Mixed prairie grasslands of southern Canada historically had little shrub cover. However, wetlands created for the purpose of increasing waterfowl habitat have, in some situations, led to a marked expansion in woody species. This is the case on a significant portion of the University of Alberta Mattheis Research Ranch in SE Alberta, where Shepherdia argentea (thorny buffaloberry) is thought to have expanded considerably after the introduction of irrigation overflow water more than half a century ago. In order to track the spatial extent of shrub expansion coincident with water introduction, the expansion of Shepherdia argentea at the ranch was mapped using a series of archived aerial photographs from the early 1950's to 2012. Field data were collected in the summer of 2013 to assess the impact of shrub presence on grassland diversity and composition, forage production and cattle use, as well as soil properties. Ultimately, the spatial data were linked to production data to determine net changes in cattle carrying capacity due to shrub encroachment. These results have implications for identifying the risk of future shrub expansion across wetland affected landscapes, including the importance of woody control measures.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.