TY - JOUR
T1 - Complex response of vegetation to grazing suggests need for coordinated, landscape-level approaches to grazing management
AU - Souther, Sara
AU - Loeser, Matthew
AU - Crews, Timothy E.
AU - Sisk, Thomas
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Diablo Trust, the Flying M ranch, and the U.S. Forest Service for their support and collaboration on this long-term effort. We thank the dozens of undergraduate students from Northern Arizona University, Prescott College and Yakima Valley College that contributed to the fieldwork, as well as many graduate students at NAU. This study has been supported through funding from U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency , U.S. Department of Education , Arizona Game and Fish Department , the Ecological Restoration Institute, the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research , and the Olajos-Goslow Endowment for Environmental Science and Policy at Northern Arizona University.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to the Diablo Trust, the Flying M ranch, and the U.S. Forest Service for their support and collaboration on this long-term effort. We thank the dozens of undergraduate students from Northern Arizona University, Prescott College and Yakima Valley College that contributed to the fieldwork, as well as many graduate students at NAU. This study has been supported through funding from U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Education, Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Ecological Restoration Institute, the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, and the Olajos-Goslow Endowment for Environmental Science and Policy at Northern Arizona University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Management of domesticated ungulates on grasslands has the potential to affect ecosystem function at landscape to global scales. In the southwestern United States, introduction of livestock in the 1800s corresponded with grassland degradation and dramatic shifts in vegetation, including the rapid spread of invasive plant species. In contemporary grasslands, however, evidence increasingly suggests that responsible grazing may enhance plant diversity in the region, though positive effects on diversity may or may not offer corresponding benefits to ecosystem function. Here, we examined the effects of grazing on land cover and functional composition of a semiarid grassland over a 20-year period. We found that high intensity grazing increased exposed soil and shifted community composition toward a greater proportion of annual and exotic species. This was particularly apparent following a severe drought event that initiated a significant loss of perennial plant cover, especially forbs, and was followed by a nearly 4-fold expansion of exotic species. Plots that were grazed at moderate levels consistently exhibited the lowest proportion of exotic species and were similar in functional group composition to exclosure plots. However, moderate grazing did increase soil exposure relative to exclosure plots. These findings suggest that moderate grazing could provide benefits to grassland ecosystem diversity and correlated ecosystem services like invasive species control and pollination services, while simultaneously increasing erosion, reducing water infiltration and altering nutrient cycling, due to increased soil exposure and disturbance. The potential for grazing to exert antagonistic effects on ecosystem services, depending on site conditions and grazing intensity, suggests that livestock management decisions should be tailored to individual management and conservation goals that address the inherent spatiotemporal variability of arid grasslands.
AB - Management of domesticated ungulates on grasslands has the potential to affect ecosystem function at landscape to global scales. In the southwestern United States, introduction of livestock in the 1800s corresponded with grassland degradation and dramatic shifts in vegetation, including the rapid spread of invasive plant species. In contemporary grasslands, however, evidence increasingly suggests that responsible grazing may enhance plant diversity in the region, though positive effects on diversity may or may not offer corresponding benefits to ecosystem function. Here, we examined the effects of grazing on land cover and functional composition of a semiarid grassland over a 20-year period. We found that high intensity grazing increased exposed soil and shifted community composition toward a greater proportion of annual and exotic species. This was particularly apparent following a severe drought event that initiated a significant loss of perennial plant cover, especially forbs, and was followed by a nearly 4-fold expansion of exotic species. Plots that were grazed at moderate levels consistently exhibited the lowest proportion of exotic species and were similar in functional group composition to exclosure plots. However, moderate grazing did increase soil exposure relative to exclosure plots. These findings suggest that moderate grazing could provide benefits to grassland ecosystem diversity and correlated ecosystem services like invasive species control and pollination services, while simultaneously increasing erosion, reducing water infiltration and altering nutrient cycling, due to increased soil exposure and disturbance. The potential for grazing to exert antagonistic effects on ecosystem services, depending on site conditions and grazing intensity, suggests that livestock management decisions should be tailored to individual management and conservation goals that address the inherent spatiotemporal variability of arid grasslands.
KW - Climate change
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Exotic species
KW - Livestock management
KW - Plant functional groups
KW - Southwestern United States
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072181982&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85072181982&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00770
DO - 10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00770
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85072181982
SN - 2351-9894
VL - 20
JO - Global Ecology and Conservation
JF - Global Ecology and Conservation
M1 - e00770
ER -