We evaluated the impact of packstock grazing on a dry, upper timberline meadow. Horses were picketed on 15 m ropes for different durations, months, and frequencies over 3 summers. Before horse grazing, we estimated vegetal, bare soil, litter, rock, and moss cover, measured grass and forte plant heights, counted grass and forte stems per area, and determined the percent of plants grazed. These measurements were repeated 1 growing season later. More bare ground and less litter and vegetal cover were recorded 1 year following single 8- or 18-hour grazing events. Single grazing events of 4-hour duration had no effect on cover. Decreases in vegetal cover were associated with reduced stem numbers. Eighteen hour picket durations reduced subsequent year production of grass and forte stems. We discuss the difficulties encountered in this study, including estimates of necessary sample sizes, to help in the design of future studies. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.