Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Impacts of Black-tailed Jackrabbits at Peak Population Densities on Sagebrush-Steppe Vegetation
Author
Anderson, J. E.
Shumar, M. L.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1986-03-01
Body

In the northern Great Basin, populations of black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) are cyclic, reaching high densities at approximately 10-year intervals. This project examined impacts of jackrabbits during a peak in their cycle on sagebrush-steppe vegetation in southeastern Idaho. Total vascular plant cover was significantly lower on plots open to jackrabbit herbivory than on exclosure plots, but in no case was cover of a specific species significantly reduced on open plots. The most severe impacts were on shrubs during winter; most aboveground tissues of both winterfat (Ceratoides lanata) and green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) plants were completely eaten by spring. However, these impacts were largely ameliorated by compensatory growth during the following growing season, and there was no difference in total biomass for either species between the open and protected plots by July. New growth of winterfat plants that had been browsed the previous winter was significantly greater than that of protected plants. Thus, although the cumulative effects of herbivory reduced total plant cover, no single species was irreparably impacted. Over a year, jackrabbits exert feeding pressure on nearly all of the important species in these communities; therefore, these hares do not appear to apply differential grazing pressure that would alter the course of vegetation development on northern Great Basin rangelands. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. 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

Language
en
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.2307/3899289
Additional Information
Anderson, J. E., & Shumar, M. L. (1986). Impacts of black-tailed jackrabbits at peak population densities on sagebrush-steppe vegetation. Journal of Range Management, 39(2), 152-156.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/645512
Journal Volume
39
Journal Number
2
Journal Pages
152-156
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
Lepus californicus
ground cover
population density
steppes
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
Krascheninnikovia lanata
Idaho
Lepus
plant communities
biomass
rangelands
ecology
grazing