Grazing Intensity Effects on Fire Ignition Risk and Spread in Sagebrush Steppe

Orr, Devyn; Bates, Jon D.; Davies, Kirk W.

doi:10.1016/j.rama.2022.08.004

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Strategic grazing can modify a wide suite of fine fuel characteristics (Figure 1). Moderate levels of grazing by cattle reduce fine fuel biomass, height, and continuity (Davies et al, 2010(Davies et al, , 2015Orr et al, 2023;Strand et al, 2014;Thomas & Davies, 2023). More intense grazing may also be used to reduce annual grass fine fuels in invasive annual grass-dominated sagebrush rangelands (Diamond et al, 2009(Diamond et al, , 2012Porensky et al, 2018).…”

Section: Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More intense grazing may also be used to reduce annual grass fine fuels in invasive annual grass-dominated sagebrush rangelands (Diamond et al, 2009(Diamond et al, , 2012Porensky et al, 2018). Grazing also increases the moisture content of fine fuels by altering the live to dead ratio in subsequent years (Davies et al, 2015(Davies et al, , 2017Orr et al, 2023). By increasing fuel moisture content, moderate grazing truncates the period of time when fine fuels are dry enough to readily burn by ~2 months (Davies et al, 2015).…”

Section: Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The probability of these communities burning is also increasing as fire activity and the incidents of mega-fires in the sagebrush steppe have increased over the last several decades (Crist, 2023;Crist et al, 2023). Moderate grazing may also be benefiting biocrust by reducing the probability of wildfire (Davies et al, 2010(Davies et al, , 2015(Davies et al, , 2017Orr et al, 2023) because fire is one of the most detrimental disturbances to biocrust (Brianne et al, 2020;Hilty et al, 2004;Root et al, 2017). Hence, moderate grazing can mediate the negative impacts of fire on biocrust by reducing fire severity and probability.…”

Section: Grazing To Reduce the Effect Of Wildfire On Community Compos...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological benefits of strategically applied livestock grazing in sagebrush communities

Davies,

Boyd,

Bates

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

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There are concerns about the negative consequences of non‐native livestock grazing of sagebrush communities, especially since these communities are experiencing unpreceded threats from invasive annual grasses, altered fire regimes, and climate change. The narrative around grazing often focuses on the effects of heavy, repeated growing season use that were common historically but now are rare or localized (e.g., near water sources). At the same time, the potential for ecological benefits of strategically applied grazing is often overlooked, limiting management options that may promote desired outcomes. To improve management in the face of unprecedented threats, we synthesized the literature to investigate and identify potential ecological benefits of strategically applied livestock grazing in sagebrush communities. We found that grazing can be used to modify fine fuel characteristics in ways that decrease fire probability and severity in sagebrush communities. Pre‐fire moderate grazing may be especially important because it decreases fire severity and, thereby, promotes biodiversity and reduces postfire annual grass invasion, fire‐induced mortality of native bunchgrasses, and fire damage to soil biocrusts. Grazing can create and maintain fine fuel breaks to improve firefighter safety and fire suppression efficiency. Strategic grazing can also be used to promote desirable plant community composition. Grazing can be a valuable tool, that is currently underutilized, for achieving desired management outcomes in the sagebrush and likely other ecosystems. Improper grazing can generate severe negative consequences; therefore, successful application of grazing to achieve desired outcomes will require careful attention to plant community response and balancing management objectives with community constraints.

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Section: Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fuelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Grazing To Reduce the Effect Of Wildfire On Community Compos...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecological benefits of strategically applied livestock grazing in sagebrush communities

Davies,

Boyd,

Bates

et al. 2024

Ecosphere

Self Cite

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“…It is necessary to understand the corresponding management measures if the model output results are to have a high degree of matching with the actual data (Baethgen et al, 2021). Grazing increases fuel moisture mainly by reducing dead plant material, especially perennial grass growth, but it can also alter water content by changing the relative cover of different functional groups and altering plant species composition (Orr et al, 2022). On the one hand, urine will import a large amount of nitrogen into the soil.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal Simulation and Statistical Analysis of Soil Total Nitrogen in Alpine Meadow of Gannan

张,

Zhang,

Jia

2023

Preprint

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To determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of soil nitrogen in the alpine meadow of Gannan, China, the contents of soil organic nitrogen, mineral nitrogen and soil total nitrogen in Gannan alpine meadow from 1971 to 2020 were simulated based on the localized CENTURY model, on this basis, the spatial and temporal distribution of soil nitrogen of the study area was visualized. The influence of various environmental factors on soil nitrogen in the alpine meadow of Gannan was analyzed. The results show that from 1971 to 2020, the soil organic nitrogen in the study area has moderate spatial variability. Active soil organic nitrogen pool and chronic soil organic nitrogen pool accounted for 11.2% and 39.8% of total soil organic nitrogen, respectively. The inert soil organic nitrogen pool accounts for 49.0% of the total organic nitrogen in the soil. In spatial distribution, the total organic nitrogen and total mineral nitrogen in the alpine meadow of Gannan showed a decreasing trend from west to east, and the total mineral nitrogen content in the soil decreased significantly with the increase of soil depth. Correlation analysis of soil nitrogen and environmental factors and structural equation model showed that precipitation, elevation, soil organic matter content and silt content had positive correlation with soil organic nitrogen and mineral nitrogen contents. The effects of sand content and temperature on soil organic nitrogen and mineral nitrogen contents were negatively correlated.

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“…Continuous grazing has had complex impacts on forest health, with several studies finding that the practice increased wildfire risk 19 , 20 . In contrast, targeted grazing has been successfully used to reduce surface fuel loads in wooded areas 21 , 22 and grass/shrublands 23 – 25 . However, treating surface fuel loads through use of targeted grazing is not often coupled with overstory management, representing a possible opportunity to further reduce fuels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing silvopasture management as a strategy to reduce fuel loads and mitigate wildfire risk

Batcheler,

Smith,

Swanson

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Managing private forests for wildfire resilience is challenging due to conflicting social, economic, and ecological decisions that may result in an increase of surface fuel loads leading to greater fire risk. Due to fire suppression and a changing climate, land managers in fire-prone regions face an increasing threat of high severity fires. Thus, land managers need fuel treatment options that match their forest types and management objectives. One potential option for producers that graze livestock is silvopasture management, where livestock, forages, and overstory vegetation are carefully managed for co-benefits on the same unit of land. This study compared forest composition and structure, fuel types, and vegetative biomass between silvopasture and non-grazed managed forests in Washington, U.S. We show that silvopasture management results in reductions in grass biomass, litter, and duff depth when compared to non-grazed managed forest. These findings point to the integrated nature of silvopasture, where management of overstory composition and structure, understory vegetation, and grazing can reduce fuel loads and potential wildfire risk.

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Grazing Intensity Effects on Fire Ignition Risk and Spread in Sagebrush Steppe

Cited by 7 publications

References 81 publications

Ecological benefits of strategically applied livestock grazing in sagebrush communities

Ecological benefits of strategically applied livestock grazing in sagebrush communities

Spatio-temporal Simulation and Statistical Analysis of Soil Total Nitrogen in Alpine Meadow of Gannan

Assessing silvopasture management as a strategy to reduce fuel loads and mitigate wildfire risk

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