Rangeland managers have long measured grass height to assess biomass, utilization levels, and cover for wildlife. Growing interest in populations of ground nesting birds, like sharp-tailed grouse and greater sage-grouse, have raised interest in how livestock grazing may reduce grass height and compromise cover for grouse. We examined perennial bunchgrass height in four grazing allotments in sagebrush steppe ecosystems in Idaho to examine variation in grass height: 1) among locations and years, 2) among major grass species, and 3) whether plants were under or between shrubs. We also compared height of grasses around sage-grouse nests with respect to the fate of nests as successful or failed. The major grasses we examined were: Bottlebrush Squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), Bluebunch Wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), Crested Wheatgrass (Agropyron spciatum), Needlegrasses (Stipa and Oryzopis), and Sandberg Bluegrass (Poa secunda). We found that utilization by livestock or wildlife does indeed reduce grass height, but that the specific level of utilization is very difficult for field technicians to assign. Grass heights varied about 39% depending on site. Grasses between shrubs were 1.5 to 3 times more likely to be grazed than plants under a shrub canopy. Grasses that grew under shrub canopies were 20% taller than those that grew in between shrub canopies because they experienced less removal of height from grazing. The average heights of grasses within one meter of a sage-grouse nest were similar regardless of whether the nest was successful or not; 35.9 cm average droop height around failed nests compared to 35.1 cm around hatched nests. Results related to nest success in grazed and ungrazed areas of pastures will also be presented.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.