Rangeland

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Red Desert rangeland in Wyoming. Water from melted snow pack can be seen on the ground. Such melting is the main source of surface water in Wyoming. Muddy Water Red desert.jpg
Red Desert rangeland in Wyoming. Water from melted snow pack can be seen on the ground. Such melting is the main source of surface water in Wyoming.
Weeds are all that remains in Idaho after overgrazing, wildfires, and subsequent invasion by non-native species. Russian thistle (Kali tragus) is the only plant species seen in this picture. Salsola tragus monoculture post restoration.JPG
Weeds are all that remains in Idaho after overgrazing, wildfires, and subsequent invasion by non-native species. Russian thistle ( Kali tragus ) is the only plant species seen in this picture.

Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras. Rangelands do not include forests lacking grazable understory vegetation, barren desert, farmland, or land covered by solid rock, concrete and/or glaciers.

Contents

Rangelands are distinguished from pasture lands because they grow primarily native vegetation, rather than plants established by humans. Rangelands are also managed principally with practices such as managed livestock grazing and prescribed fire rather than more intensive agricultural practices of seeding, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers.

Grazing is an important use of rangelands but the term rangeland is not synonymous with grazingland. Livestock grazing can be used to manage rangelands by harvesting forage to produce livestock, changing plant composition, or reducing fuel loads.

Fire is also an important regulator of range vegetation, whether set by humans or resulting from lightning. Fires tend to reduce the abundance of woody plants and promote herbaceous plants including grasses, forbs, and grass-like plants. The suppression or reduction of periodic wildfires from desert shrublands, savannas, or woodlands frequently invites the dominance of trees and shrubs to the near exclusion of grasses and forbs. [1]

Types of rangeland

The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines rangeland as "lands on which the native vegetation (climax or natural potential plant community) is predominantly grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, or shrubs suitable for grazing or browsing use." [2] The EPA classifies natural grassland and savannas as rangeland, and in some cases includes wetlands, deserts, tundra, and "certain forb and shrub communities." [2] The primary difference between rangeland and pasture is management; rangelands tend to have natural vegetation along with a few introduced plant species, but all managed by grazing, while pastures have forage that is adapted for livestock and managed, by seeding, mowing, fertilization and irrigation. [2]

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type. Temperate grassland regions include the Pampas of Argentina, and the steppes of Eurasia.

Grasslands

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae) and other herbaceous (non-woody) plants. However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica. In temperate latitudes, such as northwest Europe and the Great Plains and California in North America, native grasslands are dominated by perennial bunch grass species, whereas in warmer climates annual species form a greater component of the vegetation. [3]

Steppe

Steppe, in physical geography, refers to a biome region characterized by grassland plain without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. The prairie (especially the shortgrass and mixed prairie) is an example of a steppe, though it is not usually called such. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude. The term is also used to denote the climate encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but not dry enough to be a desert.

Pampas

Pampas are the fertile South American lowlands that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba, most of Uruguay, and the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the southernmost end of Brazil covering more than 750,000 km2 (289,577 sq mi). These vast plains are only interrupted by the low Ventana and Tandil hills near Bahía Blanca and Tandil (Argentina), with a height of 1,300 m (4,265 ft) and 500 m (1,640 ft) respectively. The climate is mild, with precipitation of 600 mm (23.6 in) to 1,200 mm (47.2 in), more or less evenly distributed through the year, making the soils appropriate for agriculture. This area is also one of the distinct physiography provinces of the larger Paraná-Paraguay Plain division. These plains contain unique wildlife because of the different terrains around it. Some of this wildlife includes the rhea, the badger, and the prairie chicken.

Shrubland

Shrubland is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. [4] It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term "shrubland" was first coined in 1903. [5]

Woodland

Woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher densities and areas of trees, with largely closed canopy, provide extensive and nearly continuous shade are referred to as forest.

Savanna

Savanna is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses. [6]

Desert

Desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres (10 in) per year, [7] [8] or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. [9] In the Köppen climate classification system, deserts are classed as BWh (hot desert) or BWk (temperate desert). In the Thornthwaite climate classification system, deserts would be classified as arid megathermal climates. [10] [11]

Tundra

Tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." [12] There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, [13] alpine tundra, [13] and Antarctic tundra [14] In tundra, the vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses, and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline.

North America

Canada

Rangeland is a prominent feature of rural Canada. A provincial jurisdiction, administration and policy regarding range use varies across the country. As in many other Commonwealth countries, public tenures on crown land for the purpose of range activities are common in geographically compatible areas. Reconciling the economic needs of ranchers and the need for environmental conservation is one of the primary themes in modern range discourse.

In western Canada, both grassland and forested range are significant. In British Columbia, 70 percent of grassland range is privately owned and 60 percent of the total annual livestock forage requirement is provided by grazing on Crown rangeland (34 million hectares), 80 percent of which is forested range. [15] Grassland range predominates in much of the prairie provinces’ ranching area; however, forested range is particularly important in the boreal region. [16] [17]

Certain rangelands are preserved as provincially-protected areas similar to parks, others are managed as community resources. For example, in Alberta since 2003 there has been legislation allowing the creation of "Heritage Rangelands" within the parks system. [18] As of 2012 there were 2 heritage rangelands and 6 proposed future heritage rangelands run by Alberta Parks. [19] There are also 32 provincial grazing reserves located throughout Alberta administered as public lands by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development. [20] The federal government has administered several "Community Pastures" in Western Canada that were reclaimed lands suffering erosion during the 1930s. [21] In 2012, it was announced that this federal involvement would be phased out over a six-year period. [22]

United States

Rangelands of the United States NAMAP.jpg
Rangelands of the United States

Of the land within the United States borders, 36% is considered rangeland. The western side of the United States is 53% rangeland. [23] Around 399 million acres (1,610,000 km2) of rangeland are privately owned. The Bureau of Land Management manages about 167 million acres (676,000 km2) of publicly owned rangeland, with the United States Forest Service managing approximately 95 million acres (380,000 km2) more. Ranchers may lease portions of this public rangeland and pay a fee based on the number and type of livestock and the period for which they are on the land.

Historically much of the land in the western United States was used for grazing and much of some states still is. In many of those states, such as Arizona, an open-range law applies which requires a land owner to fence cattle out rather than in; thus cattle are theoretically allowed to roam free. In modern times open-range laws can conflict with urban development as occasional stray cows, bulls, or even herds wander into subdivisions or onto highways. [24]

North American rangelands - grasslands

North American rangelands - shrublands

Elsewhere

The different types of rangeland together form about 70% (excluding Antarctica)[ citation needed ] of the Earth's surface.

A map showing the world's rangelands, and areas that are not rangeland Rangeworld545.png
A map showing the world's rangelands, and areas that are not rangeland

Australia

Australia’s rangelands extend from tropical savannas in the north dominated by summer rainfall, though large areas of desert in central Australia to the southern rangelands dominated by winter rainfall. They cover approximately 80 per cent of the Australian continent and equate broadly with the ‘Outback’. However, rangelands also occur in higher rainfall areas where limitations other than rainfall restrict use to management of the natural landscape. The rangelands are where values and societal benefits are based primarily on natural resources. They are areas which have not been intensively developed for agriculture but extensive livestock production is a major land use, accounting for 55 per cent of the rangelands. [25] Conservation reserves utilise around 11 per cent of the rangelands and the rangelands have areas of significant biodiversity and natural attractions on a world scale.  Although mining and petroleum extraction uses a very small percentage of the rangelands, it economically contributes most to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product compared with other rangeland industries (cattle, sheep and goat production, tourism, harvesting of native products). Indigenous land tenures of various types cover around 59 per cent of the rangelands and overlap with grazing and conservation uses. [25]  Although rangelands cover 80 per cent of Australia’s land mass, at the 2016 Census, they were home to just over two per cent of the population (394,000 people), with 28 per cent of rangeland residents identifying as being Indigenous. [25]

South America

Rangelands in South America are located in regions with climate ranging from arid to sub-humid. Annual precipitation in these areas ranges from approximately 150 to 1500 mm (6–60 inches). Within South America, rangelands cover about 33% of the total land area. South American rangelands include; grasslands, shrublands, savannas, and hot and cold deserts. Rangelands in South America exclude hyperarid deserts. Examples of the South American rangelands include the; Patagonian Steppe, the Monte, the Pampas, the "Lianos" or "Cerrado," the "Chaco" and the "Caatinga." The change in the intensity and location of tropical thunderstorms and other weather patterns is the driving force in the climates of southern South America.

Africa

In Kenya, rangelands make up for 85% of the land surface area, and are largely inhabited by nomadic pastoralists who are largely dependent on livestock. This movement often brings along an incursion of different diseases with the common one being the rinderpest virus in the Kenyan wildlife population from the Somali ecosystem.

Asia

In the past, rangelands in western China supported a pastoral economy and large wildlife populations. Now the rangelands have shrunk due to population growth, economic, government, and social factors. Rangeland types in China include; Semi-desert, Dry Alpine Grasslands, Alpine Dwarf Shrub, Wetland types.

Uses of rangeland

Rangelands produce a wide variety of goods and services desired by society, including livestock forage (Grazing), wildlife habitat, water, mineral resources, wood products, wildland recreation, open space and natural beauty. The geographic extent and many important resources of rangelands make their proper use and management vitally important to people everywhere. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biome</span> Community of organisms associated with an environment

A biome is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader term than habitat and can comprise a variety of habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steppe</span> Ecoregion of plain grasslands without trees

In physical geography, a steppe is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees except near rivers and lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands</span> Terrestrial biome

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The predominant vegetation in this biome consists of grass and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and ranges from semi-arid to semi-humid. The habitat type differs from tropical grasslands in the annual temperature regime as well as the types of species found here.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grassland</span> Area with vegetation dominated by grasses

A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savanna</span> Mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem

A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. According to Britannica, there exists four savanna forms; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deserts and xeric shrublands</span> Habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habitat type vary greatly in the amount of annual rainfall they receive, usually less than 250 millimetres (10 in) annually except in the margins. Generally evaporation exceeds rainfall in these ecoregions. Temperature variability is also diverse in these lands. Many deserts, such as the Sahara, are hot year-round, but others, such as East Asia's Gobi, become quite cold during the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasture</span> Land used for grazing

Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs. Pasture is typically grazed throughout the summer, in contrast to meadow which is ungrazed or used for grazing only after being mown to make hay for animal fodder. Pasture in a wider sense additionally includes rangelands, other unenclosed pastoral systems, and land types used by wild animals for grazing or browsing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grazing</span> Feeding livestock on forage

In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible cellulose within grass and other forages into meat, milk, wool and other animal products, often on land unsuitable for arable farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrubland</span> Vegetation dominated by shrubs

Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermountain West</span> Geographic region of the Western United States

The Intermountain West, or Intermountain Region, is a geographic and geological region of the Western United States. It is located between the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada on the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shortgrass prairie</span> Ecosystem located on the North American Great Plains

The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama and buffalograss, the two less dominant grasses in the prairie are greasegrass and sideoats grama. The prairie was formerly maintained by grazing pressure of American bison, which is the keystone species. Due to its semiarid climate, the shortgrass prairie receives on average less precipitation than that of the tall and mixed grass prairies to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Saharan steppe and woodlands</span> South Sahara desert ecoregion

The South Saharan steppe and woodlands, also known as the South Sahara desert, is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of northern Africa. This band is a transitional region between the Sahara's very arid center to the north, and the wetter Sahelian Acacia savanna ecoregion to the south. In pre-modern times, the grasslands were grazed by migratory gazelles and other ungulates after the rainfalls. More recently, over-grazing by domestic livestock have degraded the territory. Despite the name of the ecoregion, there are few 'woodlands' in the area; those that exist are generally acacia and shrubs along rivers and in wadis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinyon–juniper woodland</span> Biome of Western United States higher elevation deserts

Pinyon–juniper woodland, also spelled piñon–juniper woodland, is a biome found at higher elevations near deserts in the Western United States, characterized by being an open forest dominated by low, bushy, evergreen junipers, pinyon pines, and their associates which vary from region to region. The woodland's density and crown height varies dramatically depending on a variety of factors, with mature trees ranging in height from as low as 2 meters up to 15 meters. At lower elevations, junipers often predominate and trees are spaced widely, bordering on and mingling with grassland or shrubland. As elevation increases, pinyon pines become common and trees grow closer, forming denser canopies. Historically, pinyon-juniper woodland has provided a vital source of fuel and food for peoples of the American Southwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyoming Basin shrub steppe</span> Xeric shrubland ecoregion of the western United States

The Wyoming Basin shrub steppe ecoregion, within the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, is a shrub steppe in the northwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Great Plains (ecoregion)</span> Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion of the United States

The Central Great Plains are a semiarid prairie ecoregion of the central United States, part of North American Great Plains. The region runs from west-central Texas through west-central Oklahoma, central Kansas, and south-central Nebraska.

Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental management. Many different methods of vegetation classification have been used. In general, there has been a shift from structural classification used by forestry for the mapping of timber resources, to floristic community mapping for biodiversity management. Whereas older forestry-based schemes considered factors such as height, species and density of the woody canopy, floristic community mapping shifts the emphasis onto ecological factors such as climate, soil type and floristic associations. Classification mapping is usually now done using geographic information systems (GIS) software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woody plant encroachment</span> Vegetation cover change

Woody plant encroachment is a natural phenomenon characterised by the increase in density of woody plants, bushes and shrubs, at the expense of the herbaceous layer, grasses and forbs. It predominantly occurs in grasslands, savannas and woodlands and can cause biome shifts from open grasslands and savannas to closed woodlands. The term bush encroachment refers to the expansion of native plants and not the spread of alien invasive species. It is thus defined by plant density, not species. Bush encroachment is often considered an ecological regime shift and can be a symptom of land degradation. The phenomenon is observed across different ecosystems and with different characteristics and intensities globally.

References

  1. ↑ Micropaedia: The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (15th ed.). 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pasture, Rangeland, and Grazing Operations". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  3. ↑ NASA Earth Observatory webpage
  4. ↑ "Chapter 12 Scrub Management". Natural England.[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003).
  6. ↑ Werner, Patricia A.; B. H. Walker; P. A Stott (1991). "Introduction". In Patricia A. Werner (ed.). Savanna Ecology and Management: Australian Perspectives and Intercontinental Comparisons. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN   978-0-632-03199-3.
  7. ↑ What is a desert?
  8. ↑ According to What is a desert?, the 250 mm threshold definition is attributed to Peveril Meigs.
  9. ↑ "desert". Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  10. ↑ Fredlund, D.G.; Rahardjo, H. (1993). Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils (PDF). Wiley-Interscience. ISBN   978-0-471-85008-3 . Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  11. ↑ Glossary of Meteorology. Megathermal Climate. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
  12. ↑ Aapala, Kirsti. "Tunturista jängälle". Kieli-ikkunat. Archived from the original on 2006-10-01. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  13. 1 2 "The Tundra Biome". The World's Biomes. Retrieved 2006-03-05.
  14. ↑ "Terrestrial Ecoregions: Antarctica". Wild World. National Geographic. Archived from the original on 2011-08-05. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
  15. ↑ British Columbia Ministry of Forest, Mines and Lands. 2010. The state of British Columbia’s forests. 3rd Ed. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2015-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ↑ Government of Saskatchewan. Forested rangeland grazing. "Grazing Forested Rangeland - Agriculture -". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  17. ↑ Range management fact sheet for northern Alberta’s boreal region. Forest grazing. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ↑ Landals, Archie (2003). "Heritage Rangelands: A Bold Step to Preserve a Legacy" (PDF). Alberta Wilderness Association. Retrieved 21 July 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  19. ↑ "Management & Land-use - Legislation & Regulations". Alberta Tourism Parks and Recreation. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  20. ↑ "Provincial Grazing Reserves". Alberta Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. 27 October 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  21. ↑ "Community Pasture Program". Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  22. ↑ Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Transfer of grazing pastures. http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/?id=1414430742263
  23. 1 2 "What is Range". Cnr.uidaho.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  24. ↑ "Arizona Rethinking Open Range Laws" article by Marc Lacey in The New York Times October 11, 2010. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  25. 1 2 3 Foran, Barney; Stafford Smith, Mark; Burnside, Don; Andrew, Martin; Blesing, Don; Forrest, Kate; Taylor, John (2019). "Australian rangeland futures: time now for systemic responses to interconnected challenges". The Rangeland Journal. 41 (3): 271–292. doi: 10.1071/RJ18105 . S2CID   199631304.
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