Rangeland Ecology & Management

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MANAGING ANIMAL SELECTIVITY TO ENHANCE BIODIVERSITY IN CALIFORNIA';S MEDITERRANEAN GRASSLANDS
Author
Huntsinger, Lynn
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

The selectivity of grazing animals distinguishes grazing as a vegetation management process from other tools such as prescribed burning and mowing.� Selective grazing has been presented as a problem in rangeland science since its inception, however, managers have gradually begun turning to taking advantage of selectivity rather than using grazing systems and other methods to suppress it. In California�s annual grasslands, it is achieving widespread use on annual grasslands for creating within-year changes in annual grassland structure and composition, as well as driving long term changes in the grassland and woody vegetation.� Temporal and spatial scale of vegetation management goals are critical to managing animal selection.� Within-year grazing generated changes in habitat have been quite successful, including managing for vernal pools, a variety of endangered and rare species, and pollinators.� Carry-over effects are far less certain, including native grass restoration and persisting control of pest species.� Discovering the links between highly heterogeneous abiotic factors and biotic factors like herbivory at appropriate scale is critical to these efforts. Researchers in other parts of the world report similar results, although the supplantation of California�s native grasslands by non-native annuals also has an important role.� Can the fundamental principles of managing selectivity be apply in other ecosystems?� In Nevada, with the widespread invasion of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) managers have already begun using related techniques to manage the annual non-native grass.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV