Spatial occupancy patterns and activity of arid rangeland cattle grazing small riparian pastures

The spatial occupancy patterns and activity of cattle grazing three riparian pastures was investigated in northeastern Oregon using Global Positioning System (GPS) collars logging at 1‐sec intervals. Cattle consistently selected plant communities as grazing areas that had forage in sufficient volume to meet their requirements and favored communities as resting areas that were dry and open. Cattle were stationary for more than 50% of the time in each pasture and consistently rested between dark and 04:00 hours. Interaction with stream channels was found to be 1‐2% of total occupancy time and occurred on less than 10% of channel length. Cattle were indifferent or avoided channel areas relative to their area and, when in this zone, they spent most of their time moving not resting. Cattle did not prefer the stream bank zone and spent only 2% of their time in that zone. When occupied, the stream bank zone was used as a travel corridor to gain access to water or cross the channel to access other pasture areas. These results are in contrast with the general belief that cattle are a primary occupant of the stream bank/channel area; additional research is needed to define factors influencing cattle occupancy.     

土大黄的分布与云南省滇西北高山草地植物物种多样性的关系

2009年9月,用点样法调查了云南省滇西北贡山县迪麻村色娃龙巴高山牧场的4种不同土大黄(Rumexnepalensis)覆盖率群落的空间垂直分布,并采用Shannon’s多样性指数(H)和平均数(EH)对物种和群落多样性进行了分析。结果表明,调查的草地群落里共有25种牧草资源;土大黄覆盖率与毛囊苔草(Carexinanis)和银叶委陵菜(Potentillaleuconota)覆盖率呈负相关,与拉拉藤(Galiumaparine var.echino-spermu)和中华水芹(Oenanthe sinense)覆盖率呈正相关(P0.05);中等和中上等的土大黄覆盖率群落里具有最高的物种丰富度(19、17)、物种多样性指数(2.40、2.32)和物种均衡性(0.82、0.82),其次是高等的土大黄覆盖率群落,低等的土大黄覆盖率群落里则具有最低的物种丰富度(15)和物种多样性指数(1.98)。然而,低等的土大黄覆盖率群落里具有最高的总物种密度(15.65)。这些结果表明,土大黄对高山草地植物物种多样性的影响并不明显,造成物种多样性变化的主要原因是家畜的放牧强度和频率。     

三江源草原生态系统生态服务价值的能值评价

三江源地区处于青藏高原腹地,考虑三江源地区草地生态系统的特殊性、复杂性、敏感性,及其所蕴含的巨大的生态服务价值,全面的评价该地区的生态服务价值对于维护该地区生态环境健康和未来该地区经济社会的可持续发展具有重要意义。本研究以草地综合顺序分类法为理论基础,以能值分析法为主要计算方法,选择合适的6项评估指标,对2001-2010年三江源区草原生态系统生态服务价值进行逐项评估。研究结果表明,在过去的10年中,三江源区草原生态系统生态服务价值总量从1375亿元/年上升到1780亿元/年,年际变化较大;从趋势上,以2006年为分界点,2006年后的年份,其生态服务价值总量基本保持上升趋势,且普遍高于2006年前的年份。对不同草原类型进行生态服务价值评价可以看出,多雨冻原高山草甸类生态服务价值占全部草原类型生态服务价值的比例最大,10年中皆超过99.5%,这主要与该草地类型所占的面积比例有关;各类型草地生态服务价值占总价值的比例年际变化不大;在6项指标中,释放O₂与固定CO₂的价值所占总价值比例最大,两者之和约占全部价值量的90%,而直接的草产量价值仅占全部价值量的1%左右,远远低于其他生态服务项目的价值。     

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY MODEL FOR ASSESSING DEGRADATION IN MEDITERRANEAN RANGELANDS

This paper presents an annual multidisciplinary, non‐spatial model which formalizes the relationships linking the dynamics of shrubs, herbs, soil, livestock and farmers' behaviour with possible exogenous drivers of degradation, such as weather and prices. The model does not represent a pasture–livestock system but a shrub–soil one and is applied to a rangeland in Lagadas County (Northern Greece). A sensitivity analysis of the model is also presented. It shows that livestock, in general, and factors increasing farmers' profits, in particular, are currently helping to combat shrub invasion in Lagadas while having low impacts on erosion rates. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fall Water Effects on Growing Season Soil Water Content and Plant Productivity

Understanding fall precipitation effects on rangelands could improve forage production forecasting and inform predictions of potential climate change effects. We used a rainout shelter and water addition to test effects of seasonal precipitation on soil water and annual net primary production of C₃ perennial grass, C₄ perennial grass, annual grasses, forbs, and all plants combined. Treatments were 1) drought during September−October and April−May (DD); 2) drought plus irrigation during September−October and drought during April−May (WD); 3) year-long ambient conditions (WW); and 4) ambient plus irrigation during September−October (W + W). Treatments created conditions ranking among the driest and wettest September−October periods since 1937. Fall water effects on soil water were not detectable by May at 15 cm and 30 cm. Effects persisted into July at 60 cm and 90 cm, depths below the primary root zone. With spring drought, annual net primary production was 344 kg ha⁻¹ greater when the previous fall was wet rather than dry. No differences were detected between fall water treatments when spring was wet and fall was about 184% (1 938 ± 117 kg ha⁻¹) or 391% of the median (1 903 ± 117 kg ha⁻¹). Fall water increased C₃ perennial grass when spring was also wet and had no effect under spring drought, when forage production concerns are greatest. Fall water did not affect C₄ perennial grass, and extremely wet fall conditions reduced forb production about 50%. The greatest effect of fall water was increased annual grass production. Even record high levels of fall water had minor effects on biomass, functional group composition, and soil water that were short-lived and overwhelmed by the influence of spring precipitation. Movement of fall water to deep soil by the growing season suggests plants that would most benefit from fall precipitation are those that could use it during fall (winter annuals), or deep-rooted species (shrubs).     

Effects of Fire Exclusion on Previously Fire-Managed Semiarid Savanna Ecosystem

Long-term (> 100 yr) fire exclusion is associated with numerous ecological consequences in grasslands and savannas, including transitions into shrub- or tree-dominated systems. Several studies have reported differences in woody vegetation after multiple fires among burned and unburned rangelands, but none have reported the impacts of fire exclusion after a period of fire management. We evaluated effects of fire exclusion on herbaceous and woody canopy cover and herbaceous biomass in semiarid savanna of southwest Texas in pastures with known burn histories. Pastures were burned in summer and winter in 1994, 2000, and 2006, followed by 11 yr of fire exclusion. Between 2006 and 2017, woody subcanopy increased (5–21%) in all treatments while overstory canopy remained unchanged. Herbaceous cover decreased (5–18%) in all treatments but remained higher in burned treatments. From 2006 to 2017, herbaceous biomass declined in all treatments by > 650 kg·ha⁻¹ and was not statistically different among treatments. These trends support other research demonstrating the importance of historical mean fire return interval in maintaining grasslands and savannas.     

SEVERITY OF SALINITY ACCURATELY DETECTED AND CLASSIFIED ON A PADDOCK SCALE WITH HIGH RESOLUTION MULTISPECTRAL SATELLITE IMAGERY

We hypothesised that digital mapping of various forms of salt‐affected soils using high resolution satellite imagery, supported by field studies, would be an efficient method to classify and map salinity, sodicity or both at paddock level, particularly in areas where salt‐affected patches are small and the effort to map these by field‐based soil survey methods alone would be inordinately time consuming. To test this hypothesis, QuickBird satellite data (pan‐sharpened four band multispectral imagery) was used to map various forms of surface‐expressed salinity in an agricultural area of South Australia. Ground‐truthing was performed by collecting 160 soil samples over the study area of 159 km². Unsupervised classification of the imagery covering the study area allowed differentiation of severity levels of salt‐affected soils, but these levels did not match those based on measured electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) of the soil samples, primarily because the expression of salinity was strongly influenced by paddock‐level variations in crop type, growth and prior land management. Segmentation of the whole image into 450 paddocks and unsupervised classification using a paddock‐by‐paddock approach resulted in a more accurate discrimination of salinity and sodicity levels that was correlated with EC and SAR. Image‐based classes discriminating severity levels of salt‐affected soils were significantly related with EC but not with SAR. Of the spectral bands, bands 2 (green, 520–600 nm) and 4 (near‐infrared, 760–900 nm) explained the majority of the variation (99 per cent) in the spectral values. Thus, paddock‐by‐paddock classification of QuickBird imagery has the potential to accurately delineate salinity at farm level, which will allow more informed decisions about sustainable agricultural management of soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vegetation,Wildlife, and Livestock Responses to Planned Grazing Management in an African Pastoral Landscape

Rangelands are vital for wildlife conservation and socio‐economic well‐being, but many face widespread degradation because in part of poor grazing management practices. Planned grazing management, typically involving time‐controlled rotational livestock grazing, is widely touted as a tool for promoting sustainable rangelands. However, real‐world assessments of its efficacy have been lacking in communal pastoral landscapes globally, and especially in Africa. We performed landscape‐scale assessment of the effects of planned grazing on selected vegetation, wildlife, and cattle attributes across wide‐ranging communally managed pastoral rangelands in northern Kenya. We found that planned grazing enhanced vegetation condition through a 17% increase in normalized difference vegetation index, 45–234% increases in herbaceous vegetation foliar cover, species richness and diversity, and a 70% reduction in plant basal gap. In addition, planned grazing increased the presence (44%) and species richness (53%) of wild ungulates and improved cattle weight gain (>71%) during dry periods when cattle were in relatively poor condition. These changes occurred relatively rapidly (within 5 years) and despite grazing incursion incidents and higher livestock stocking rates in planned grazing areas. These results demonstrate, for the first time in Africa, the positive effects of planned grazing implementation in communal pastoral rangelands. These improvements can have broad implications for biodiversity conservation and pastoral livelihoods. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absorption and fate of imazapyr in leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)

Imazapyr absorption, translocation, root release and metabolism were examined in leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.). Leafy spurge plants were propagated from root cuttings and [¹⁴C]imazapyr was applied to growth-chambergrown plants in a water + 28% urea ammonium nitrate + nonionic surfactant solution (98.75 + 1 + 0.25 by volume). Plants were harvested two and eight days after herbicide treatment (DAT) and divided into: treated leaf, stem and leaves above treated leaf, stem and leaves below the treated leaf, crown, root, dormant and elongated adventitious shoot buds. Imazapyr absorption increased from 62.5% 2 DAT to 80.0% 8 DAT. Herbicide translocation out of the treated leaf and accumulation in roots and adventitious shoot buds was apparent 2 DAT. By the end of the eight-day translocation period only 14% of applied ¹⁴C remained in the treated leaf, while 17% had translocated into the root system. Elongated and dormant adventitious shoot buds accumulated 3.2- and 1.8-fold more ¹⁴C, respectively, 8 DAT than did root tissue based on Bq g^?1 dry weight. Root release of ¹⁴C was evident 2 DAT, and by 8 DAT 19.4% of the ¹⁴C reaching the root system was released into the rooting medium. There was no metabolism of imazapyr in crown, root or adventitious shoot buds 2 DAT; however, imazapyr metabolism was evident in the treated leaf 2 and 8 DAT. Imazapyr phytotoxicity to leafy spurge appears to result from high imazapyr absorption, translocation to underground meristematic areas (roots and adventitious shoot buds), and a slow rate of metabolism.