Grazing Return following Sagebrush Control in Eastern Oregon

Cattle in Eastern Oregon

Postfire Succession in Big Sagebrush Steppe With Livestock Grazing

Prescribed fire in rangeland ecosystems is applied for a variety of management objectives, including enhancing productivity of forage species for domestic livestock. In the big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) steppe of the western United States, fire has been a natural and prescribed disturbance, temporarily shifting vegetation from shrub–grass codominance to grass dominance. There is li...

Cattle Grazing Effects on Macroinvertebrates in an Oregon Mountain Stream

Cattle grazing effects on aquatic macroinvertebrates were assessed in a 4-year experiment of a mountain stream in northeastern Oregon. From 1996 through 1999, 10 cow–calf pairs were introduced into 6 experimental units along the stream for 42 days between July and September, and effects on aquatic macroinvertebrates were compared with 3 units in which no grazing occurred. Streambank and geomorp...

Potential Alternative Crops for Eastern Oregon

The winter wheat/summer fallow rotation is the most common cropping system in eastern Oregon. It is used to store winter precipitation and control weeds. This cropping system, however, destroys soil organic carbon, reduces water infiltration and thus leads to soil erosion, and is not sustainable. Conservation tillage, annual cropping, and the introduction of alternative crops are ways to improv...

Are there benefits to mowing Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities? An evaluation in southeastern Oregon.

Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) communities frequently are mowed in an attempt to increase perennial herbaceous vegetation. However, there is limited information as to whether expected benefits of mowing are realized when applied to Wyoming big sagebrush communities with intact understory vegetation. We compared vegetation and soil nutrient concentr...