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ABOUT THE COLLECTIONS

Welcome to the Rangeland Ecology & Management archives. The journal Rangeland Ecology & Management (RE&M; v58, 2005-present) is the successor to the Journal of Range Management (JRM; v. 1-57, 1948-2004.) The archives provide public access, in a "rolling window" agreement with the Society for Range Management, to both titles (JRM and RE&M), from v.1 up to five years from the present year.

The most recent years of RE&M are available through membership in the Society for Range Management (SRM). Membership in SRM is a means to access current information and dialogue on rangeland management.

Your institution may also have access to current issues through library or institutional subscriptions.

Print ISSN: 0022-409x

Online ISSN: 1550-7424

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Recent Submissions

  • Vegetation Response on Allotments Grazed Under Rest-Rotation Management

    Eckert, R. H.; Spencer, J. S. (Society for Range Management, 1986-03-01)
    The effects of grazing management systems on plant communities in the Great Basin are largely unknown. This study is a quantitative description of the response of vegetation from 1973 to 1983 on the Goldbanks and Pueblo Mountain cattle allotments in northern Nevada managed under a 3-pasture rest-rotation grazing system. Shrub canopy cover, basal-area cover of herbaceous species, and frequency of occurrence of all species were used to estimate change in vegetation characteristics on macroplots representing 9 community types. Forage use was heavy in all years and averaged 65% in June, 75% in July and August, and 80% in October. Sandberg bluegrass [Poa sandbergii Vasey] and sagebrush [Artemisia spp. L.] were the most responsive species. Long-term increases or decreases in frequency and cover of desirable grasses were found on very few sites. Perennial forbs increased on a number of sites. Short-term changes in frequency and cover of Sandberg bluegrass and in frequency of sagebrush seedlings and young plants were attributed to a sequence of dry and wet years and to level of competition from herbaceous species. Frequency data indicated more significant changes in species composition than did cover data. The management system, forage utilization levels imposed, and climatic conditions present maintained prestudy range condition throughout the study on most sites at Pueblo Mountain. An increase in frequency and cover of Wyoming big sagebrush [A. tridentata wyomingensis Beetle] and a decrease in the cover of desirable grasses at Goldbanks suggest a downward trend in range condition on some sites where either Thurber needlegrass [Stipa thurberiana Piper] or bluebunch wheatgrass [Agropyron spicatum (Pursh) Scribn. & Smith] is the potential dominant grass.
  • Technical Notes: Reference Unit-based Estimates of Winterfat Browse Weights

    Cabral, D. R.; West, N. E. (Society for Range Management, 1986-03-01)
    Precise and accurate plant weight data are important to range managers, but difficult and expensive to obtain. Indirect and nondestructive estimates are especially desirable where vegetation is sparse and slow-growing on permanent plots. A new indirect, nondestructive approach developed in Australia, the reference unit method, was quantitatively related to clipped weights of winterfat (Ceratoides lanata) browse in Curlew Valley, Utah. The reference unit method was quite precise, accurate, and efficient in predicting browse weights even though size and form of the shrubs differed greatly. The only major disadvantage was mental fatigue created by the requirement of greater sustained concentration.
  • Sulfur or Sulfur Plus Nitrogen Increases Beef Production on California Annual Range

    Wolters, G. L.; Eberlein, G. P. (Society for Range Management, 1986-03-01)
    A 6-year study was conducted to evaluate the response of California annual range to triennial applications of sulfur only and sulfur plus nitrogen fertilizer. Range response was evaluated in terms of length of the green season, steer weight gain, total beef production and steer days of grazing/ha. Neither fertilization treatment consistently lengthened the green season nor influenced steer weight gain compared to nonfertilized range. Steer days of grazing and total beef production/ha were greatest on sulfur plus nitrogen-treated range, intermediate on sulfur only-fertilized range and least on nonfertilized range. Sulfur only-fertilized range increased beef production about 60 kg/ha compared to nonfertilized range, and range fertilized with sulfur plus nitrogen increased beef production nearly 50 kg/ha more than sulfur only-fertilized range.
  • Small Mammals in Modified Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands, New Mexico

    Severson, K. E. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    The effects of pinyon (Pinus edulis)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) treatments on rodent abundance, 13 to 18 years after treatment, were studied in southwestern New Mexico from 1981 to 1983. Treatments included bulldozing, bulldozing/piling/burning, thinning, and untreated woodland. The area had not been grazed by livestock since time of treatment but was subjected to light and irregular use by wild ungulates. Total rodent numbers were significantly greater (P is greater than or equal to 0.05) on all treated areas compared to untreated woodlands but individual species and groups responded differently. Woodrats (Neotoma spp.) and brush mice (Peromyscus boylii) increased in abundance as slash accumulations increased, regardless of condition of overstory. Pinyon mice (P. truei) and rock mice (P. difficilus) numbers were also greater where slash was present, but only if the pinyon-juniper overstory was relatively intact. Grassland rodents, as a group, were more abundant on areas where the pinyon-juniper overstory and slash had been removed (bulldozed and bulldozed/piled/burned), but reduced numbers on bulldozed plots where slash was left suggested slash accumulations may have detrimental effects on numbers of these species. Treatments did not influence number of different rodent species. Data indicate that numbers of individuals and proportions of rodent species can be affected by manipulation of pinyon-juniper overstory and method of slash disposal.
  • Seasonal and Annual Changes in Biomass Nitrogen and Carbon of Mesquite and Palo Verde Ecosystems

    Barth, R. C.; Klemmedson, J. O. (Society for Range Management, 1986-03-01)
    Biomass components of mesquite (Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC) and palo verde (Cercidium floridum (Benth)) soil-plant systems were collected during spring, winter, and fall for 3 years to study the temporal distribution of the mass of understory vegetation and litter and the dynamics of nitrogen and carbon in all biomass components. Mass of palo verde litter changed seasonally while that of mesquite did not change. With exception of mesquite litter, mass of understory vegetation and litter did not change annually for either shrub. Seasonal and annual changes were observed in both N and C of selected shrub, understory, and litter components, but these changes were more prevalent in mesquite than palo verde. Seasonal changes appeared primarily related to N and C demand in regions of rapid growth. Annual changes appear related to weather phenomena which regulate decomposition, uptake, and growth.
  • Rumen Digestive Capability of Zebu Steers in Wet and Dry Seasons

    Hansen, R. M. (Society for Range Management, 1986-03-01)
    Most authors have suggested that the rumen's capability to digest foodstuff is influenced by the conditions resulting from microbial populations which are regulated by composition of the diets. Presumably the greatest ecological differences within the rumens of cattle grazing tropical semiarid range plants would be during wet and dry seasons. Rumen dry matter digestion indexes were determined by the nylon bag technique during wet and dry seasons for 4 different plant materials at the National Range Research Station near Kiboko, Kenya. The rumen digestive capability of 3 Zebu steers was not different between wet and dry seasons when these rumen fistulates selected their own foods from natural range vegetation.
  • Responses of Vegetation and Ground Cover to Spraying a High Elevation, Big Sagebrush Watershed with 2,4-D

    Sturges, D. L. (Society for Range Management, 1986-03-01)
    Total production of aboveground biomass on a 238-ha watershed was not affected when big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) was controlled by aerial application of 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid). Grass production increased in the 5 years following treatment, but forb production was not affected by treatment because forbs were in an early phenological stage when sprayed. Five years after treatment, there was a 37% decrease in bare ground, and a 29% and 61% increase in litter and grass cover, respectively, on the treated watershed compared to an adjacent untreated watershed.
  • Renovation of Seeded Warm-season Pastures with Atrazine

    Dill, T. O.; Waller, S. S.; Vogel, K. P.; Gates, R. N.; Stroup, W. W. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    Numerous warm-season pastures have been established in the last 30 years in the central Great Plains. Some of these pastures are old enough to verify that they can be abused by overgrazing as easily as native tallgrass prairies. Overgrazed warm-season pastures are invaded and dominated by cool-season grasses such as smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), which diminishes the pasture productivity during the hot summer months. Since established warm-season grasses have greater tolerance to the herbicide atrazine than cool-season grasses, the effectiveness of atrazine applications in renovating invaded warm-season pastures was evaluated. A single, early spring application of atrazine (3.3 kg/ha) killed or sufficiently suppressed the cool-season grasses so that surviving warm-season remnants were able to effectively re-establish the warm-season pasture in a single growing season without any loss in total pasture forage production. Lower rates of atrazine were not as effective, particularly if smooth brome was the primary cool-season grass. The single atrazine application cost was approximately 25% of the seed cost associated with more conventional renovation. Pastures should not be grazed the treatment year but can be hayed at the end of the growing season. The success of the practice is dependent on the presence of warm-season grass remnants. Spraying test strips in small fenced areas would be advisable before treating entire pastures.
  • Relationships of the Error Associated with Ocular Estimation and Actual Total Cover

    Hatton, T. J.; West, N. E.; Johnson, P. S. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    The relationship between the error associated with the ocular estimation of cover and the magnitude of actual cover was examined by estimation of artificially constructed images of known cover under laboratory conditions. Estimation error varied with actual cover in a manner suggesting that cover classes should be relatively narrow at the extremes of actual cover.
  • Relationships among Soluble Phenolics, Insoluble Proanthocyanidins and Fiber in East African Browse Species

    Reed, J. D. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    Tannins and other phenolics interfere with the interpretation of results from the detergent system of forage analysis. Leaves and apices from browse can contain up to 50% of their organic matter as phenolics including tannins that are soluble in aqueous acetone. Leaves and apices from browse that contain soluble proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins) also contain proanthocyanidins that are insoluble in both aqueous acetone and neutral-detergent. The content of insoluble proanthocyanidins is positively correlated with neutral-detergent fiber (NDF) and fiber-bound nitrogen. Condensed tannins may bind protein and make it less soluble in neutral-detergent and increase the content of NDF. The behavior of phenolics and tannins in the detergent system of forage analysis is discussed in relationship to estimating the nutritive value of 17 East African browse species.
  • Population Dynamics of Seeded Species on Northeast Washington Semiarid Sites, 1948-1983

    Harris, G. A.; Dobrowolski, J. P. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    Fifty-one graminoid and 10 forb taxa commonly used in range seedings were planted at 3 semiarid northeast Washington sites, spring and fall seasons, in monospecific stands, on 5.5 m by 1.3 m plots, 1948 to 1951. Population dynamics and clipped yields were observed at irregular intervals from 1952 to 1983. Ten graminoid, but no forb, taxa are recommended for range seeding. Grass species differ markedly in fitness for the sites, as demonstrated in success of passing through the environmental sieve, recruiting posterity, and long-term survival. Species interactions were site specific, demonstrating characteristic and complex demographic schedules at each site. Hard fescue was the most aggressive competitor, progressively replacing many of the others at all sites. Crested wheatgrass taxa provided the highest yields. Species mixtures which developed were unstable in the long term (30 years), and are not recommended in seeding practice.
  • Phytosociological Observations on the Vegetation of Burnt and Unburnt Areas Near Ibadan, Nigeria

    Sharma, B. M. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    The area of study has a topography mainly of plains with occasional hills and is characterized by comparatively higher pH and conductivity on burnt sites. The weed communities existing on the unburnt sites were Axonopus-Eupatorium-Centrosema Community during the dry season (November to March) and Axonopus-Eupatorium-Commelina Community during the wet season (April to October). However, on the burnt sites, Imperata-Setaria-Panicum Community emerged. The dry season community on the unburnt site had comparatively the highest diversity index. Index of species association was high for Imperata cylindrica and Calapogonium mucumoides on burnt sites while for Axonopus compressus and Commelina diffusa during both dry and wet seasons on unburnt sites. The sominance-diversity relationships based on Simpson's Index were higher for the community on burnt sites. According to Kuchler's height classes, the height class 2 was predominant. The annual vegetation burning, in general, results in a preponderance of grasses and there were 12 grasses out of 29 species (41.4%) recorded on the burnt areas.
  • Observations on Herbage Growth, Disappearance, and Accumulation Under Livestock Grazing

    Scarnecchia, D. L.; Kothmann, M. M. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    Expressing the effects of grazing animals on herbage requires explicitly defined variables describing herbage growth and herbage disappearance, as well as variables describing net changes in herbage. This paper presents a mathematical framework on variables describing herbage growth, disappearance, and accumulation, which can be used to model herbage dynamics, and to develop and present field research.
  • Nutrient Content of Sheep Diets on a Serpentine Barrens Range Site

    Rosiere, R. E.; Vaughn, C. E. (Society for Range Management, 1986-01-01)
    Nutritional composition of sheep diets from a serpentine barrens range site was determined at various seasons and stages of plant growth and compared to diets from 3 other annual range sites. Sheep diets from the serpentine site tended to be more nutritious, ranking in the highest pair of sites in digestibility, digestible energy, crude protein, and ether extract, and containing highest concentrations of magnesium. These differences were subtle and had limited application to management. Nutritional differences attributable to plant phenology were inconsistent but more dramatic than those due to site. Late summer and winter were potentially critical periods for brood ewes with protein and energy, respectively, likely to be marginal or possibly deficient. Contents of nutrients and nutritional properties did not differ between available herbage and forage selected by sheep from serpentine barrens.

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