Get reliable science

Large ungulate grazing is one of the most ubiquitous uses of rangelands in North America. Specifically, livestock grazing occurs across most public rangelands in the Western US.� Federal rangeland managers are tasked with managing livestock grazing and balancing livestock and wildlife uses through proper grazing management. Quantifying and managing the impacts of ungulate herbivory on western landscapes can be a multi-faceted challenge.� In the Western US unique challenges arise because wildlife are owned by states and habitats are largely managed by federal land management agencies. While federal land managers are not responsible directly for the wildlife they do have to manage for both wildlife habitats and livestock production.� By analyzing data collected from a series of large livestock and wildlife exclosures we will outline individual and combined impacts of cattle and wild ungulate grazing on structure and composition of sagebrush dominated communities, including how soil properties moderate wild ungulate-driven changes to sagebrush stand structure. Our results�will help managers untangle the complex�ungulate foraging interactions.