Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Responses of Vegetation and Cattle to Various Systems of Grazing on Seeded and Native Mountain Rangelands in Eastern Utah
Author
Laycock, W. A.
Conrad, P. W.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
1981-01-01
Body

Several grazing systems were compared on the Diamond Mountain Cattle Allotment of the Ashley National Forest in Utah. The area is about 8,000 ft in elevation and receives 20-25 inches of precipitation annually. On native sagebrush-grass range, a comparison of summer-long (July-September) grazing every year, summer-long in alternate years, and 3-unit rest-rotation systems revealed no differences between systems in cover, production, or species composition of vegetation after 7 years of grazing. Average daily gains of cattle over the entire period were the same for all systems. During the period of study on this range, which was in fair to good condition and grazed at a moderate intensity, rest-rotation was not a better system than summer-long grazing. The key to this lack of difference was management. Rest-rotation systems require intensive management of water, salt, riding, etc. All units in both systems in the study had good distribution of water and salt and adequate riding to insure uniform cattle distribution. The unit grazed summer-long every year received the same degree of management and thus remained as productive as ranges under rest-rotation management. On seeded units of the allotment, heavy grazing in June in alternate years increased production on areas dominated by crested wheatgrass and smooth brome. 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)
10.2307/3898454
Additional Information
Laycock, W. A., & Conrad, P. W. (1981). Responses of vegetation and cattle to various systems of grazing on seeded and native mountain rangelands in eastern Utah. Journal of Range Management, 34(1), 52-58.
IISN
0022-409X
OAI Identifier
oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/646398
Journal Volume
34
Journal Number
1
Journal Pages
52-58
Journal Name
Journal of Range Management
Keywords
Utah