45 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 10 of 45
Item Investigating the Influence of Grazing Management Practices on Pollinators to Inform Biodiversity Conservation in Working Grassland-Landscapes(North Dakota State University, 2017) Bendel, Cayla Rose RubyDeclines in pollinator populations worldwide are threatening pollination that supports native plant communities and global food production. Mitigating these impacts will require conservation actions that promote biodiversity and remain practical for private producers. We investigated the influence of grazing management practices on butterfly abundance and community composition in the Sheyenne National Grasslands in the summers of 2015 and 2016. We found that management did not influence floral community composition and thus butterfly communities remained similar between practices. Individual species’ abundance varied by management, with no practice optimal for all species. We also examined relationships between floral resources and native bee-plant interactions. We found floristic resource availability influenced bees’ selectivity across the growing season. Furthermore, native bee abundance was driven by availability of native flowers, whereas honey bees were attracted to dense patches of exotic resources. Overall, management which promotes spatial-temporal resource distribution can bolster ecosystem stability and promote pollinator diversity.Item The Effects of Herbivory and Vegetation Competition on Seedling Survival and Growth in the Middle Sheyenne River Watershed, North Dakota(North Dakota State University, 2017) Johnston, Sarah BraatenThere is a concern about the lack of regeneration of riparian hardwood forest communities in the Middle Sheyenne River Watershed of northeastern North Dakota. Natural resource managers and landowners are unsure if herbivory by ungulates or other factors are responsible for a lack of tree seedling regeneration and survival. We focused our research on the role of ungulates and competitive vegetation in seedling survival and growth in demonstration tree planting sites. Landowners utilized exclosures from ungulate browsing and/or grazing, and different forms of vegetation control. The riparian study showed the combination of deer with cattle significantly affected survival of seedlings after three years at p<0.012, and that vegetation competition played less of a role in seedling survival. The upland study found that tree and shrub species in general did not respond significantly in terms of overall growth with treatments such as fabric and glyphosate herbicide to control vegetation competition.Item Winter Feeding Beef Cattle: A Review on Bale Grazing in the Northern Great Plains(North Dakota State University, 2019) Bachler, Jessalyn JuelBale grazing is a relatively unexplored winter feeding option for most beef cattle operations in the Northern Great Plains. Recently, several producers have been looking into using a bale grazing system for winter feeding due to the lower labor requirements and possible reduced cost. When bale grazing, it is not only important to ensure that cattle have adequate nutrition and protection from the winter climate, but also to analyze the positive impacts it has on the ranching ecosystem. Many positive environmental and economic changes have been seen from bale grazing including more efficient nutrient cycling, positive soil health impacts, increased forage production and quality, improved cattle nutrition, lowered production costs, and a decrease in nutrient waste, machinery use, and labor. Overall, bale grazing has shown to be a promising opportunity for ranchers to become more efficient and sustainable while winter feeding beef cattle on their operation.Item Biological Capabilities of Selected Ecological Sites in the Western Dakotas(North Dakota State University, 2014) Ford, DustinThe study was conducted on the Dakota Prairie National Grasslands (DPG) within the Little Missouri National Grassland (LMNG) of North Dakota and Grand River National Grassland (GRNG) of South Dakota during the summer and fall of 2012. The objectives of this study was to 1) determine if three ecological sites (loamy, thin loamy, and claypan) are biologically capable of producing an 8.89 cm visual obstruction reading (VOR) at the end of the grazing season when cattle are excluded and 2) establish a relationship between VOR and standing crop. Vegetative structure was determined using a modified Robel pole. Standing crop was collected by clipping to ground level using a 0.178m2 hoop. Based on our results from one year of data, only the loamy sites on the LMNG were biologically capable of producing 8.89 cm of structure at the end of the grazing season in the DPG.Item Butterfly Community and Behavioral Responses to Restored Disturbance Regimes(North Dakota State University, 2020) Karasch, BrookeGrassland organisms evolved alongside the interaction of fire and grazing, but modern management often decouples these disturbances. In order to analyze the effects of reintroducing this interaction, we implemented four treatments. Two of these treatments were variations of patch-burn grazing, one was modified rest-rotation grazing, and one was season-long grazing. We chose to monitor the butterfly response to these treatments because butterflies have short generations, require a wide variety of resources, and are easily identifiable as adults. We quantified both the butterfly community and the behavioral time budgets of two species. We found that the butterfly community is more species-rich and abundant in treatments including fire than in treatments without fire. We found no difference in time budgets between treatments. Overall, we suggest that managers implement a carefully-planned patch-burn grazing regime in order to support grassland butterflies and other organisms.Item Energy-Related Traffic Increases Fugitive Dust, with Mixed Effects on Bakken Cropland Trophic Levels(North Dakota State University, 2017) Spiess, Jonathan WesleyWe investigated how anthropogenic landscape industrialization affects croplands through increased emissions of fugitive dust along unpaved roads with energy-related traffic. We reviewed literature regarding plants and increased dust deposition and exposure and found that increased dust deposition and exposure negatively affected photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll content, and stomatal conductance. We measured: traffic, the amount and spatial extent of dust deposition, and plant physiological parameters in annual cereal crop fields adjacent to unpaved roads in western North Dakota. We found that increased traffic along an unpaved road influenced the amount and spatial extent of fugitive dust deposited in fields adjacent to an unpaved road. Increased dust deposition negatively affected plant photosynthetic activity. We measured bird activity using trail cameras and invertebrate abundance using sweep-netting in annual cereal crop fields adjacent to unpaved roads. Distance from an unpaved road or the measured deposition rates did not negatively affect bird activity and invertebrate abundance.Item Patch-burning Improves Forage Nutritive Value and Livestock Performance over Rotational and Continuous Grazing Strategies(North Dakota State University, 2022) Wanchuk, MeganRangelands simultaneously support livestock production while maintaining ecosystem functionality. Patch-burning is a grazing management strategy with benefits for wildlife habitat and conservation. However, previous work pertaining to livestock has not examined potential benefits to livestock production. We assessed forage nutritive value, and cattle performance on patch-burning compared to continuous and rotational grazing. We also examined how prescribed fire alters forage mineral content through time since patch-burning. The recently burned patch had better forage nutritive value than patches with longer time since fire and no fire grazing methods, meeting the highest proportion of cow requirements. In 2017, a mild-drought year, cows performed better on patch-burned pastures. Without the mild-drought year, patch-burn cattle performance was similar to continuous, but better than rotational grazing. Mineral content varied seasonally, but was greater in recently burned patches than other patches. Our results indicate patch-burning can benefit livestock production while working to achieve rangeland conservation goals.Item Effect of Livestock Species on Floral Resources and Pollinators in Low-Diversity Grasslands(North Dakota State University, 2020) Cutter, Jasmine Antonia VillamarinLivestock management influences the extent to which grazing lands provide resources for native species. We compared how livestock species – sheep or cattle – affected floral resources and bee and butterfly communities in low-diversity, post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pastures managed with patch-burning. We sampled bees and butterflies three times per season 2017-2019 and counted flowering stems within 1 m of transects. Pastures grazed by sheep had significantly fewer flowers and significantly lower floral richness than cattle pastures. Native bees were three to sixteen times more abundant in cattle pastures compared to sheep. Butterfly communities were similar between grazing treatments, because agricultural-tolerant, habitat generalists comprised the majority of the butterfly community. Grassland-obligate butterflies comprised only 2% of observations. The dearth of grassland-obligate butterfly species and low native bee abundances suggest that post-CRP fields, especially those grazed by sheep, do not provide abundant and diverse floral resources for native bees and imperiled butterfly species.Item Evaluation of Alternative Methods for Leafy Spurge Control in the Northern Great Plains(North Dakota State University, 2018) Ellig, Tracy LynnLeafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) is a costly noxious weed to manage in the Northern Great Plains; it invades rangelands and displaces native and desirable vegetation. Our first objective was to test the recommended full rate and half rate of selected herbicides applied in September following a spring burn on a leafy spurge invaded plant community. Our second objective was to determine if raffinate (desugared beet molasses) applied to leafy spurge invaded rangeland would attract cattle to consume leafy spurge. The aminocyclopyrachlor with chlorosulfuron treatment had the best leafy spurge control at the full rate, with stem density reductions of 95 percent for both sites nine and twelve months after treatment. The salt block treatment had the best success at reducing leafy spurge stem density. Herbicides can be the most common and effective type of management; however, manipulating livestock to graze noxious weeds converts a weed into a useable forage.Item An Assessment of Annual Forages to Extend Grazing for Beef Cattle in South Central North Dakota(North Dakota State University, 2015) Gaugler, Erin MarieThis study was designed to test 3 grazing treatments using 2 cropping systems during 2012 to 2014. Angus crossbred beef heifers in mid-gestation were assigned to treatments from mid-October to late November or early December. Single- and dual-crop systems were subjected to the following grazing treatments: 1) full use, 2) 50 percent degree of disappearance and 3) no use. A drylot served as the control. Herbage production, livestock performance, economic efficiency and soil health were monitored. Costs associated with the cocktail mixture ranged from $37.56 to $44.50/hectare. Average daily gain was highest in the drylot and was the only treatment to provide a positive return per head per day for all years. Returns of the full use grazing treatment were positive 2 of the 3 years and losses were limited compared to other grazing treatments. Grazing provided either neutral or positive soil health characteristics compared to no use.