The impact of holistic resource management and continuous season-long grazing on aquatic and riparian habitat.

Abstract

Continuous season-long rangeland use (CSLU) by livestock has been one of the largest land uses in the western United States since the mid-1800s. Until recently, little credence has been paid to the impact of this type of land usage on riparian and aquatic habitats. Numerous grazing schemes have been implemented throughout the years in an effort to reduce the impact on these areas. One form of land management receiving attention is holistic resource management (HRM). This form of grazing is based on large numbers of animals grazing small pastures for short periods of time. This study focuses on the impact of HRM grazing on aquatic and riparian habitats in the Flint Hills of Kansas. A stream flowing from a conventionally-grazed pasture to a HRM pasture was used as the study site. A 400-meter study reach, divided into 100 1-meter transects, was established and used to evaluate the overall stream condition for both reaches. Vegetation was analyzed by placing 100 one-m2 quadrates parallel to the stream to a distance of 1.5 meters from the water's edge and evaluating percent cover of decreasers, increasers, bare ground, and rock. The HRM study reach was divided into five blocks of 20, one-meter transects, and two endpoints of 10, onemeter transcets, to determine the ability of the stream to correct the effects of upstream management policies. The results of this study indicated that the HRM reach was in significantly better overall condition than the CSLU reach (HRM=0.536, CSLU=0.4482; P=0.0004). The vegetation study showed significantly greater cover from decreaser species of plants (HRM=12.3, CSLU=1.21; P=0.0001), and lower amounts of bare ground for the HRM site compared to the CSLU site (HRM=44.67, CSLU=37.33; P=0.0744). The results of the stream's corrective ability showed a slight difference between the two endpoints width-to-depth ratios (a=12, b=9; P=0.0899), suggesting some corrective capabilities. These results suggest HRM grazing is a better form of management of riparian zones than conventional forms.