Livestock Grazing and Wildlife Conservation in the American West: Historical, Policy and Conservation Biology Perspectives

Fleischner, Thomas L.

doi:10.1002/9781444317091.ch9

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…In the western United States, recruitment levels of deciduous woody plants were found to decrease by nearly 90%, on average, within two decades following the loss of an apex predator, with declines in recruitment becoming more severe in subsequent decades and occurring independently of climatic regime (Beschta and Ripple 2009). On lands outside of national parks, herbivory by livestock can also have major effects on plant community composition and structure (Donahue 1999;Fleischner 2010;Beschta et al 2013).…”

Section: Exclosuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park

et al. 2016

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We report long-term patterns of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) recruitment for five ungulate exclosures in the northern ungulate winter range of Yellowstone National Park. Aspen recruitment was low (<3 aspen·ha−1·year−1) in the mid-1900s prior to exclosure construction due to herbivory by Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus, 1758) but increased more than 60-fold within 25 years after exclosure construction despite a drying climatic trend since 1940. Results support the hypothesis that long-term aspen decline in Yellowstone’s northern range during the latter half of the 20th century was caused by high levels of ungulate herbivory and not a drying climate. Gray wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) were reintroduced during 1995–1996. For the period 1995–2012, we summarized annual predator–prey ratios, ungulate biomass, and drought severity. The average density of young aspen increased from 4350 aspen·ha−1 in 1997–1998 to 8960 aspen·ha−1 in 2012; during the same time period, those >1 m in height increased over 30-fold (from 105 to 3194 aspen·ha−1). Increased heights of young aspen occurred primarily from 2007 to 2012, a period with relatively high predator–prey ratios, declining elk numbers, and decreasing browsing rates. Consistent with a re-established trophic cascade, aspen stands in Yellowstone’s northern range have increasingly begun to recover.

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Section: Exclosuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park

et al. 2016

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“…Compared with other arid regions, the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, USA, has been the location of minimal research on land degradation in general and soil erosion in particular. After Post‐Columbus contact, grazing and mining were major agents of land degradation (Radding, ), and grazing is still common (Fleischner, ). Prior to European invasive grasses, Sonoran Desert wildfires were very infrequent and of low intensity (McLaughlin & Bowers, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil erosion from urbanization processes in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA

Jeong

Dorn

2018

Land Degrad Dev

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Cattle stock ponds on the fringe of metropolitan Phoenix, USA, experienced a wide range of land‐use changes over the period from 1989 to 2009. This research measures soil erosion from watersheds of different rock types, variable relief, and land uses. Monitoring sediment accumulation behind 18 earthen berms at each major land‐use transition enabled calculations of soil erosion rates. Compared with the first decade of study with more precipitation and cattle grazing, accelerated urbanization in the drier second decade increased soil erosion from wildfires by up to 4.2×, from exposure of bare ground due to building construction by up to 3.4×, and from bare ground exposure due to road and pipeline construction by up to 3.1× overgrazing alone. Stock pond watersheds underlain by granite experienced statistically significant higher erosion rates compared with watersheds underlain by metamorphic, basalt, and other rock types. Global sediment yield data for warm desert (BWh Köppen‐Geiger) sites reveal that our data plot consistently with other grazed study areas with a tendency for higher area‐specific sediment yields in smaller drainage areas. These sediment yield data, however, do not support previously published generalizations of anomalously high or low sediment yields from warm desert settings. Desert urbanization processes accelerate soil erosion, resulting in the need for regulatory agencies to impose new erosion mitigation strategies.

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“…Although land ownership was subsequently subject to new tenurial systems, these early phases of land enclosure are still visible in modern day heathlands, forests and commons22. In Australia and Northern and Southern America, colonization processes in the 18 th and 19 th century involved claiming land and setting up cattle ranges by means of fences, many of which have also maintained the same position in the landscape to this day242526. These historical scenarios constitute a serious warning that the Greater Mara may be approaching a critical transition to a chronic landscape state shift.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fencing bodes a rapid collapse of the unique Greater Mara ecosystem

Løvschal

Bøcher

Pilgaard

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

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With land privatization and fencing of thousands of hectares of communal grazing areas, East Africa is struggling with one of the most radical cultural and environmental changes in its history. The 668,500-hectare Greater Mara is of crucial importance for the great migrations of large mammals and for Maasai pastoralist culture. However, the magnitude and pace of these fencing processes in this area are almost completely unknown. We provide new evidence that fencing is appropriating land in this area at an unprecedented and accelerating speed and scale. By means of a mapped series of multispectral satellite imagery (1985–2016), we found that in the conservancies with the most fences, areal cover of fenced areas has increased with >20% since 2010. This has resulted in a situation where fencing is rapidly increasing across the Greater Mara, threatening to lead to the collapse of the entire ecosystem in the near future. Our results suggest that fencing is currently instantiating itself as a new permanent self-reinforcing process and is about to reach a critical point after which it is likely to amplify at an even quicker pace, incompatible with the region’s role in the great wildebeest migration, wildlife generally, as well as traditional Maasai pastoralism.

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Livestock Grazing and Wildlife Conservation in the American West: Historical, Policy and Conservation Biology Perspectives

Cited by 10 publications

References 71 publications

Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park

Long-term aspen dynamics, trophic cascades, and climate in northern Yellowstone National Park

Soil erosion from urbanization processes in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, USA

Fencing bodes a rapid collapse of the unique Greater Mara ecosystem

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