- Email: [email protected]
Browsing the Literature
By Jeff Mosley
Browsing the Literature This section reviews new publications available about the art and science of rangeland management. Personal copies of these publications can be obtained by contacting the respective publishers or senior authors (addresses shown in parentheses). Suggestions are welcomed and encouraged for items to include in future issues of Browsing the Literature. Contact Jeff Mosley, [email protected].
Animal Ecology
A multiscale assessment of tree avoidance by prairie birds. S. J. Thompson, T. W. Arnold, and C. L. Amundson. 2014. Condor 116:303–315. (Dept of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Univ of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.) “Our results suggest that reducing shrub and tree cover is more likely to increase the density of grassland birds than are attempts to improve grass quality or quantity.” Effects of wind energy development on nesting ecology of greater prairie-chickens in fragmented grasslands. L. B. McNew, L. M. Hunt, A. J. Gregory, S. M. Wisely, and B. K. Sandercock. 2014. Conservation Biology 28:1089–1099. (Dept of Animal and Range Sciences, Montana State Univ, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.) Nest site selection and nest site survival of greater prairie-chickens was unaffected by wind energy development in north-central Kansas. Habitat selection by juvenile black-capped vireos following independence from parental care. E. M. Dittmar, D. A. Cimprich, J. H. Sperry, and P. J. Weatherhead. 2014. Journal of Wildlife Management 78:1005–1011. (Dept of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Univ of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.) In central Texas, juvenile black-capped vireos, an endangered songbird, preferred sites with dense foliage and abundant arthropods. Landscape alterations influence differential habitat use of nesting buteos and ravens within sagebrush ecosystems: implications for transmission line development. P. S. Coates, K. B. Howe, M. L. Casazza, and D. J. Delehanty. 2014. Condor 116:341–356. (US Geological Survey, 800 Business Park Dr, Suite D, Dixon, CA 95620, USA.) Ravens were favored and ferruginous hawks were disfavored by the loss of continuous stands of sagebrush in southeastern Idaho. Red-tailed hawks and Swainson’s hawks were unaffected. No evidence of displacement due to wind turbines in breeding grassland songbirds. A. M. Hale, E. S. Hatchett, J. A. Meyer, and V. J. Bennett. 2014. Condor 116:472–482. (Dept of Biology, Texas Christian Univ, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA.) Dickcissels, eastern meadowlarks, and grasshopper sparrows were not displaced within 0.3 miles to 0.5 miles of wind turbines in north-central Texas. Wild turkey nest survival and nest-site selection in the presence of growing-season prescribed fire. E. L. Kilburg, C. E. Moorman, C. S. Deperno, D. Cobb, and C. A. Harper. 2014. Journal of Wildlife Management 78:1033–1039. (Dept of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conserva-
46
Rangelands
tion Biology, North Carolina State Univ, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.) Growing-season burns have minimal effects on nest survival of wild turkeys; therefore a combination of dormantand growing-season burns may increase nesting cover in uplands while maintaining open stand conditions.
Norman, M. Villarreal, H. R. Pulliam, R. Minckley, L. Glass, C. Tolle, and M. Coe. 2014. Ecological Engineering 70:241– 254. (US Geological Survey, 520 N Park Ave, Suite 102K, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.) Installation of gabions (i.e., wire baskets filled with rocks used as dams) enabled riparian plant cover and diversity to increase in southern Arizona cienagas.
Grazing Management
Water use of Juniperus virginiana trees encroached into mesic prairies in Oklahoma, USA. G. L. Caterina, R. E. Will, D. J. Turton, D. S. Wilson, and C. B. Zou. 2014. Ecohydrology 7:1124–1134. (R. Will, Dept of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State Univ, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.) Encroachment by eastern redcedar can reduce water yield for streamflow and groundwater recharge. Daily water use per tree averaged 6.3 gallons.
If one plant toxin is harmful to livestock, what about two? K. D. Welch, B. T. Green, K. E. Panter, D. R. Gardner, J. A. Pfister, and D. Cook. 2014. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 62:7363–7369. (US Dept of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, 1150 E 1400 North, Logan, UT 84341, USA.) “Therefore, when chemical analyses are performed on larkspur plants to assess their toxic potential, the concentration of both the MSAL- and MDL-type alkaloids should be determined, with more weight given to the effect of the MSAL-type alkaloids.” Montane meadow plant community response to livestock grazing. M. R. Freitas, L. M. Roche, D. Weixelman, and K. W. Tate. 2014. Environmental Management 54:301– 308. (L. Roche, Dept of Plant Sciences, Univ of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.) Cattle grazing managed with forage utilization guidelines on the Inyo National Forest in California did not degrade or hamper recovery of mountain meadow plant communities. Recent drought phase in a 73-year record at two spatial scales: implications for livestock production on rangelands in the southwestern United States. M. P. McClaran and H. Wei. 2014. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 197:40–51. (School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Univ of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.) Weather in southern Arizona since 1996 has been drier, warmer, and spatially more variable than the previous 56 years, creating pasture-sized patches (approximately 550 acres to 5,500 acres) of drought conditions even in years when ranch-scale (approximately 55,500 acres) weather and forage conditions were near average. Future drought monitoring and adaptive grazing management need to be applied at pasture-sized scales to avoid excessive livestock grazing within drought-affected patches of the landscape. Sheep vegetation management for controlling competing vegetation in young conifer plantations in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada. R. Serra, C. Opio, and D. P. Khasa. 2014. Agroforestry Systems 88:569–578. (Dept of Forest Sciences, Univ of Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada.) Hybrid spruce trees grew taller when competing vegetation was suppressed with targeted sheep grazing and browsing.
Hydrology/Riparian
Remote sensing analysis of riparian vegetation response to desert marsh restoration in the Mexican Highlands. L. December 2014
Plant Ecology
Functional response of U.S. grasslands to the early 21st-century drought. M. S. Moran, G. E. Ponce-Campos, A. Huete, M. P. McClaran, Y. Zhang, E. P. Hamerlynck, D. J. Augustine, S. A. Gunter, S. G. Kitchen, D. P. C. Peters, P. J. Starks, and M. Hernandez. 2014. Ecology 95:2121–2133. (US Dept of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, 2000 E Allen Rd, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.) Productivity rebounded the first year after drought in plains grasslands, but recovery required 2 years to 5 years in desert grasslands. Plant community composition in plains grasslands was largely unaffected by the early 21st-century drought, whereas native grasses were replaced by exotic grasses and forbs in desert grasslands. Seasonal not annual rainfall determines grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. M. J. Hovenden, P. C. D. Newton, and K. E. Wills. 2014. Nature 511:583–586. (School of Biological Sciences, Univ of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.) The stimulatory effect of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide on temperate grassland productivity is accentuated by rainfall whenever water limits plant growth (e.g., summer.) However, high rainfall during spring or autumn leads to nitrogen limitation which, in turn, suppresses the stimulatory effect of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations.
Rehabilitation/Restoration
Attempting to restore herbaceous understories in Wyoming big sagebrush communities with mowing and seeding. K. W. Davies and J. D. Bates. 2014. Restoration Ecology 22:608–615. (US Dept of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, 67826-A Hwy 205, Burns, OR 97720, USA.) In southeastern Oregon, mowing followed by drill-seeding increased perennial bunchgrass density, but canopy cover and density of exotic annuals also increased and soil biological crusts were reduced.
47
Biology and host specificity of Rhinusa pilosa, a recommended biological control agent of Linaria vulgaris. A. Gassman, R. De Clerck-Floate, S. Sing, I. Tosevski, M. Mitrovic, and O. Krstic. 2014. Biocontrol 59:473–483. (S. Sing, US Forest Service, 1648 South 7th Ave, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.) Release of Rhinusa pilosa, a shoot-galling weevil, to suppress the invasive perennial forb yellow toadflax is expected to present minimal risks to native flora of North America. Ecological consequences of shifting the timing of burning tallgrass prairie. E. G. Towne and J. M. Craine. 2014. PLOS ONE 9(7):e103423; doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0103423; 10 p. (Division of Biology, Kansas State Univ, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.) In the Kansas Flint Hills, total grass production did not differ on ungrazed watersheds burned annually in autumn, winter, or spring; therefore, incorporating autumn and winter burns into tallgrass prairie management can help reduce air quality issues caused by en masse burning during late spring. Grassland fires may favor native over introduced plants by reducing pathogen loads. B. A. Roy, K. Hudson, M. Visser, and B. R. Johnson. 2014. Ecology 95:1897–1906. (Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Univ of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.) In western Oregon, prescribed fire in autumn suppressed spikelet production of the introduced annual grass soft brome but it did not suppress spikelet production by the native perennial California oatgrass or the introduced perennial grass tall fescue. Plant recruitment and soil microbial characteristics of rehabilitation seedings following wildfire in northern Utah. M. M. Taylor, A. Hild, N. L. Shaw, U. Norton, and
48
T. R. Collier. 2014. Restoration Ecology 22:598–607. (A. Hild, Dept of Ecosystem Science and Management, Univ of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.) Following wildfire in Wyoming big sagebrush steppe, all seeded treatments reduced exotic plant biomass (halogeton, Russian thistle, and cheatgrass) by at least 90% relative to unseeded areas. Public acceptance of wildland fire and fuel management: panel responses in seven locations. E. Toman, B. Shindler, S. McCaffrey, and J. Bennett. 2014. Environmental Management 54:557–570. (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State Univ, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.) Residents of communities adjacent to federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin had confidence in resource managers and believed that fuel management treatments would produce positive outcomes. Seeding ecology and restoration of blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) in the Mojave Desert, United States. L. C. Jones, S. Schwinning, and T. C. Esque. 2014. Restoration Ecology 22:692–700. (S. Schwinning, Dept of Biology, Texas State Univ, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA.) Encapsulating blackbrush seeds in predation-deterring “seed balls” did not enhance seedling establishment. Jeff Mosley is Professor of Range Science and Extension Range Management Specialist, Dept of Animal and Range Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. Rangelands 36(6):46–48 DOI: 10.2111/Rangelands-D-14-00057.1 © 2014 The Society for Range Management
Rangelands
Browsing the Literature This section reviews new publications available about the art and science of rangeland management. Personal copies of these publications can be obtained by contacting the respective publishers or senior authors (addresses shown in parentheses). Suggestions are welcomed and encouraged for items to include in future issues of Browsing the Literature. Contact Jeff Mosley, [email protected].
Animal Ecology
A multiscale assessment of tree avoidance by prairie birds. S. J. Thompson, T. W. Arnold, and C. L. Amundson. 2014. Condor 116:303–315. (Dept of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Univ of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.) “Our results suggest that reducing shrub and tree cover is more likely to increase the density of grassland birds than are attempts to improve grass quality or quantity.” Effects of wind energy development on nesting ecology of greater prairie-chickens in fragmented grasslands. L. B. McNew, L. M. Hunt, A. J. Gregory, S. M. Wisely, and B. K. Sandercock. 2014. Conservation Biology 28:1089–1099. (Dept of Animal and Range Sciences, Montana State Univ, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.) Nest site selection and nest site survival of greater prairie-chickens was unaffected by wind energy development in north-central Kansas. Habitat selection by juvenile black-capped vireos following independence from parental care. E. M. Dittmar, D. A. Cimprich, J. H. Sperry, and P. J. Weatherhead. 2014. Journal of Wildlife Management 78:1005–1011. (Dept of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Univ of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.) In central Texas, juvenile black-capped vireos, an endangered songbird, preferred sites with dense foliage and abundant arthropods. Landscape alterations influence differential habitat use of nesting buteos and ravens within sagebrush ecosystems: implications for transmission line development. P. S. Coates, K. B. Howe, M. L. Casazza, and D. J. Delehanty. 2014. Condor 116:341–356. (US Geological Survey, 800 Business Park Dr, Suite D, Dixon, CA 95620, USA.) Ravens were favored and ferruginous hawks were disfavored by the loss of continuous stands of sagebrush in southeastern Idaho. Red-tailed hawks and Swainson’s hawks were unaffected. No evidence of displacement due to wind turbines in breeding grassland songbirds. A. M. Hale, E. S. Hatchett, J. A. Meyer, and V. J. Bennett. 2014. Condor 116:472–482. (Dept of Biology, Texas Christian Univ, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA.) Dickcissels, eastern meadowlarks, and grasshopper sparrows were not displaced within 0.3 miles to 0.5 miles of wind turbines in north-central Texas. Wild turkey nest survival and nest-site selection in the presence of growing-season prescribed fire. E. L. Kilburg, C. E. Moorman, C. S. Deperno, D. Cobb, and C. A. Harper. 2014. Journal of Wildlife Management 78:1033–1039. (Dept of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conserva-
46
Rangelands
tion Biology, North Carolina State Univ, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.) Growing-season burns have minimal effects on nest survival of wild turkeys; therefore a combination of dormantand growing-season burns may increase nesting cover in uplands while maintaining open stand conditions.
Norman, M. Villarreal, H. R. Pulliam, R. Minckley, L. Glass, C. Tolle, and M. Coe. 2014. Ecological Engineering 70:241– 254. (US Geological Survey, 520 N Park Ave, Suite 102K, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.) Installation of gabions (i.e., wire baskets filled with rocks used as dams) enabled riparian plant cover and diversity to increase in southern Arizona cienagas.
Grazing Management
Water use of Juniperus virginiana trees encroached into mesic prairies in Oklahoma, USA. G. L. Caterina, R. E. Will, D. J. Turton, D. S. Wilson, and C. B. Zou. 2014. Ecohydrology 7:1124–1134. (R. Will, Dept of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State Univ, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.) Encroachment by eastern redcedar can reduce water yield for streamflow and groundwater recharge. Daily water use per tree averaged 6.3 gallons.
If one plant toxin is harmful to livestock, what about two? K. D. Welch, B. T. Green, K. E. Panter, D. R. Gardner, J. A. Pfister, and D. Cook. 2014. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 62:7363–7369. (US Dept of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, 1150 E 1400 North, Logan, UT 84341, USA.) “Therefore, when chemical analyses are performed on larkspur plants to assess their toxic potential, the concentration of both the MSAL- and MDL-type alkaloids should be determined, with more weight given to the effect of the MSAL-type alkaloids.” Montane meadow plant community response to livestock grazing. M. R. Freitas, L. M. Roche, D. Weixelman, and K. W. Tate. 2014. Environmental Management 54:301– 308. (L. Roche, Dept of Plant Sciences, Univ of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.) Cattle grazing managed with forage utilization guidelines on the Inyo National Forest in California did not degrade or hamper recovery of mountain meadow plant communities. Recent drought phase in a 73-year record at two spatial scales: implications for livestock production on rangelands in the southwestern United States. M. P. McClaran and H. Wei. 2014. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 197:40–51. (School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Univ of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.) Weather in southern Arizona since 1996 has been drier, warmer, and spatially more variable than the previous 56 years, creating pasture-sized patches (approximately 550 acres to 5,500 acres) of drought conditions even in years when ranch-scale (approximately 55,500 acres) weather and forage conditions were near average. Future drought monitoring and adaptive grazing management need to be applied at pasture-sized scales to avoid excessive livestock grazing within drought-affected patches of the landscape. Sheep vegetation management for controlling competing vegetation in young conifer plantations in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada. R. Serra, C. Opio, and D. P. Khasa. 2014. Agroforestry Systems 88:569–578. (Dept of Forest Sciences, Univ of Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada.) Hybrid spruce trees grew taller when competing vegetation was suppressed with targeted sheep grazing and browsing.
Hydrology/Riparian
Remote sensing analysis of riparian vegetation response to desert marsh restoration in the Mexican Highlands. L. December 2014
Plant Ecology
Functional response of U.S. grasslands to the early 21st-century drought. M. S. Moran, G. E. Ponce-Campos, A. Huete, M. P. McClaran, Y. Zhang, E. P. Hamerlynck, D. J. Augustine, S. A. Gunter, S. G. Kitchen, D. P. C. Peters, P. J. Starks, and M. Hernandez. 2014. Ecology 95:2121–2133. (US Dept of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, 2000 E Allen Rd, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.) Productivity rebounded the first year after drought in plains grasslands, but recovery required 2 years to 5 years in desert grasslands. Plant community composition in plains grasslands was largely unaffected by the early 21st-century drought, whereas native grasses were replaced by exotic grasses and forbs in desert grasslands. Seasonal not annual rainfall determines grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. M. J. Hovenden, P. C. D. Newton, and K. E. Wills. 2014. Nature 511:583–586. (School of Biological Sciences, Univ of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.) The stimulatory effect of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide on temperate grassland productivity is accentuated by rainfall whenever water limits plant growth (e.g., summer.) However, high rainfall during spring or autumn leads to nitrogen limitation which, in turn, suppresses the stimulatory effect of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations.
Rehabilitation/Restoration
Attempting to restore herbaceous understories in Wyoming big sagebrush communities with mowing and seeding. K. W. Davies and J. D. Bates. 2014. Restoration Ecology 22:608–615. (US Dept of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, 67826-A Hwy 205, Burns, OR 97720, USA.) In southeastern Oregon, mowing followed by drill-seeding increased perennial bunchgrass density, but canopy cover and density of exotic annuals also increased and soil biological crusts were reduced.
47
Biology and host specificity of Rhinusa pilosa, a recommended biological control agent of Linaria vulgaris. A. Gassman, R. De Clerck-Floate, S. Sing, I. Tosevski, M. Mitrovic, and O. Krstic. 2014. Biocontrol 59:473–483. (S. Sing, US Forest Service, 1648 South 7th Ave, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA.) Release of Rhinusa pilosa, a shoot-galling weevil, to suppress the invasive perennial forb yellow toadflax is expected to present minimal risks to native flora of North America. Ecological consequences of shifting the timing of burning tallgrass prairie. E. G. Towne and J. M. Craine. 2014. PLOS ONE 9(7):e103423; doi:10.1371/journal. pone.0103423; 10 p. (Division of Biology, Kansas State Univ, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.) In the Kansas Flint Hills, total grass production did not differ on ungrazed watersheds burned annually in autumn, winter, or spring; therefore, incorporating autumn and winter burns into tallgrass prairie management can help reduce air quality issues caused by en masse burning during late spring. Grassland fires may favor native over introduced plants by reducing pathogen loads. B. A. Roy, K. Hudson, M. Visser, and B. R. Johnson. 2014. Ecology 95:1897–1906. (Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Univ of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.) In western Oregon, prescribed fire in autumn suppressed spikelet production of the introduced annual grass soft brome but it did not suppress spikelet production by the native perennial California oatgrass or the introduced perennial grass tall fescue. Plant recruitment and soil microbial characteristics of rehabilitation seedings following wildfire in northern Utah. M. M. Taylor, A. Hild, N. L. Shaw, U. Norton, and
48
T. R. Collier. 2014. Restoration Ecology 22:598–607. (A. Hild, Dept of Ecosystem Science and Management, Univ of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA.) Following wildfire in Wyoming big sagebrush steppe, all seeded treatments reduced exotic plant biomass (halogeton, Russian thistle, and cheatgrass) by at least 90% relative to unseeded areas. Public acceptance of wildland fire and fuel management: panel responses in seven locations. E. Toman, B. Shindler, S. McCaffrey, and J. Bennett. 2014. Environmental Management 54:557–570. (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State Univ, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.) Residents of communities adjacent to federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin had confidence in resource managers and believed that fuel management treatments would produce positive outcomes. Seeding ecology and restoration of blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) in the Mojave Desert, United States. L. C. Jones, S. Schwinning, and T. C. Esque. 2014. Restoration Ecology 22:692–700. (S. Schwinning, Dept of Biology, Texas State Univ, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA.) Encapsulating blackbrush seeds in predation-deterring “seed balls” did not enhance seedling establishment. Jeff Mosley is Professor of Range Science and Extension Range Management Specialist, Dept of Animal and Range Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA. Rangelands 36(6):46–48 DOI: 10.2111/Rangelands-D-14-00057.1 © 2014 The Society for Range Management
Rangelands