The assessment of aboveground biomass is important for achieving rational usage pasture resources and maximizing the quantity quality milk meat production. This study presents a method fast approximation pastures’ biomass. Unlike most similar studies, which rely on unmanned aerial vehicle satellite obtained data, this focuses photos made by stationary or mobile ground-based visual spectrum came...

We tested the hypothesis that herbivores contribute to feedbacks maintaining arid ecosystems in a degraded state. We studied small mammal herbivory on a subshrub, broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), and perennial grasses at three sites: (1) ungrazed black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda) grassland; (2) grassland degraded by intense short-duration grazing; and (3) mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) c...

Comparisons of vegetation dynamics of riparian plant communities under livestock use and esclusions over a 10 year period were quantified in a Northeastern Oregon riparian zone. We measured species frequency, richness, diversity, evenness, and livestock utilization in 8 plant communities. Livestock grazed the study area from late August until mid September at a rate of 1.3 to 1.8 ha/AUM. Utiliz...

Endophytic fungi are plant symbionts living asymptomatically within plant tissues. Neotyphodium spp., which are asexual vertically transmitted systemic fungal endophytes of cool-season grasses, are predicted to be plant mutualists. These endophytes increase host plant resistance to environmental stresses and/or increase the production of alkaloid-based herbivore deterrents. The ubiquity of this...

In theMongolian steppes, livestock and burrowing rodents are the main animal modifiers of the habitat. Although grazing lands and rodent habitats overlap, the combined effects of livestock and rodent disturbance on spatial heterogeneity of plants and soil have rarely been evaluated. We established study plots at each of four sites: sites heavily grazed by livestock, with and without marmots, an...