Clary, W.P.

Medin, D.E.

Plant biomass and structure on an area seasonally grazed by cattle was compared to that on a comparable adjoining area fenced from grazing for the previous 11 years. The study was on the West Fork of Deer Creek in northeastern Nevada. Differences between the grazed and ungrazed situations were compared for the riparian plant community complex — aspen (Populus tremuloides)/willow (Salix spp.)/ Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) — and for the adjacent steep upland community — big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)/upland. Less graminoid biomass and height, but more nonwillow large shrub biomass and more soil compaction were the most obvious effects of cattle grazing within the riparian plant community complex. Relatively little grazing of the adjacent upland occurred, and few grazing effects were measured. Aspen stands were relatively similar on the grazed and the ungrazed areas, implying that recent levels of grazing have not greatly affected aspen regeneration. On an adjacent supplemental study area, very heavy grazing had a major impact on aspen regeneration and stand structure. Most of the plant biomass across the entire study area was contributed by down, dead aspen drowned by flooding from a series of now-abandoned beaver dams

Differences in vegetation biomass and structure due to cattle grazing in a northern Nevada riparian ecosystem

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