Scientists have published new research pointing to the ecological benefits of livestock grazing on sagebrush across American western rangelands.
This new research project, published recently in Ecosphere, was a collaborative effort among Agricultural Research Service (ARS) rangeland scientists from Burns, Oregon and Fort Collins, Colorado.
The scientists looked at grazed and ungrazed sagebrush steppe and saw that the grazed areas responded significantly better to wildfire, with lower flame lengths, slower fire spread, smaller burning fronts. Similar results were found on annual grass-dominated rangelands.
For many years, there has been a widespread general belief that livestock grazing is a negative, extractive process that is harmful to ecosystems.
This new study highlights what many ranchers and grazing advocates have been saying for years: Livestock grazing is a natural part of the rangeland ecosystem in the American West, even beneficial.
ARS scientists found that livestock grazing can reduce wildfire risk and severity, promote plant biodiversity, reduce invasive annual grasses after a fire, decrease the loss of native bunchgrasses in wildfire, and minimize wildfire damage to soil biocrusts–the accumulation of bacteria, mosses, and fungi on the surface of the soil.
