The effects of fall and spring grazing by sheep on cover components and recovery following a change in seasonality of grazing practices, were studied within long-term grazing treatments of three-tip sagebrush (Artemisia tripartita) steppe, on the U.S. Sheep Experimental Station near Dubois, Idaho. Spring sheep grazing has resulted in lower perennial herb cover and balsamroot densities, and more annual herb and sagebrush cover. In contrast, the fall-grazed paddocks had less sagebrush, more perennial herb, and only moderate annual herb cover. This study area appears to have relatively low resilience following prolonged spring sheep grazing, potentially an indication that spring grazing results in a change of competitiveness among growth forms and eventually, the establishment of a new steady state. However, this finding does not preclude the possibility that these areas are continuing to improve over the long-term, and may eventually recover completely. Although exclosure to sheep grazing resulted in more floristically-balanced plant communities, exclusion following heavy spring use resulted in less recovery of perennial herb cover compared to the spring and fall range, that continued to be grazed during the fall. This may indicate that fall grazing provides an active opportunity for management to facilitate greater recovery of perennial herbaceous cover on sagebrush steppe rangeland.
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