nebraska Sandhills Meadow

Miles Redden, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA

Ben Beckman, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA

Jordan Johnson, former Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915,

USA; Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Norfolk, NE 68701-2267, USA

Robert Vavala, Graduate Research Assistant, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA

Jerry Volesky, Professor, UNL West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte, NE 69101, USA

Walter Schacht, Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0915, USA; [email protected]

Ultra-high stocking density is promoted as a tool to increase grassland productivity by building soil.

Study objectives were to compare aboveground vegetation production, cattle performance, and herbage

utilization by yearling cattle on subirrigated meadow dominated by cool-season grasses in response to

different grazing methods: ultra-high stocking density with a single grazing period (mob grazing); 4-

pasture 1-cycle rotational grazing (4-PR-1); and 4-pasture 2-cycle rotational grazing (4-PR-2). In each

year of the study (2010-2012), the 60-day grazing season began in June for cattle rotating through 120

mob-grazed pastures and 4-PR-1 pastures; whereas, the grazing season for 4-PR-2 began in mid-May and

continued for 80 to 90 days. Grazing period per pasture for mob, 4-PR-1, and 4-PR-2 grazing methods

was 0.5, 15, and 10 days, respectively. Each method had the same stocking rate (8.2 AUM ha-1

in 2010

and 7.4 AUM ha-1

in 2011 and 2012), but stocking density differed (220,000, 7,000 and 5,000 kg ha-1

or

489, 16, and 11 AU ha-1

for mob, 4-PR-1, and 4-PR-2, respectively). Herbage disappearance and

trampling was estimated (1) weekly in mob-grazed pastures and (2) when the cattle were moved from a

pasture in 4-PR-1 and 4-PR-2. Sixty percent of the standing herbage was trampled in the mob-grazed

pastures resulting in low grazing efficiency (30%) compared to the 4-PR-1 (49%) and 4-PR-2 (46%)

pastures. Aboveground production was estimated in 2012 by clipping in exclusion cages and did not

differ among grazing methods. In 2011 and 2012, average daily gain was greater for yearling cattle on 4-

PR-2 (0.73 kg) than on 4-PR-1 and mob-grazed pastures (0.24 kg) likely because of the availability of

higher quality forage on 4-PR-2

pastures during the second half of

the grazing season. With no

production variable responding

favorably to mob grazing by the

third year, the study will be

continued to determine longer-term

system responses, including soil

nutrient and microbial properties, to

grazing method.

Utilization of a Nebraska Sandhills

meadow after mob grazing.






Grass and Forb Heights for Gunnison Sage-Grouse: Where Do We Draw the Line?

Lars Santana, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Montrose, CO


Jim Cochran, County Wildlife Coordinator, Gunnison County, Gunnison, CO 81230, USA

John Scott, former District Conservationist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Gunnison, CO 81230,

USA

A group was organized in Gunnison, Colorado to look at some of the inconsistencies of how rangeland

measurements were being taken in Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) habitat and to see if

they could resolve any of the variations in the data that was being collected. One of the first tasks of this

group was to look at grass and forb height measurements. We thought this would be an easy task, but it

turns out there is enormous variation on how land managers take these measurements. In an effort to get

consistent data in the future we collected some pictures to give examples of ‘where to draw the line’ when

looking at grass and forb heights. The Gunnison Sage-grouse Rangewide Steering Committee agreed on

some standards (Fig. 1). This simple measurement can mean much to sage-grouse and to livestock

producers, since plant height is one of the core vegetation measurements for land managers in this

sagebrush-grassland habitat.

Figure 1. Variation in measurements of grass height, and where measurements should be taken as agreed upon by the Gunnison Sage-grouse Rangewide Steering Committee. A, Where grass and forb heights should be taken according to the habitat guidelines provided in the Gunnison Sage-grouse Rangewide Conservation Plan (red line). B, Inconsistencies of where height measurements could be taken. The yellow lines illustrate the variation we received after a survey of over 30 different land managers; the green line is correct based on the Minimum Structural Vegetation Collection Guidelines for Gunnison Sage-grouse.




A Landscape Scale Analysis Technique Indicates Rangeland Improvements after

Management Changes

Gregg Simonds, President, Open Range Consulting, Park City, UT 84098, USA

Eric Sant, Remote Sensing & Geographic Information Systems Specialist, Open Range Consulting, Park City, UT

84098, USA

Rio de la Vista, Owner, Shining Mountain Land Services, Alamosa, CO 81101, USA

Lisa VanAmburg, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Forest Service, Saguache, CO 81132, USA;

[email protected]

We used a remote sensing rangeland monitoring technique to inventory and evaluate rangeland conditions

and riparian trends over time for the Saguache Park grazing allotment (115,000 acres) on the Saguache

District of the Rio Grande National Forest. In 1995 the allotment combined two herds that had been in

two, 4-pasture rest rotation systems into a one-herd rotational grazing system, utilizing 8 pastures in a

different order in successive years. The monitoring technique provided information about resource health

to assist in evaluating long-term watershed

health conditions and trends from 1972 to

present. We used multiple scales of

remotely sensed imagery including ground-

based, aerial, and satellite. The landscape

scale analysis provided coverage for

dominant land cover, upland assessment for

continuous cover (bare ground, litter,

herbaceous, shrub), carrying capacity

estimates, and riparian assessments. This

information, combined with existing data

collected on the allotment, assisted in

evaluating existing conditions, trends and

the development of management

recommendations. Land cover and riparian

classifications had > 80% accuracy. Bare

ground estimates for continuous cover had

high accuracy (R2=0.88). Bare ground was

found to be <20% on 51% of the allotment.

The analysis showed significant increases in

percentage of willows in all major drainages

after management changes occurred (Figure

1). Riparian assessment indicated increases

in water table and fish populations, and

decreased sediment and water temperatures.

Figure 1. Improvements in vegetation on the Saguache Park Allotment after changing from

rest rotation (above) to rotational grazing in 1995 (below), as shown by remote sensing.




To Plow or Not to Plow: Investigating Grassland to Cropland Conversion

in the Northern Great Plains Using Systems Dynamics

Benjamin L. Turner, Graduate Research Assistant, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA; West

River Ag Center, Rapid City, SD 57702, USA; [email protected]

Roger Gates, Extension Range Specialist, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA; West River

Ag Center, Rapid City, SD 57702, USA

Timothy Nichols, Associate Professor, Sociology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA

Melissa Wuellner, Assistant Professor and Distance Education Coordinator, Department of Natural Resource

Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA

Luis O. Tedeschi, Associate Professor, Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

From 1997 to 2007, 23.7 million acres of grassland were converted to cropland. Fifty seven percent were

located in the Northern Great Plains (NGP). Since 2007, another 23.7 million U.S. acres have been

converted with the majority located in the NGP. These changes were likely driven by prices, U.S. farm

programs (e.g. crop insurance) and policies (e.g. ethanol mandates), technology, and social-cultural

changes of land owners and managers. The short term positive benefits have been increased food

production and returns to farmers. However, there could be unintended consequences through loss of

ecosystem services like water quality degradation, wildlife habitat loss/fragmentation, and decreased

carbon sequestration. Our objectives were to: 1) identify structural features influencing land use

decisions, 2) quantify implications for land management, and 3) forecast potential unintended

consequences from those decisions, which will likely impact livestock management through loss of

grassland, declining infrastructure (e.g. input suppliers, market options), or water quality degradation due

to runoff. This will be achieved through triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data using systems

dynamics (causal loop diagramming and simulation via stocks and flows). Triangulation is a procedure to

find convergence among different sources of information to form themes, using three spokes: 1)

qualitative information gathering through interviews with system stakeholders, 2) using system dynamics

modeling to link identifiable

themes, and 3) quantitative data

incorporation through

methodology to test themes and

identify potential outcomes.

Outcomes include: 1) evaluation

of land uses from financial,

ecological and managerial

perspectives, 2) identifying

alternative intervention strategies,

and 3) creation of a decision

support tool to provide long term

insight on NGP land use decisions.

A former grazing land site with a retention pond that has now been converted to a tillage operation. The clearly

identifiable walls of the pond make these sites easy to find.




Defining Factors that Influence Improved Grazing Management by Community-Based

Rangeland Management Groups and their Adaptation to Climate Change

Tungalag Ulambayar, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship,

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1472, USA; [email protected]

Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, Associate Professor, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship,

Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1472, USA

We examined the difference in outcomes of formally organized community-based rangeland management

(CBRM) groups and traditional nomadic neighborhoods in Mongolia in terms of their abilities to improve

livelihoods and grazing management. The overall objective of this comparative case study is to contribute

to reducing vulnerability of pastoral communities to climate change by defining more effective ways for

adaptation and building resilience to external shocks of natural and anthropogenic origins. We analyzed

the essential factors that influence the strategies for rangeland management by CBRM groups.

We qualitatively sampled four community groups in two adjacent soums (counties) of Umnugovi

province with and without formal CBRM experience: two traditional neighborhoods (non-CBRM groups)

and two formal CBRM groups. Qualitative data consisted of four focus group interviews with a total of

31 herders, and semi-structured interviews with community leaders. Digitally recorded data were

transcribed, coded, and analyzed using a phenomenological approach with thematic analysis.

Preliminary results suggest that 1) outcomes of CBRM and non-CBRM groups will differ with better

results for CBRM, and 2) formal CBRM groups will have a greater level of social capital and collective

action, which positively influence their rangeland management practices.

These analyses will result in identification of key factors in improving outcomes of CBRM groups,

leading to increased adaptation to climate change through improved management strategies.

Study site: Khankhongor and Tsogt-Ovoo soums of Umnugovi aimag, Mongolia.






Dry Matter Yield, Nutritional Value and Phenology of African Star Grass-Based

Pastures in the Region of Monteverde, Costa Rica

Luis Alonso Villalobos, Profesor e Investigador en Forrajes,,Escuela de Zootecnia, Universidad de Costa Rica, San

José; Centro de Investigación en Nutrición Animal, San José, Costa Rica; [email protected]

Jose Arce, Profesor e Investigador en Nutrición de Rumiantes, Escuela de Zootecnia, Universidad de Costa Rica,

San José; Centro de Investigación en Nutrición Animal, San José, Costa Rica

Dry matter yield, nutritional value and phenology of African star grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) based

pastures were evaluated on four commercial dairy farms (two Pacific and two Atlantic weather-

influenced) in the region of Monteverde, Costa Rica (latitude 10°20', longitude 84°50', 800 to 1200 m

elevation) every other month over a two-year period. African star grass is adapted to Costa Rica at

elevations between 600 and 1800 m. Its regrowth period is between 20 and 30 days in order to have

optimum nutritional value and yield. The four dairy farms had 25 days of regrowth along the evaluation.

Average dry matter yield and phenological stage were 4484 kg ha-1

per grazing cycle and 7.36 green

leaves per regrowth, respectively (Table 1). Botanical composition of pastures was 86.81% African star

grass, 2.52% other grasses, 1.39% legumes, 1.53% weeds and 7.75% senescent material. The nutritional

value of the pastures averaged 20.27% CP, 64.21% NDF, 34.95% ADF, 4.06% Lignin and 1.25 Mcal kg-1

NEL (NRC, 2001), all on DM basis (Table 1). Dry matter yield and nutritional value were higher on farms

with Pacific weather influence and both decreased in the rainiest months as a result of the higher moisture

levels in soils. The phenological stage of the African star grass averaged between 6 and 8 green leaves per

regrowth which allowed for adequate recovery of the plant, and it was affected by precipitation as well.

African star grass has morphological traits (deep roots and stoloniferous growth) that permit its utilization

under high stocking rates. The phenological stage concept has been developed for C3 grasses but it can be

applied to tropical grasses in order to have an idea of the optimum time to graze pastures.

Table 1. Agronomic traits of African Star-Grass based pastures in four commercial dairy farms in the Region of Monteverde, Costa Rica.

Farm (weather influence)

Nº of leaves at grazing

DM yield (kg ha-1 cycle-1)

CP (DM%)

NDF (DM%)

NEL (Mcal kg-1 DM)

1 (Pacific)1 7.3578 4490ab 20.68 63.95 1.29a 2 (Pacific) 7.2825 5369a 20.44 64.31 1.28a 3 (Atlantic) 7.4709 4143ab 19.79 64.55 1.20b 3 (Atlantic) 7.3580 3936b 20.17 64.05 1.23b a,b. Means in a column with different superscripts are significantly different (P≤0.05) 1 Average of 12 samples of measurements






Evaluation of Restoration Activities on Riparian Vegetation Condition and Stream

Morphology, Kerber Creek Watershed, Colorado

Jason Willis, Field Coordinator, Trout Unlimited, Salida, CO 81201, USA

Laura Archuleta, Environmental Contaminants Specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Saguache, CO 81149, USA

Aarón Mohammadi, former Coordinator, AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA, Lakewood, CO 80225, USA

Karl Ford, former Environmental Scientist, Bureau of Land Management, Golden, CO 80401, USA

Elizabeth Russell, Mine Restoration Project Manager, Trout Unlimited, Lafayette, CO 80026, USA

Steve Sanchez, Forest Manager for Soils and Hydrology, USDA Forest Service, Pueblo, CO 81008, USA

Trevor Klein, Coordinator, AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA, Saguache, CO 81149, USA; [email protected]

The Kerber Creek watershed, located in Saguache County, CO, encompasses the historic Bonanza Mining

District, operational from the 1890s to the 1970s. Over time, mine wastes discharged into Kerber Creek

were transported down-gradient as a result of flood events and human interference and redeposited

throughout the lower watershed. To correct subsequent impacts, several techniques have been

implemented, including in-situ soil treatment (phytostabilization) and subsequent revegetation, in-stream

habitat enhancements, stream bank stabilization, and grazing management. These enhancements have

noticeably improved stream and riparian conditions. In-situ treatment and revegetation of mine waste

deposits have reduced mobility of metals in the soil and raised soil pH. NRCS rangeland management

specialists and landowners have developed site-specific rotational grazing management plans that will

allow livestock grazing of restored riparian areas on private land after a 3 to 5 year rest period during

vegetative recovery. Other indications of success include a 6.3% increase in stream sinuosity and an

increase in riparian vegetation visible from photographs taken before and after restoration efforts.

Since 2008, the Kerber Creek Restoration Project has maintained partnerships with the Bonanza

Stakeholders Group (BSG), Trout Unlimited (TU), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Natural

Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), US Forest Service

(USFS), AmeriCorps Western Hardrock Watershed Team OSM/VISTA, Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA), Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), and Saguache County Sustainable

Environment and Economic Development (ScSEED).

Figure 1. Mine waste deposit along Kerber Creek before and after restoration.






Innovation on the Range: Studying Rangeland Manager Internet Use and Decision Making in Order to Develop Effective Delivery Systems for Rangeland Innovations in Colorado

Hailey Wilmer, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA; [email protected]

Shayan Ghajar, Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA; [email protected]

Maria E. Fernandez-Gimenez, Associate Professor, Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA

Efforts to understand and facilitate the diffusion of innovations in rangeland management

necessitate an understanding of social systems and communication. While many researchers have

studied the adoption of new practices by land managers over the past sixty years, there is little

understanding of why, when, and how ranchers and agency professionals decide to adopt

rangeland innovations related to adaptive grazing management. As internet speed and access

continue to improve in rural areas, documenting how and where ranchers obtain information on

these techniques will also prove essential to improving outreach. Colorado State University’s

Social-Ecological Systems team is exploring the social and institutional constraints that affect

decisions to adopt these rangeland innovations in Colorado. This research explores the role of

social networks, the use of the internet, and individual and family-level decision making in

changes in rangeland management. Data are collected through semi-structured interviews and

surveys.

Based on information about ranchers’ decision making, social interactions, and patterns of

internet use, the results of the study will provide concrete recommendations for the development

of outreach programming for two grazing distribution projects in Colorado, New Mexico and

Arizona and a state-and-transition model program in Colorado and Wyoming. These

recommendations will focus on presenting information to land managers when and where it will

most likely be effective in enabling range management change. The study is ongoing and results

are preliminary at this stage.






The Effect of Brush Mowing on Invertebrate Populations in Sagebrush Ecosystems

Elizabeth With, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Gunnison, CO


Lars Santana, Rangeland Management Specialist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Montrose, CO


Tom Eager, Entomologist, USDA Forest Service, Gunnison, CO 81230, USA

Evan Bulla, Student, Western State Colorado University, Gunnison, CO 81230, USA

Brush mowing is one of many rangeland improvement treatments practiced in sagebrush (Artemisia)

ecosystems to reduce the interspecific competition of sagebrush with, and improve production and

diversity of, grasses and forbs. Theoretically, this structural alteration results in a change in insect species

present. These changes are of special interest in Colorado due to the Gunnison sage-grouse

(Centrocercus minimus), a USFWS species of concern. The grouse is a gallinaceous bird whose early

brood survival is dependent on insects as a primary food source. Knowing and understanding the impact

of brush mowing on insect diversity and population size could give land managers a key perspective in

linking rangeland improvement to a critical period in the Gunnison sage-grouses’ development and ability

to recruit. The assemblage of insects on a given site can serve as an indicator of habitat condition, but the

effects of treatments such as mowing on insect communities and sage-grouse habitat are unknown.

We placed pitfall traps in mowed and unmowed areas, which were within the same ecological site and

all grazed with domestic cattle; and checked them on a weekly basis during the brood rearing season

when chicks were reliant on insects for nutrition. This inventory established a baseline of insect diversity,

the first attempt to characterize the insect fauna of the Gunnison sagebrush steppe with respect to

Gunnison sage-grouse habitat. The collection of identified insects remains a series of voucher specimens

which can be retained for future reference and as an aid to identification.

We found higher diversity and production of insects in the mowed than in the untreated areas, but our

sample size is too small to extrapolate beyond the sites sampled. More information is needed to clarify

gaps in our understanding of sage-grouse needs and preferences, and move towards a cohesive

understanding of the tie between insect populations and rangeland management practices.

Figure 1. Some examples of insects collected in Gunnison sage-grouse habitat. Left, Order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, locusts). Right, Order Coleoptera, family Carabidae (ground beetles).

Strategic Grazing Management for Complex Adaptive Systems [symposium abstracts]

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