Posted on 09/28/2014 3:36:10 PM PDT by Vince Ferrer
Grasslands around the world are under threat from trees, according to a new study from Kansas State University.
Streams, as well as tall grasslands surrounding them, are being studied by biologists, concerned that prairies could turn into forests or become covered in shrubs.
Tall grass is becoming less common in areas around the world, with shrubs and trees replacing the prairies. Such changes can affect the movement of water through the regional ecosystem, changing soil chemistry. This can have a dramatic, potentially negative, effect on the local environment.
"This is an important issue regionally, because as trees expand into these grassland areas, people who are using grassland for cattle production have less grass for animals, too," Walter Dodds, distinguished professor of biology at Kansas State University, said.
The Konza Prairie Biological Station, where the research was carried out, stretches over 8,600 acres in northeast Kansas.
Dodds has 20 years of experience studying the area. Along with Allison Veach, doctoral student in biology, the two studied 25 years of aerial photos of the station. The pair were looking for patterns in the growth of trees and shrubs within 100 feet of streams. They wanted to know specifically how grazing by animals affected the growth of plant life, as well as the time between large fires, known as the burn interval. They compared these effects to historical growth patterns of woody vegetation in the regions.
"Although we can reduce woody expansion by burning more frequently, we can't prevent it from occurring over time. Woody plant encroachment may not be prevented by fire alone," Veach said.
This research underscores the importance of controlled burns to keep growth of woody vegetation in check, assisting tall grasses to grow. However, the study also reveals that such actions are not enough to ensure the long-term survival of tall grass in prairies.
Dodds and Veach believe the recent growth of trees in grasslands could be due to increased carbon dioxide in the air. Grasses are more efficient than trees at utilizing the gas in respiration. As concentrations rise in the atmosphere, it is possible that shrubs and trees are able to use the atmospheric component to feed their growth.
Investigation of tall prairie grasses, and how they are affected by the growth of trees around streams, was profiled in the journal Plos One. When the burn interval was low -- just a year or two -- growth of trees and shrubberies were kept in check. However, these fires do not appear to reduce the development of such organisms enough to preserve a healthy environment for grasslands, according to the study.
A local park has an area called the "Time Trail" which is divided into 100 sections. One more section is allowed to go wild each year to show what natural reforestation of farm land in this area looks like. So far they are 18 sections in with the remaining ones mowed clean a few times a year. Other sections of the same park were farmland a while ago but were allowed to return to native woods.
The rectangular section in the center is the first few years of the Time Trail.
I did my part today and cut down between 25-50 sweet gum trees. It sucks for firewood but better than nothing. It allows for the Oak and other trees to have some room too. I heard that the fungus in the sweet gum was killing off the AIDS people too so I’m helping them.
These researchers can’t be from Kansas. They are probably from the U.N!
If you ranch cattle you kill off the prairie dogs or your livestock will step into prairie dog burrows and break their legs. (For east coast folk, if your steer’s leg is broken you can’t walk them to the trailer to take them to the feed lot and they become coyote and vulture food, or, if they are someplace accessible and still alive, you shoot them and load them into a truck and sell them to a plant that makes dog food, but either way, you lose money...)
Anyway, one of the things that prairie dogs do is clear any shrubs OR TREES from the area around its burrow, which encourages the grass, which they eat and which does not grow well in shade. Trees and shrubs also provide cover for coyotes and a high perch for birds of prey to use while they enjoy the shade and select their next meal of prairie dog.
We killed the prairie dogs and that is at least one reasons why the trees are invading the prairie lands. If liberals are really concerned they should stop selling carbon waivers and start buying brush hogs! Yes, I know that there was a liberal movement to take over the high plains to create a buffalo commons. (And drive out all the conservatives.)
Yet buffalo like prarie dogs and get along well with them.
Mob grazing is restoring deserts to grasslands in Africa. The bison kept trees down and maintained grasslands. Return the millions of bison and the grasslands will be preserved.
Now they are after trees!!!
That Indian was full-blooded Italian, IIRC.
Exactly, these people are nuts.
Buffalo do like to use their burrow entrances for dust wallows. They like the result of the activities of the prairie dogs. They probably break just as many legs in the burrows as cattle.
I suppose that my comments apply to the US and Parts of Canada. I expect that something like this is happening in other parts of the world with different animals, elephants and wildebeest or whatever.
Dang, Vince, I knew it! We killed off the prairie dogs and now we have trees and coyote infestations in the suburbs! (And cows and beef on the ranches!)
Coyotes!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3208822/posts
A prairie dog vacuum!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAWokZuszuU
For those of us who wonder what in the world you’re talking about..
What is mob grazing?
Mob grazing involves moving cattle at least daily between small paddocks, sized to match the number of grazing cattle, and split by portable electric fence. The goal is for every plant in the grazing cell to be either eaten or walked on and trampled. Grass in each paddock then rests for 60-120 days or more.
“It’s not a big deal if I move the cattle daily or weekly. What’s important is managing around the weather, your forages, and always watching animal performance,” said Totemeier. “Think holistically, be flexible and vary paddock rotations year to year to allow seed production on all paddocks.”
Benefits of mob grazing compared to continuous grazing include: allowing more cattle on the same or fewer acres, better weed control, less fertilizer cost, extended grazing season, improved livestock health, more plant diversity, and better soil health through built-up organic matter and reduced erosion.
“With a longer rest period (for grass), it’s amazing what grows,” said Totemeier. “Eventually you get such a healthy stand you don’t have weeds because they are crowded out by new grass species.
“I have just about tripled my grass production and started growing new species like eastern gamma grass, Indiangrass, and big and little bluestem – all those species now have time to go to seed,” he said.
Mob grazing fits into Totemeier’s belief in a holistic approach where chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides are unnecessary if the grazing system is designed the right way with the right animals. Totemeier is not a Certified Organic producer, but nearly all of his inputs like salt and minerals are listed for Certified Organic production.
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ia/home/?cid=stelprdb1186272
Thanks for posting that. That is really intelligent management. It reminds me of the philosophy behind intensive gardening which I am a fan of.
Allan Savory: How to green the world's deserts and reverse climate change
Thanks, I’ve listened to half of it and I’m really enjoying it. Reversing desertification is something that interests me.
Also see: http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change
Very funny post, sister!
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