Abstract
Open range grazing by cattle is common on heterogeneous montane landscapes in western Canada. These areas are often jointly managed for forestry, leading to concerns over forest re-establishment following clear cut harvest and cattle impacts on tree regeneration. A network of 154 field plots were used to examine cattle utilization across five coniferous cut blocks within three large pastures of SW Alberta over a 2 year period. Specific objectives were to: (1) quantify cattle presence across cut blocks under free-choice conditions; (2) identify the environmental factors responsible for observed patterns of cattle presence, including topography, distance to water, forage characteristics and slash properties; and (3) document cattle impact on conifer seedlings. Averaged over 2 years, evidence of cattle was found in 46 % of plots, primarily as herbage removal. Cattle presence across logged areas was associated with plots at lower elevations and closer to water, and to a lesser extent, those areas with greater forage biomass but lower quality. Forest surveys done 3 years after harvest indicated most tree regeneration consisted of planted lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Loudon) and naturally regenerating Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). While regeneration among plots remained below the provincial requirement of 80 % stocking, ranging from 68 to 77 % among cut blocks, this deficit was not attributed to cattle impact, as only two tree seedlings surveyed had evidence of livestock-induced damage. Finally, cattle visitation to plots was lower with taller slash in select pastures, suggesting slash may deter cattle use of some cut blocks. Overall, the results of this study support the notion that forest management and cattle grazing are compatible uses on Montane landscapes managed for multiple purposes.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this study was provided by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, the Alberta Beef Producers, the Rocky Mountain Forest Range Association, and a scholarship from the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association to J. Kaufmann. Special thanks to Craig DeMaere, Kevin France and Mike Willoughby for their role in helping initiate this project. We thank Drs. Barry Irving, Simon Landhausser and Glen Armstrong for providing helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, and are indebted to Cody Bateman for allowing us to study his cattle. Finally, we are grateful for the assistance provided by numerous field assistants, including Tianna Magis, Megan Rice, Jason McDonald and Jennifer Caudron.
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Kaufmann, J., Bork, E.W., Alexander, M.J. et al. Cattle utilization of coniferous cut blocks under open range grazing and associated impact on tree seedlings. Agroforest Syst 91, 623–635 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-016-9991-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-016-9991-2