Landscape-level impacts of livestock on the diversity of a desert grassland: preliminary results from long-term experimental studies

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  • Authors: Curtin, Charles G.
  • Publication Year: 2005
  • Publication Series: Proceedings (P)
  • Source: In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Edminster, Carleton B., comps. Connecting mountain islands and desert seas: biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago II. Proc. RMRS-P-36. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 231-236

Abstract

This work is undertaken as a portion of long-term large-scale studies developed to determine how climate and disturbance (primarily fire and grazing) interact to structure desert grasslands. The results presented here are the initial grazing portions of the study. The analysis presented here indicates that following the reintroduction of cattle to the research area in 2000 (following a decade of rest) that the abundance and diversity of vegetation and small mammals increased significantly on the treatment plots (P < 0.05), while remaining unchanged on the control plots.

  • Citation: Curtin, Charles G. 2005. Landscape-level impacts of livestock on the diversity of a desert grassland: preliminary results from long-term experimental studies. In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane G.; Edminster, Carleton B., comps. Connecting mountain islands and desert seas: biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago II. Proc. RMRS-P-36. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 231-236
  • Keywords: deserts, grasslands, impacts, livestock, grazing, fire, vegetation, mammals, diversity, abundance
  • Posted Date: June 9, 2006
  • Modified Date: August 22, 2006

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