Herbivory by both grazing and browsing ungulates shapes the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, and both types of herbivory have been implicated in major ecosystem state changes. Despite the ecological consequences of differences in diets and feeding habits among herbivores, studies that experimentally distinguish effects of grazing from spatially co-occurring, but te...

1. Competition between livestock and wild ungulates is commonly perceived to occur on shared rangelands. In the Henry Mountains (HM) of Utah, a free-ranging population of bison Bison bison has raised concerns among ranchers holding grazing permits on these public lands. Bison are the most conspicuous potential competitors with cattle, but lagomorphs (mainly jackrabbits Lepus californicus) are a...

The recent decision to continue cattle grazing in the VANP has not been uniformly welcomed. There exists significant scientific evidence detailing the environmental impact of grazing. This paper examines whether an opportunity has been missed to resolve the ongoing conflict that accompanies the continuation of grazing in the VANP. The potential of economic instruments in resolving this unique l...

Small-scale patches (locations of 50 cm × 50 cm at a feeding station level) in a bahia grass ( Paspalum notatum ) pasture under cattle grazing were investigated in terms of herbage mass, quality and utilisation during a grazing season (May–November), to characterise the quantityquality relationship of patches and relate this to spatially heterogeneous grazing by animals. Nitrogen concentration ...

Assessment of beef cow energy balance and efficiency in grazing-extensive rangelands has occurred on a nominal basis over short time intervals and has not accounted for the complexity of metabolic and digestive responses; behavioral adaptations to climatic, terrain, and vegetation variables; and documentation of the effects of nutrient form and supply to grazing cattle. Previous research using ...

INTRODUCTION We evaluated periphytic algal and microbial communities to assess the influence of human and cattle impact on Sierra water quality. METHODS 64 sites (lakes and streams from Lake Tahoe to Sequoia National Park, California) were sampled for suspended indicator bacteria and algae following standardized procedures. The potential for nonpoint pollution was divided into three categorie...

A study was conducted to determine the effect of different parasite control programs on weight gain and other measurements for stocker beef calves during the grazing season and subsequent feedlot phase of production. One hundred eighty recently weaned beef steers were purchased from a Mississippi sale barn and were allocated by restricted randomization on pretreatment weight to three treatments...

We determined if sequence of ingestion affected use of endophyte-infected tall fescue (TF) when cattle also grazed birdsfoot trefoil (BFT) or alfalfa (ALF). Based on chemical characteristics of TF (alkaloids), BFT (tannins), and ALF (saponins), we hypothesized that cattle first allowed to graze ALF or BFT would subsequently spend more time grazing TF than cattle that first grazed TF followed by...

Background Cattle are economically the most important livestock for farmers in Sweden. However, both dairy and beef production has been subjected to considerable structural change over recent decades. Currently, there are approximately 1.5 million cattle, including ≈370 000 dairy cows producing milk worth 1 m€ [1]. The trend is that the numbers of dairy cows are decreasing slowly, while beef co...

Cattle grazing tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) often develop fescue toxicosis. This condition is thought to be caused by ergot alkaloids produced by the endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum. Endophytes from wild tall fescue plants, which do not produce ergot alkaloids, were transferred into the endophyte-free tall fescue germplasm, HiMag. The novel associations also lacked the ability ...