Scholarly Work - Land Resources & Environmental Sciences
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/8680
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Item Ground-Dwelling Arthropod Community Response to Livestock Grazing: Implications for Avian Conservation(2019-08) Goosey, Hayes B.; Smith, Joseph T.; O'Neill, Kevin M.; Naugle, David E.Terrestrial arthropods are a critical component of rangeland ecosystems that convert primary production into resources for higher trophic levels. During spring and summer, select arthropod taxa are the primary food of breeding prairie birds, of which many are imperiled in North America. Livestock grazing is globally the most widespread rangeland use and can affect arthropod communities directly or indirectly through herbivory. To examine effects of management on arthropod community structure and avian food availability, we studied ground-dwelling arthropods on grazed and ungrazed sagebrush rangelands of central Montana. From 2012 to 2015, samples were taken from lands managed as part of a rest-rotation grazing program and from idle lands where livestock grazing has been absent for over a decade. Bird-food arthropods were twice as prevalent in managed pastures despite the doubling of overall activity-density of arthropods in idle pastures. Activity-density on idled lands was largely driven by a tripling of detritivores and a doubling in predators. Predator community structure was simplified on idled lands, where Lycosid spiders increased by fivefold. In contrast, managed lands supported a more diverse assemblage of ground-dwelling arthropods, which may be particularly beneficial for birds in these landscapes if, for example, diversity promotes temporal stability in this critical food resource. Our results suggest that periodic disturbance may enhance arthropod diversity, and that birds may benefit from livestock grazing with periodic rest or deferment.Item Integration of sheep grazing for cover crop termination into market gardens: Agronomic consequences of an ecologically based management strategy(2016-09) McKenzie, Sean C.; Goosey, Hayes B.; O'Neill, Kevin M.; Menalled, Fabian D.Cover crops are suites of non-marketable plants grown to improve soil tilth and reduce erosion. Despite these agronomic benefits, the use of cover crops is often limited because they do not provide a direct source of revenue for producers. Integrating livestock to graze cover crops could provide both an expeditious method for cover crop termination and an alternative source of revenue. However, there has been little research on the agronomic impacts of grazing for cover crop termination, especially in horticultural market-gardens. We conducted a 3-year study comparing the effects of sheep grazing to terminate a four species cover crop (buckwheat, sweetclover, peas and beets) with those of mowing on soil quality indicators, cover crop termination efficacy, and subsequent cash-crop yields. In addition, we tested the nutritional quality of the cover crop as forage. Compared with mowing, sheep grazing did not affect soil chemistry, temperature or moisture. Our study demonstrates that sheep grazing removed more cover crop biomass than mowing at termination. The assessment of nutritional indices suggests that the four-species cover crop mixture could provide high-quality forage with a potential value of US$144.00–481.80 ha−1 of direct revenue as a grazing lease. Cash-crop yields did not differ between previously grazed and previously mowed plots in the subsequent growing season. We conclude that integrating sheep grazing into market vegetable garden operations could make cover crops more economically viable without having adverse effects on subsequent cash crops.Item Impact of integrated sheep grazing for cover crop termination on weed and ground beetle (Coleoptera:Carabidae) communities(2016-02) McKenzie, Sean C.; Goosey, Hayes B.; O'Neill, Kevin M.; Menalled, Fabian D.Aim: To investigate how ecosystem water-use efficiency (WUE) varies spatially under different climate conditions, and how spatial variations in WUE differ from those of transpiration-based water-use efficiency (WUEt) and transpiration-based inherent water-use efficiency (IWUEt). Location: Global terrestrial ecosystems. Methods: We investigated spatial patterns of WUE using two datasets of gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) and four biosphere model estimates of GPP and ET. Spatial relationships between WUE and climate variables were further explored through regression analyses. Results: Global WUE estimated by two satellite-based datasets is 1.9 ± 0.1 and 1.8 ± 0.6 g C m−2 mm−1 lower than the simulations from four process-based models (2.0 ± 0.3 g C m−2 mm−1) but comparable within the uncertainty of both approaches. In both satellite-based datasets and process models, precipitation is more strongly associated with spatial gradients of WUE for temperate and tropical regions, but temperature dominates north of 50° N. WUE also increases with increasing solar radiation at high latitudes. The values of WUE from datasets and process-based models are systematically higher in wet regions (with higher GPP) than in dry regions. WUEt shows a lower precipitation sensitivity than WUE, which is contrary to leaf- and plant-level observations. IWUEt, the product of WUEt and water vapour deficit, is found to be rather conservative with spatially increasing precipitation, in agreement with leaf- and plant-level measurements. Main conclusions: WUE, WUEt and IWUEt produce different spatial relationships with climate variables. In dry ecosystems, water losses from evaporation from bare soil, uncorrelated with productivity, tend to make WUE lower than in wetter regions. Yet canopy conductance is intrinsically efficient in those ecosystems and maintains a higher IWUEt. This suggests that the responses of each component flux of evapotranspiration should be analysed separately when investigating regional gradients in WUE, its temporal variability and its trends.