Rangeland Ecology & Management

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CATTLE GRAZING TIME ON AND OFF PRAIRIE DOG TOWNS.
Author
Collins, Andrea
Brennan, Jameson R.
Olson, Kenneth
Kincheloe, Janna
Johnson, Patricia S.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2016
Body

Prairie dog occupation of rangelands often poses a difficult problem to land managers. Prairie dogs alter plant communities by consuming and clipping vegetation leading to changes in species composition to favor short grasses and annual forbs, and potentially reducing cattle weight gains. Previous research has looked at impacts of prairie dog colonization on cattle weight gains, and overall time spent on prairie dog colonies. Few studies have evaluated the percentage of grazing time allocated to prairie dog towns and how this is influenced by percentage of pasture occupied by prairie dog towns. A study was conducted near McLaughlin, South Dakota in a mixed grass prairie ecosystem to determine time spent grazing on prairie dog towns versus off-town. Four 202 ha pastures were fenced with varying percentages of prairie dog occupation (0%, 18%, 40%, and 75%). Pastures were stocked with yearling steers from June until October. Stocking rate was calculated to achieve 50% utilization based on a 50% reduction of forage availability on prairie dog occupied area. A subset of steers within each pasture were outfitted with Lotek 3300LR GPS collars equipped with motion sensors to aid in classifying graze versus non-graze behaviors. GPS data were loaded into an ArcGIS layer and analyzed to determine percentage of grazing time spent on prairie dog colonies versus off. Understanding cattle-prairie dog interactions, and degree to which cattle utilize prairie dog towns for grazing will aid land managers decisions to improve cattle performance on prairie dog occupied pastures.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Corpus Christi, TX