In the Intermountain West where summer rain is rare,
grasses normally dry out and enter dormancy early in the summer. When dormant,
grasses usually are not good feed for livestock or wildlife. Mule deer and
pronghorn seldom use dormant
grasses in their diets during fall, winter and early spring for this reason.
Elk will utilize them but nutrient content of the grasses will not meet the
nutritional requirements of elk. Controlled grazing with livestock provides a
potential method to improve both protein and energy content of grasses as
well as improving the palatability (the taste) of them for mule deer, pronghorn
and elk.
Livestock grazing in the spring when grasses are green, just as the
seed heads are forming, removes most of the plant
material. This forces the grass plants to begin again. As this regrowth
develops, soil moisture decreases with the onset of summer. If timing is
correct there is
insufficient soil moisture available to complete the growth cycle of the grass
and the plants will go into dormancy in an immature stage. This immature stage
is higher in nutrient content than if the plants were allowed to complete their
life cycle and produce seed. The lack of reproductive stems also improves the
palatability of the grasses to wild ungulates (deer, elk, antelope). This same
management strategy
can also be used to enhance the growth of desirable shrubs like bitterbrush.
The trick is to remove the livestock when sufficient soil moisture remains to
provide regrowth of the grasses or additional growth by shrubs. This system
must not be used annually, as the grasses need to be rested every other year
and allowed to complete their life cycle.
For more information about this research contact
EOARC
.
Return to EOARC Kid's Homepage
