H. Destabilization of Fire Regimes In much of the West, fire was the major recycling agent and an important factor in structuring ecological communities. By repeatedly removing the fine litter on grasslands and in forested communities, livestock have substantially changed the role of fire in many ecosystems with disastrous consequences for natural communities. Examples: 1. Permanent invasion of North American grasslands by woody plants: "Field observations and experiments indicate that mesquite trees initiate these invasions, as individual trees appear in the grassland and become foci for clusters of other shrubs that develop in their vicinity. Livestock apparently play a dual role in mesquite invasion. First, they eat mesquite beans and disperse the seeds in their dung. Second, they graze away grass cover that otherwise can (1) outcompete mesquite seedlings and (2) carry fires that kill the young woody plants." (Bock & Bock 1995:200) 2. Alteration of dynamics of upland forests of the interior West: By reducing the abundance of fine fuels which formerly carried frequent, low-intensity fires through forests, livestock contribute to the formation of shade-tolerant, but fire-sensitive dense stands highly susceptible to damage by insects and pathogens. This further contributes to the likelihood of stand-replacing fires. An example of the difference in forest density that can result from livestock grazing was provided Rummell (1951). Two areas, distinguished only by the grazing of livestock, differed markedly in the density of small-diameter trees: 85 per acre in the ungrazed region compared to 3,291 per acre in the grazed. (Belsky & Blumenthal 1997) I. Disease Transmission Many native wildlife species are vulnerable to diseases transferred to them from domestic livestock. Whether that is bighorn sheep which suffer from diseases they contract from domestic sheep or a disease like brucellosis that is causing bison to be shot in Yellowstone to please the livestock industry, the presence of domestic livestock often poses a real threat to native wildlife populations. Examples: 1. "Blue tongue is probably the most serious disease of pronghorn, and cattle are a primary reservoir for this disease. Cattle do not develop clinical or acute symptoms, but are chronic carriers (Thorne et al. 1983)." (Yoakum et al. 1996:219) 2. "Bever (1957) reported 30-40% losses of pronghorn fawn crops on rangelands heavily grazed by domestic sheep in South Dakota. Bever (1957) also reported that pronghorn had higher parasite loads on rangelands grazed by domestic sheep than rangelands grazed by cattle. In Wyoming, illness and deaths of pronghorn fawns have been attributed to parasitic infections that were prevalent on rangelands grazed heavily by sheep." (Yoakum et al. 1996:221) 3. "Co-use of ranges by domestic and bighorn sheep has been consistently linked with declines, die offs, and extinctions of bighorn populations from historical to recent times." (Goodson 1982) J. Forage, Water and Space Competition If we are devoting the majority or even a significant minority of our public lands forage, water, and space to privately owned livestock this only comes at the expense of native species. There is only so much forage. A blade of grass going into a cow is that much less grass for grasshoppers or voles to eat. Fewer grasshoppers or voles means less food for foxes, hawks and trout. Water developments for livestock often results in less water for streams and springs--and less water for native species from trout to otter. Even the mere presence of cows can effectively displace native species. While wolves and grizzlies may not avoid cattle, landscape dominated by cattle are effectively off-limits to these predators. And the reason bison haven't been restored to much of the public lands that are suitable for them is the political opposition from ranchers and use of public lands by their domestic livestock. References Anderson, David C., K.T. Harper & S.R. Rushforth. 1982 (May). Recovery of Cryptogamic Soil Crusts From Grazing on Utah Winter Ranges. Journal of Range Management, 35(3):355-359. Armour, C.L., D.A. Duff & W. Elmore. 1991. The Effects of Livestock Grazing on Riparian and Stream Ecosystems. Fisheries, 16:7-11. Baskin, Yvonne. 1997. The Work of Nature: How the Diversity of Life Sustains Us. Washington, DC: Island Press, 288 pp. Belnap, Jayne. 1993 (31 March). Recovery Rates of Cryptobiotic Crusts: Inoculant Use and Assessment Methods. Great Basin Naturalist, 53(1):89-95. Belnap, Jayne. 1994 (September). Potential Role of Cryptobiotic Soil Crusts in Semiarid Rangelands. Pages 179-185 in Stephen B. Monsen & Stanley G. Kitchen, editors. Proceedings: Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. USDA Forest Service. Intermountain Research Station General Technical Report, INT-GTR-313. Belsky, A. Joy & Dana M. Blumenthal. 1997 (April). Effects of Livestock Grazing on Stand Dynamics and Soils in Upland Forests of the Interior West. Conservation Biology, 11(2):315-327. Belsky, Joy, Andrea Matzke & Shauna Uselman. 1999 (First Quarter). Survey of Livestock Influences On Stream and Riparian Ecosystems in the Western United States. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 54(1):419-431. Bever, W. 1957. The Incidence and Degree of the Parasitic Load Among Antelope and the Development of Field Techniques to Measure Parasitism. South Dakota Department of Fish and Game, Pierre. Federal Aid Wildlife Restoration Project 12-R-14. Job Outline A-5.2. Billings, W.D. 1990. Bromus tectorum, a Biotic Cause of Ecosystem Impoverishment in the Great Basin. Pages 301-322 in G.M. Woodwell, editor. The Earth in Transition: Patterns and Processes of Biotic Impoverishment, Cambridge University Press. Bock, Jane H. & Carl E. Bock. 1995. The Challenges of Grassland Conservation. Pages 199-222 in Anthony Joern & Kathleen H. Keeler, editors. The Changing Prairie: North American Grasslands. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bureau of Land Management. 1998. Public Land Statistics 1998. On the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/natacq/pls98/98PL2-2.PDF. Burkett, Douglas W. & Bruce C. Thompson. 1994 (September). Wildlife Association with Human-Altered Water Sources in Semiarid Vegetation Communities. Conservation Biology, 8(3):682-690. Chaney, Ed, Wayne Elmore & William S. Platts. 1990 (July) (Third Printing August 1991). Livestock Grazing on Western Riparian Areas. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 45 pp. Committee on Government Operations. 1986. Federal Grazing Program: All Is Not Well on the Range. US Government Printing Office. Cooperrider, Allen Y., David S. Wilcove, et al. 1995. Defending the Desert: Conserving Biodiversity on BLM Lands in the Southwest. Environmental Defense Fund, 148 pp. Davies-Colley, R.J., C.W. Hickey, J.M. Quinn & P.A. Ryan. 1992. Effects of Clay Discharges on Streams 1. Optical Properties and Epilithon. Hydrobiologia, 248:215-234. Donahue, Debra L. 1999. The Western Range Revisited: Removing Livestock From Public Lands to Conserve Native Biodiversity. Norman: U. Oklahoma Press, 252 pp. Flather, C.H., L.A. Joyce & C.A. Bloomgarden. 1994. Species Endangerment Patterns in the United States. General Technical Report RM-241. U.S. Forest Service, Ft. Collins, Colorado. Fleischner, Thomas L. 1994 (September). Ecological Costs of Livestock Grazing in Western North America. Conservation Biology, 8(3):629-644. Gelbard, Jonathan L. & A. Joy Belsky. 2000. Livestock Grazing: A Major Cause of Nonindigenous Plant Invasions in the American West. Submitted to Ecological Applications. General Accounting Office. 1992 (June). Rangeland Management: Profile of the Bureau of Land Management's Grazing Allotments and Permits. GAO/RCED-92-213FS, US General Accounting Office. General Accounting Office. 1993 (April). Rangeland Management: Profile of the Forest Service's Grazing Allotments and Permittees. GAO/RCED-93-141FS, US General Accounting Office. Goodson, M.J. 1982. Effects of Domestic Sheep Grazing on Bighorn Sheep Populations: A Review. In Biannual Symposium and Goat Council, 3:287-313. Harris, W.G., H.D. Wang & K.R. Reddy. 1994. Dairy Manure Influence on Soil and Sediment Composition: Implications for Phosphorous Retention. Journal of Environmental Quality, 23:1071-1081. Hess Jr., Karl & Jerry L. Holechek. 1995 (13 July). Beyond the Grazing Fee: An Agenda For Rangeland Reform. Policy Analysis No. 234. Cato Institute, Washington, DC. Hess Jr., Karl & Johanna H. Wald. 1995 (2 October). Grazing Reform: Here's the Answer. High Country News, 27(18). Holechek, Jerry L. 1995 (2 February). The Real Problem Is the Federal Government. Western Beef Producer. Howard, Gary L., Steven R. Johnson & Stanley L. Ponce. 1983 (March/April). Cattle Grazing Impact on Surface Water Quality in a Colorado Front Range Stream. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 124-128. Jacobs, Lynn. 1991. Waste of the West: Public Lands Ranching. Lynn Jacobs, P.O. Box 5784, Tucson, AZ 85703, 602 pp. Johansen, Jeffrey R. & Larry L. St. Clair. 1986 (October). Cryptogamic Soil Crusts: Recovery from Grazing Near Camp Floyd State Park, UT, USA. Great Basin Naturalist, 46(4):632-640. Lemly, D.A. 1982. Modification of Benthic Insect Communities in Polluted Streams: Combined Effects of Sedimentation and Nutrient Enrichment. Hydrobiologia, 87:229-245. Loft, Eric R., John W. Menke & John G. Kie. 1991. Habitat Shifts By Mule Deer: The Influence of Cattle Grazing. Journal of Wildlife Management, 55(1):16-26. Mack, R.N. 1989. Temperate Grasslands Vulnerable to Plant Invasions: Characteristics and Consequences. Pages 155-179 in J.A. Drake, H.A. Mooney, F. Di Castri, R.H. Groves, F.J. Kruger, M. Rejmanek, & M. Williamson, editors. Biological Invasions: A Global Perspective. John Wiley and Sons, Chinchester, Great Britain. Mack, Richard N. & John N. Thompson. 1982 (June). Evolution in Steppe With Few Large, Hooved Mammals. The American Naturalist, 119(6):757-773. Matthews, K.R. 1996. Habitat Selection and Movement Patterns of California Golden Trout in Degraded and Recovering Stream Sections in the Golden Trout Wilderness, California. North American Journal Fish. Management, 16:579-590. Miller, Brian, Geraldo Ceballos & Richard Reading. 1994 (September). The Prairie Dog and Biotic Diversity. Conservation Biology, 8(3):677-681. Mosley, J.C., T.A. Lance, J. W. Walker, D.E. Lucas & C.M. Falter. 1993. How Does Grazing Affect Water Quality? Page 5 in D. Ortiz, editor. Focus on Renewable Natural Resources. Idaho For., Wildl., Range Experiment Station, 1992 Annual Report. Nelson, Robert H. 1997. How to Reform Grazing Policy: Creating Forage Rights on Federal Rangelands. Fordham Environmental Law Journal, 8(3):645-690. Noss, Reed F. & Allen Y. Cooperrider. 1994. Saving Nature's Legacy: Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Washington, DC: Island Press, 416 pp. Ohmart, Robert D. 1996. Historical and Present Impacts of Livestock Grazing on Fish and Wildlife Resources in Western Riparian Habitats. Chapter 16 (pp. 245-279) in Paul R. Krausman, editor. Rangeland Wildlife. Denver, CO: The Society for Range Management. Oppenheimer, Tod. 1996 (January). The Rancher Subsidy. The Atlantic Monthly, 277(1):26-38. Pellant, M, & C. Hall. 1994. Distribution of Two Exotic Grasses on Intermountain Rangelands: Status in 1992. Pages 109-112 in S.B. Monsen & S.G. Kitchen, editors. Proceedings--Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. General Technical Report INT-GTR-313. U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Ogden Utah. Power, Thomas Michael. 1996. Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies: The Search for a Value of Place. Washington, DC: Island Press, 303 pp. Power, Thomas Michael. 1999 (June). The Economic Importance of Livestock Grazing on Federal Lands. (Draft of a chapter written for the Foundation for Deep Ecology publication project on Livestock Grazing on Public Lands) Predator Project. 1997. Wildlife Services? A Presentation and Analysis of the USDA Wildlife Services Program's Expenditures and Kill Figures for Fiscal Year 1996, 8 pp. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. 1993. Public Trust Betrayed: Employee Critique of Bureau of Land Management Rangeland Management. Washington, DC: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, 17 pp. Rickard, W.H. 1985. Experimental Cattle Grazing in a Relatively Undisturbed Shrub-steppe Community. Northwest Science, 59:66-72. Royte, Elizabeth. 1990 (16 Dec.). Showdown In Cattle Country. The New York Times Magazine, 60-70. Rummell, Robert S. 1951. Some Effects of Livestock Grazing on Ponderosa Pine Forest and Range in Central Washington. Ecology, 32:594-607. Schiffman, P.M. 1997. Animal-Mediated Dispersal and Disturbance: Driving Forces Behind Alien Plant Naturalization. Pages 87-94 in J.O. Luken & J.W. Thieret, editors. Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions. Springer-Verlag, New York. Suk T, et al. 1986. Water Contamination with Giardia in Backcountry Areas. Proceedings of the National Wilderness Conference, USDA, Ogden, UT, 238-239. Thorne, E.T., T.J. Walthall & S.L. Anderson. 1983. The Effects of Leptospira Interrogans Serovar Hardjo in Pronghorn Antelope. Pages 38-45 in Wyoming Game and Fish Department Fed. Aid. Wildl. Restor., Proj. CA1, Job BCSWCBG551. Tolsma, D.J., Ernst, W.H.O. & Verwey, R.A. 1987. Nutrients in Soil and Vegetation Around Two Artificial Waterpoints in Eastern Botswana. Journal of Applied Ecology, 24:991-1000. U.S. Department of Interior. 1994. Rangeland Reform '94: Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Bureau of Land Management: Washington, DC. Vegetarian Voice. 1991. News Notes. Dolgeville, NY: North American Vegetarian Society, Vegetarian Voice, 18(3):13. Wagner, Frederic H. 1978. Livestock Grazing and the Livestock Industry. Pages 121-145 (Chapter 9) in Howard P. Brokaw, editor. Wildlife and America. Wallace, Mark C & Paul R. Krausman. 1987 (January). Elk, Mule Deer, and Cattle Habitats in Central Arizona. Journal of Range Management, 40(1):80-83. Whisenant, S. 1990. Changing Fire Frequencies on Idaho's Snake River Plains: Ecological and Management Implications. Pages 4-10 in Proceedings From the Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Dieoff and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. General Technical Report INT-276, U.S. Forest Service, Ogden, Utah. Wilcove, David S., David Rothstein, Jason Dubow, Ali Phillips & Elizabeth Losos. 1998 (August). Quantifying Threats to Imperiled Species in the United States. BioScience, 48(8):607-615. Winegar, Harold H. 1977 (February). Camp Creek Channel Fencing--Plant, Wildlife, Soil, and Water Response. Rangeman's Journal, 4(1):10-12. Wuerthner, George. 1990 (Sept./Oct.). The Price is Wrong. Sierra, 38-43. Yoakum, J.D., B.W. O'Gara & V.W. Howard, Jr. 1996. Pronghorn on Western Rangelands. Chapter 13 (pp. 211-226) in Paul R. Krausman, editor. Rangeland Wildlife. Denver, CO: Society for Range Management. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]