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Montane Meadow Plant Community Response to Livestock Grazing

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Abstract

We examined long-term (10 years) meadow plant community responses to (1) livestock grazing under riparian grazing utilization limits; (2) suspension of livestock grazing; and (3) meadow site wetness and precipitation on the Inyo National Forest, California. Observed trends in meadow plant species richness, diversity, and frequency of soil stabilizing species were not significantly different between grazed (N = 16) and non-grazed (N = 9) study sites (P > 0.12 in all cases). Modest increases in richness and diversity were observed over the study period, but frequency of soil stabilizing species was constant. These results suggest that riparian conservation grazing strategies implemented during the study period neither degraded nor hampered recovery of meadow plant community conditions relative to non-grazed conditions. Meadow site wetness was negatively correlated to richness (P < 0.01) and diversity (P < 0.01), but was positively correlated to soil stabilization (P = 0.02). Precipitation was not a significant predictor for plant community responses.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region. David Lile, D. J. Eastburn, Kristin Oles, Kevin Rice, Andrew Latimer, Anne Yost, and Anton Jackson provided valuable assistance and insights in developing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Matthew R. Freitas, Leslie M. Roche & Kenneth W. Tate

  2. United States Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Nevada City, CA, 95959, USA

    Dave Weixelman

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  1. Matthew R. Freitas
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  2. Leslie M. Roche
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  3. Dave Weixelman
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  4. Kenneth W. Tate
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Correspondence to Leslie M. Roche.

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Freitas, M.R., Roche, L.M., Weixelman, D. et al. Montane Meadow Plant Community Response to Livestock Grazing. Environmental Management 54, 301–308 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-014-0294-y

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