Restoring Tallgrass Prairie and Grassland Bird Populations in Tall Fescue Pastures With Winter Grazing |
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| Authors: | Tracey N. Johnson Brett K. Sandercock |
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| Affiliation: | 2. Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Division of Biology, 116 Ackert Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA;1. Assistant Professor, State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agroecosystems, School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China.;2. Associate Professor, Agriculture and Ecology Research Department, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.;3. Visiting Scholar, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.;4. Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.;1. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois as Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 USA;2. Graduate Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois as Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 USA;3. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 USA;4. Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 USA;1. Research Associate, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209, USA;2. Professor, GIS Training and Research Center, Idaho State University, Pocatello ID 83209, USA;3. Senior Computer Scientist, Office of Computational and Information Science and Technology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA;1. Professor, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Vernon, TX 76384, USA;2. Senior Research Scientist, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Vernon, TX 76384, USA;3. Graduate Research Assistant, Dept of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA;4. Professor, Dept of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.;2. Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695;3. Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706 |
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| Abstract: | Restoration of grasslands dominated by tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix [Scop.] Holub) to native tallgrass prairie usually requires burning, herbicides, or reseeding. We tested seasonal grazing by livestock in winter, combined with cessation of fertilization, as a restoration tool for modifying the competitive dynamics among herbaceous plants to restore tallgrass prairie communities in southeastern Kansas. In 2004–2005, we compared responses of grassland plants and birds across a chronosequence of pastures that were winter-grazed from 1 yr to 5 yr. We compared winter-grazed pastures to pastures grazed year-round and to local native prairie remnants as starting and endpoints for restoration, respectively. Abundance of native warm-season grasses increased from 2% to 3% mean relative frequency in pastures grazed year-round to 18% to 30% in winter-grazed pastures, and increased with duration of winter-grazing. Native warm-season grasses accounted for 1–6% of total live aboveground biomass in pastures grazed year-round, 1–34% in winter-grazed pastures, and 31–34% in native prairie remnants. Tall fescue abundance and biomass were similar among grazing treatments, with a trend for tall fescue to be less dominant in winter-grazed pastures. Tall fescue made up 9–40% of total aboveground biomass in year-round grazed pastures and 10–25% in winter-grazed pastures. Grassland birds showed variable responses to winter-grazing. Dickcissels (Spiza americana) and Henslow’s sparrows (Ammodramus henslowii) were more abundant in winter-grazed pastures, whereas eastern meadowlarks (Sturnella magna) and grasshopper sparrows (A. savannarum) had similar abundance in pastures grazed year-round and during winter. Winter-grazing of pastures dominated by tall fescue combined with suspension of nitrogen fertilization could be an effective restoration technique that allows use of prairie rangeland while improving habitat for sensitive grassland birds. |
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