Fay compared the effects of cattle and bison grazing, mixed with prescribed burning, on insect diversity in two grassland prairies. He found that bison-grazed plots had a higher species richness of insects than that of either cattle-grazed or ungrazed plots. The author suggests several factors that could have enhanced the results of the study; bison grazed year-round, while the cattle grazed from May to October and both treatments had different stocking rate densities. This combination resulted in a different, mosaic burn pattern in the bison-grazed area. Author states that too many variables existed in this study to accurately reflect the impacts of cattle grazing versus bison grazing.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.