Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDLAND FIRE
Volume 24, Issue 6, Pages 849-856Publisher
CSIRO PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1071/WF14209
Keywords
fuel management; sagebrush; sage-grouse habitat; wildfire suppression; winter grazing
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Funding
- ARS [813252, ARS-0422620] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER
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Mega-fires and unprecedented expenditures on fire suppression over the past decade have resulted in a renewed focus on presuppression management. Dormant season grazing may be a treatment to reduce fuels in rangeland, but its effects have not been evaluated. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of dormant season grazing (winter grazing in this ecosystem) by cattle on fuel characteristics in sagebrush (Artemisia L.) communities at five sites in south-eastern Oregon. Winter grazing reduced herbaceous fuel cover, continuity, height and biomass without increasing exotic annual grass biomass or reducing bunchgrass basal area or production. Fuel moisture in winter-grazed areas was high enough that burning was unlikely until late August; in contrast, fuels in ungrazed areas were dry enough to burn in late June. Fuel biomass on perennial bunchgrasses was decreased by 60% with winter grazing, which may reduce the potential for fire-induced mortality. The cumulative effect of winter grazing from altering multiple fuel characteristics may reduce the likelihood of fire and the potential severity in sagebrush communities with an understorey dominated by herbaceous perennials. Dormant season grazing has the potential to reduce wildfire suppression expenditures in many rangelands where herbaceous fuels are an issue; however, increasing woody vegetation and extreme fire weather may limit its influence.
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