Society for Range Management

Stocking Rate, Precipitation, and Herbage Production on Sand Sagebrush-Grassland Author(s): Robert L. Gillen and Phillip L. Sims Source: Journal of Range Management, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Mar., 2004), pp. 148-152 Published by: Allen Press and Society for Range Management Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4003912 . Accessed: 12/11/2013 06:46
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J. Range Manage. 57:148-152 March2004

Stocking rate, precipitation, and herbage production on sand sagebrush-grassland

ROBERTL. GILLENAND PHILLIPL. SIMS
Authorsare RangelandScientists, SouthernPlains Range Research Station, USDA-ARS, 2000 18th Street, Woodward,Okla. 73801.

Abstract
Knowledge of the relationship betweenstockingrate or grazing intensityand plant productionis fundamental to the sustainable management of rangelands.The generalmanagement paradigm is that plant productiondeclinesas stockingrate increases.Our objectivewas to determinethe impactof stockingrate on herbaceous productionof a sand sagebrush(Artemisiafilifolia Torr.)grassland.Stockingrates averaging43, 57, and 85 animal-unitdays ha-' (AUD ha-1)for year-roundgrazingwere appliedfrom 1941 to 1961. Herbaceousplant productionwas determinedby samplingstandingcrop in temporaryexclosuresat the end of the growingseasonfrom 1958to 1961,the last 4 years of the grazing study.Total herbaceous productionaveragedover stockingrates and yearswas 1,490kg ha-'.Grassescontributed 89%of the total while forbs contributed11%. Total productionaveraged1,540, 1,470,and 1,450kg ha-'for stockingrates of 43, 57, and 85 AUD ha-' y-', respectively.There were no differencesamong stocking ratesfor total productionor for the productionof any individual grassspecies(P > 0.05).Forb production was also not affectedby stocking rate, averaging200, 140, and 120 kg ha-' for stocking ratesof 43, 57, and 85 AUD ha-'y-l (P > 0.05). Differences in productionamongyears were much greaterthan differencesamong stocking rates for all vegetation components. Little bluestem

Resumen

El conocimiento de la relacionentrela cargaanimalo la intensidad del apacentamientocon la produccionde las plantas es fundamentalpara un manejo sustentablede los pastizales. El paradigmageneralde manejoes que la produccion de la planta disminuyeal incrementarla carga animal.Nuestroobjetivofue determinarel impactode la carga animalen la produccion herbaicea de un una comunidad de "Sandsagebrush" (Artemisia filifolia Torr.)-pastizal.De 1941a 1961se aplicaron cargasanimal que promediaron 43, 57, y 85 unidades-animal-dia ha-' (AUD ha-1) bajo un sistema de apacentamiento continuo.La produccion herbakcea se determinomuestreando la biomasaen pie dentro de exclusiones al final de la estacionde crecimientemporales to de los utltimos 4 ainos del estudiode apacentamiento (de 1958a 1961).La producciontotal herbatcea promediode todas las cargas animalfue de 1,490kg ha-'.Los zacatescontribuyeron con el 89% del total mientras que las hierbas aportaronel 11%. La producci6ntotal promedio 1,540, 1,470y 1,450 kg ha'1para las cargasde 43, 57, y 85 AUD ha-'ano-'respectivamente. No hubo diferenciaentre las cargasanimalrespectoa la produccion total ni para la produccion de las especiesindividuales de zacates(P > 0.05). La produccion de hierbas tampoco fue afectada por la carga animal,promediando 200, 140, y 120 kg ha-'para las cargas animalde 43, 57, y 85 AUDha-'afio' (P > 0.05). Las diferen[Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash] and sand lovegrass [Eragrostis trichodes (Nutt.)Wood]showedthe greatestresponses cias en produccionentre afios fueron mucho mayores que las to favorable precipitation.Herbaceousproductionof this sand diferencias entre cargas animal, esto fue igual para todos los was little affectedby 20 years of differential componentes de la vegetacion. El "Little bluestem" sagebrush-grassland [Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash] y "Sand lovegrass" stockingrates. [Eragrostis trichodes (Nutt.)Wood]mostraronla mayorrespuesta a la precipitacion favorable.La producci6n de esta comunidad (Artemisiafilifolia Torr.)-pastizalfue poco KeyWords:grazingintensity, mixedprairie,biomass, composition de "Sandsagebrush" afectadapor los 20 a-nos cargas animalesdiferenciales a las que estuvosometida. Knowledgeof the relationships between stockingrate or grazing intensityand plantproduction is fundamental to the sustainable management of rangelands.Stockingrate is generallyconsideredthe primary factorin grazingmanagement of GreatPlains grasslands overperiodsof 10 or moreyears.The generalmanageThe authorsacknowledgethe contributions of D. A. Savage (deceased),E. H. ment paradigm is that plantproduction declines as stockingrate Mcllvain(retired), M. C. Shoop(retired), the Southern PlainsExperimental Range and SherryDewaldand otherpersonnel technicians, at the Southern PlainsRange increases(Holecheket al. 1995). ResearchStationfor theirassistancein this work. The cooperation and contribuA global analysis of grazing intensity and plant production tion to the research of the Pecos Anderson Family,owners,Canadian RiverCattle foundthatas grazingintensityincreases,aboveground net primaCo., Canadian, Tex., is appreciated. ry productivitygenerally decreases (Milchunasand Lauenroth All programs andservicesof the U. S. Department of Agriculture areofferedon a nondiscriminatory basis withoutregardto race, color, nationalorigin,religion, 1993). However, the relationshipwas weak and dependenton overall site productivity and evolutionary history of grazing. sex, age, marital statusor handicap. Names are necessaryto reportfactuallyon availabledata,however,the USDA Previousstudieson sandyrangelands in the westernGreatPlains neitherguaranteesnor warrants the standard of the product,and the use of the reported a decrease of 20 to 25% in annual herbaceous producnameby USDA impliesno approval of the product to the exclusionof othersthat tion over time as stocking rates were doubled (Burzlaff and may also be suitable. Harris1969, Sims et al. 1976). Responsesof individualspecies Manuscript accepted24 Jun.03.
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were variablewith little changein 1 study (BurzlaffandHarris1969) andcleardirectionalchangesfor individualspecies in the secondstudy(Sims et al. 1976). A 20-yearresearchprojectwas initiated in 1941at the Southern PlainsExperimental Rangeto determine the impactof stocking of the rate on sand sagebrush-grassland SouthernGreatPlains. This paperreports the responseof herbaceousproductionto differentstocking rates as measuredover thefinal4 yearsof thislong-term study.Our hypothesiswas thatherbaceous production woulddeclineas stocking rateincreased.

grazing season (13 Nov. to 29 Sep.). During the cow-calf phase of the study, from 1952 to 1961, the stockingrateswere increasedslightly to 45, 60, and 87 AUD ha-' y-', and cattle grazed the pastures This resultedin averagestockyear-round. ing ratesover the entireperiodof studyof 43, 57, and 85 AUD ha-' y'. The middle stockingratewas set so that approximately 2/3 of the annual herbage production would be utilized by the end of the dormant season, about April 20 (Shoop and Mcllvain 1971). This resultedin a 25-mm stubble on the shortgrassesand a 75- to 100-mmstubbleon the tall grassesby late winter.

Data Analyses
data were analyzed Herbageproduction as a completelyrandomized design using analysis-of-variancewith repeated measures.Stockingratewas the mainplot factor and year was the repeated factor. Separate analyses were performed for all individual grasses that contributed more than 5% of annual herbaceous production, total grasses, forbs, and total herbaceous production. PROC MIXED (Version 8; SAS Institute Inc., 1999) was used for all analyses with the covariance structure specified as first-order autoregressive. If treatment effects were significant (P < 0.05), all pair-wise comparisons were made within a given treatment. The Tukey procedure was used to adjust P-values for these families of comparisons.

Materials and Methods

The Southern Plains Experimental Annual production was estimated by Range (SPER) is located in northwestern samplingherbagestandingcrop in excloOklahoma 27 km northwest of Woodward suresin all treatment at the end of pastures (990 23' W, 360 27' N, elevation 610-640 the growingseasonfrom 1958 to 1961,the m). The long-term(1940 to 2000) average last 4 yearsof the grazingstudy.The averprecipitation is 576 mm with 77% of this age sample date was 5 Novemberwith a amount occurring during the April-to- range from early October to late October growingseason. November. The landscape is gently rolling, stabiStanding crop of herbage was deterlized sand dunes frequentlyinterspersed mined using the micro-unitforage invenwith areas of heavier-textured soils with tory method described by Shoop and no well-defined drainage patterns. Eda Mcllvain(1963), a variation of the weightloamy sands(formerly designatedas Pratt; estimate method (Pechanecand Pickford mixed, thermicLamellic Ustipsamments) 1937). All measurements were estimates. are on lower slopes and interduneareas, Shoop and Mcllvain (1963) reportedthat and Tivoli fine sands (mixed, thermic the methodtendedto underestimate standTypic Ustipsamments) occur on upper ing crop by about 8% comparedto clipslopes. The vegetation is dominated by ping. Maintenance of accuracy was sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia Torr.), addressed by using experiencedfield perwhich had an average canopy cover of sonnel who trainedbefore samplingperi38% during the period of study. The ods and checked their estimates by clipherbaceous understory is a mixtureof tall, ping abouteverytenthplot. mid, and short warm-seasongrasses, and Fourquadrats, 0.29 x 0.61 m, were estiforbs. Classified as sandsage-bluestem matedwithin portablebarbed-wire exclo(Artemisia-Andropogon) prairie by sures measuring 3.7 x 3.7 m. Twenty Kuchler(1964, 1975), this vegetationtype exclosures were placed in each pasture dominatesthe landscapealong the major and were moved to new locations each rivers that flow diagonally across the year. Standing crop of current year's Southern Plains(Berg 1994). herbage was recorded separatelyfor the most prominent grassesand for forbs as a group. Grasses estimated separately ExperimentalTreatments A range of grazingintensitytreatments included sand bluestem [Andropogon halwas selected to determinethe sustainable lii Hack.], little bluestem [Schizachyrium level of long-term forageutilization. Three scoparium(Michx.)Nash], sandlovegrass stocking rates with continuous grazing [Eragrostis trichodes (Nutt.) Wood], sand were initiatedin 1941 with 2 replications. paspalum [Paspalum setaceum Michx.], Treatment pastures rangedin size from43 fall witchgrass [Digitaria cognata var. to 86 ha. For the 1941 to 1951 period,the cognata (J.A. Schultes) Pilger], sand 3 stockingratetreatments were41, 53, and dropseed [Sporobolus cryptandrus (Torr.) 82 animal-unit-days (AUD) ha-' y'l (Sims Gray], and blue grama [Bouteloua gracilis and Gillen 1999). Each steer was 0.67 (Willd. ex Kunth)Lag. ex Griffiths].All animal unit, based on average initial othergrasseswere lumpedinto a miscellaweight of 213 + 11 kg (SE) and an aver- neous grasscomponent. age gain of 168 kg hd'1for the 320-day

Herbage measurements

Results Precipitation
Precipitation patterns can be grouped into 3 distinct periods over the course of the study (Fig. 1). Precipitation from 1941

to 1950 averaged659 mm, which is 14%

above the long-term average of 576 mm. A severe drought occurred from 1951 until 1956. During this period, annual precipitation averaged 393 mm, about 64% of the long-term average, winter precipitation was consistently below the norm, and summer rainfall exceeded the average only in 1955. Precipitation was again high, averaging 765 mm, in the period 1957 to 1961. Summer and annual precipitation was above average every year during this period. Our data were collected during a period of favorable precipitation when the vegetation was recovering from a major drought.

Annual Production
Total annual production from herbaceous species was 1,490 kg ha-' when averaged over stocking rates and years. Grasses comprised 89% of the herbaceous standing crop and 11% was contributed by forbs. Six grasses individually contributed between 10 and 15% of total production, the 3 most productive were blue grama, sand lovegrass, and sand paspalum. Common forbs included annual buckwheat (Eriogonum annuum Nutt.), horseweed (Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq.), and whitemouth dayflower (Commelina erecta L.).

StockingRate Effects.After17 to 20
years of treatment, stockingrate had little impact on herbaceousproduction.There were no differencesamong stockingrates
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1000

Winter

Summer

Annual

grama showed little response over time but relativecompositionof these 2 grasses decreased. Forbproduction fluctuated over yearswith no discernable trend.

800
Discussion

600
400

200

40

45

50

55

60 40

45

50

55

60

40

45

50

55

60

Year
Fig. 1. Winter, summer, and annual precipitation (mm) from 1940 to 1961 at the Southern Plains ExperimentalRange, Fort Supply, Okla. Horizontal lines indicate long-term averages (1940-2000).

Herbaceous production of this sand sagebrush-grassland was little affected by 20 years of differential stocking rates. Previousstudieson sandyrangeland in the western GreatPlains reportedreductions in herbaceous production as stockingrate increased.Over the last 3 years of a 10year study in Nebraska, Burzlaff and Harris(1969) reported herbaceous production declined by 21% when stocking rate was doubled. Similarly, over the final 4 years of a 9-year studyin Colorado,Sims et al. (1976) found a reductionof 24% in herbaceous production as stocking rate doubled.On average,herbaceousproduction declined in these studies by 11.8 kg ha-' for each increase of 1 AUD ha-' in stocking rate. In the current study this ratio was 0.2 and the reductionin herbaceous production was not significant.

for total production or for the production of any component (Table 1, P > 0.05). This lack of impact was consistent over years as the stockingrate-by-year interaction was not significant for any component(P > 0.05). Relativecompositionwas not impacted by stocking rate with 1 exception (Table 1). Sand dropseed was affected by the interaction of stockingrateandyear(Table 2, P = 0.02). The relativecompositionof sanddropseed was similaramongstocking ratesfor the first 3 years but increasedat the higheststockingratein 1961.

Year Effects. Production varied (P < of sand dropseed 0.05) over yearsfor all components except Table2. Relativecomposition as affected by the interaction of stocking rate blue grama(Table 3). Relative composiand year. tion also variedover years for most components; the exceptions were sand Year bluestem and sand paspalum (Table 3). Stocking rate Littlebluestemand sandlovegrasshad the (AUD ha' y-1) 1958 1959 1960 1961 largestdirectionalchanges over the study - ............... (%) -% IOa period.Production increasedby factorsof 43 17' 7b 5a 8a 5a 6 for little bluestemand 10 for sandlove- 57 17a 6b 6a 6a 1Sa 14a grass between 1958 and 1961. Relative 85 2 2 2 2 composition also showed large positive SE responses over time for these 2 grasses. Means within year followed by different letters are sigProduction of sand dropseed and blue nificantlydifferent,P < 0.05. There were distinctdifferencesin sand sagebrushpopulations at these different study sites which could have affected the responses of herbaceous vegetation to grazing.The averagecanopycover of sand sagebrushwas 38% in the currentstudy. At the Nebraska had a site, "somepastures population of sand sagebrush" but the abundance was not high enoughto warrant measurement (Burzlaffand Harris 1969). At the Coloradosite, the canopycover of sand sagebrush was less than7% (Sims et al. 1976).We expectedthathigherpopulations of the dominant, unpalatablesand sagebrush would increase the impact of stocking rate on the herbaceouscomponent because of greatercompetition.This did not occur.

Table 1. Herbaceous production and relative composition as affected by stocking rate, 1958-1961. Production Stocking rate (AUD ha-' y-f 57 85 Relative composition Stocking rate (AUD ha-' y-') 57 85 SE 4 10 18 15 14 9 7 14 90 10 4 6 9 13 12 10 23 15 91 9 1 2 2 3 2 2 7 1 1 1

Vegetation Component Sand bluestem Little bluestem Sand lovegrass Sand paspalum Fall witchgrass Sand dropseed Blue grama Othergrasses Total grasses Forbs Total herbage

43

SE 10 25 40 30 20 30 140 15 120 20 140

43 4 11 15 12 10
l02

---------(kg ha) ---(% 60' 70 50 180 160 80 270 280 130 180 210 190 150 200 160 140 130 170 210 90 330 160 200 210 1,340 1,330 1,330 200 140 120 1,540 1,470 1,450

14 10 86 14

'Main effect of stocking rate is not significantfor any component,P > 0.05. 2Significantstocking rate by year interaction,P = 0.02.

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Table 3. Herbaceous production and relative composition as affected by year, averaged over stocking rate. Production Year Vegetation component Sand bluestem Little bluestem Sand lovegrass Sand paspalum Fall witchgrass Sand dropseed Blue grama Othergrasses Total grasses
Forbs Total herbage

Relative composition Year 1961

l0Oa 290a 5i0a

1958
50b1

1959
30b

1960 ha-')------------50b 240b

SE
10

1958

1959

1960

1961

SE

-------------(kg 50c
50d

------------(%--

4
4C

3
b

4
8bc

5
14a

1
2 2 3 2 1 5 2
1

g9 O20b
120c 130b 140b 80b 230a 130b
940c 60c 1,000C

180b 106b 220a 260a 250a

1,150b 21 b 1,360b

150b 2lOa 80, 160a 170b 1,190b 300a

1,480b

320a 24oa 200a

I90a

220a 2,060a
50C 2,1 O0a

25 35 30 20 20 80 20
80 20 90

3C
14 8b 162
17ab

12b 14
14a

16b 10
iSa

24a 16
Iiab

8
22a
131b

5
ilb

9
9b 1ob

18a 84 16
---

94a 6c
---

80c 20a
---

98a 2C

1
---

IMeanswithin componentfollowed by differentlettersare significantlydifferent,P < 0.05. 2Significantstocking rateby year interaction,P = 0.02.

Companionhydrologicalstudies at our study site suggestedthat herbaceousproduction would be negatively affected by stockingrate.Rhoadeset al. (1964), working in the same pastures on Eda soils, found water infiltrationrates of 118, 91, and58 mm hr-'underthe stockingratesof 43, 57, and 85 AUD ha-'y1, respectively. It mightbe expectedthat such differences in the rateof waterinfiltration into the soil would reduce average soil water content andplantproduction. the infilApparently tration rate at 85 AUD ha-' y-' was not below a critical level that would impact overallwaterrelations,even thoughit was only 50% of the infiltration rateunderthe lowest stockingrateof 43 AUD ha-'y'. Milchunasand Lauenroth (1993) found that the relationship between grazing intensity and above-groundnet primary production (ANPP) was weak when viewed over a wide range of environments. While most studiesreportednegative impactsof grazingon ANPP,a significant proportion found no impact or a smallpositiveimpact.In theircomparative analyses(Milchunas andLauenroth 1993), grazingintensity had the smallest impact in grasslands with relatively low ANPP anda long evolutionary historyof grazing, both of which are characteristicsof our study site (Sims and Singh 1978, Sala et al. 1988). We detected no practical changes in species composition caused by stocking rate. Burzlaff and Harris (1969) also reported no largechangesin species composition due to stocking rate on sandy rangeland. However, Sims et al. (1976) observed directional changes in several species at higher stocking rates. While blue gramaincreasedin the studyof Sims

et al. (1976), this species was highly variable and did not respondto stockingrate in the current study.As with totalproduction, species composition was relatively insensitive to stocking rate in this sand sagebrush-grassland. Herbaceous production was more responsive to weather than to stocking rate.The differencesin production among years were much greaterthan the differences amongstockingratesfor all components. Little bluestemand sand lovegrass showed the greatestresponsesto periods of favorableprecipitation. These 2 species would be most useful as indicators of precipitationtrends.On the otherhand, sand dropseedandblue gramawere not responsive to precipitation and, as a result,their relative contributionto total production declinedduringa periodof increasedprecipitation. Milchunas et al. (1994) hypothesized thatlong-term heavy grazingmightreduce the ability of a grasslandto increaseproductionin yearsof favorable precipitation. However,when testing this hypothesisin shortgrasssteppe Milchunaset al. (1994) found that heavy grazing did not reduce production potential in years with high precipitation.Our results also reject this hypothesis since herbaceous production responded to favorable precipitation equally well at all stockingratesthroughout the measurement period. Thereis a commonperception in grassland managementthat forbs increase as stocking rates increase. This is based on the logic thatcattleprefergrassesandalter the competitive interactions between grasses and forbs at high stocking rates. Forb standing crop was not affected by stocking rate in the last 4 years of this study. During the first 10 years, basal

cover of perennial forbs was lower at a stocking rate of 85 AUD ha-' y-' than at either43 or 57 AUD ha-I y', which had similar covers of perennial forbs (Sims and Gillen 1999). Basal cover of annual forbs was not affected by stocking rate. Annuals dominatedthe forb community with 4 to 6 times more basal area than perennials (Sims and Gillen 1999). We hypothesizethat these annualforbs were moreresponsiveto variations in precipitation than to stocking rate. Burzlaff and Harris(1969) and Sims et al. (1976) also found thatforbs did not respondto stocking ratetreatments on sandysoils. On the other hand, at this same study site, standingcrop of both perennialand annualforbs was lower in areasexcluded from grazing for over 50 years than in adjacentareasgrazedat rates of 50 to 55 AUD ha-'y-' (Berg et al. 1997). This suggests that the simple presenceor absence of grazing is more important than the intensityof grazing.The responseof forbs to stockingrate appearsto be more complex than previously recognized and the current modelthatpredictslinearincreases in forbs as stockingrates increaseshould be reconsidered. Sustainablemanagementrequiresconsideration of bothbiologicalandeconomic sustainability. The rangeof stockingrates in this study appears to be biologically sustainable,in terms of herbaceousproduction, since no large negative effects were noted after 20 years. Economicsustainabilityis dependenton livestock performanceand therewere clear differences among stocking rates for that variable (Sims and Gillen 1999, Gillen and Sims 2002). Economic returns from yearling steer grazing duringthe first 10 years of this study were maximized at a stocking
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rate above the range of our experimental Holechek, J.L., R.D. Pieper, and C.H. Sala, O.E., W.J. Parton, L.A. Joyce, and Herbel. 1995. Range Management, W.K. Lauenroth. 1988. Primary production stocking rates (Sims and Gillen 1999). Practices. Ed. Prentice 2nd Principles and of of the United the central grassland region on Therefore, we cannotdrawconclusions Hall,EnglewoodCliffs, N.J. States.Ecol. 69:40-45. the sustainability of profit-maximizing stocking rates for yearling steers. Kuchler, A.W. 1964. Potentialnaturalvegeta- SAS Institute Inc. 1999. SAS/STAT User's tion of the conterminous United States. Guide, Version 8. SAS InstituteInc., Cary, Economic returnsfrom cow-calf producAmer. Geograph.Soc. Spec. Pub. 36, New N.C. tion from 1954 to 1961 were maximizedat York,N.Y. M.C. and E.H. Mcllvain. 1963. The Shoop, 68 AUD ha-'y-1(Gillen and Sims 2002), a Kuchler, A.W. 1975. Potentialnaturalvegetamicro-unit forage inventory method. J. to be sustainable tion of the conterminous United States stockingratethatappears RangeManage.16:172-179. in termsof herbaceous production. [Mapl.Amer. Geograph. Soc., New York, and
E.H. Mcllvain. 1971. Why Shoop, M.C. N.Y. some cattlemenovergraze- and some don't. Milchunas,D.G. and W.K. Lauenroth. 1993. J. RangeManage.24:252-257. Quantitative effects of grazingon vegetation Sims, P.L. and R.L. Gillen. 1999. Rangeland Literature Cited and soils over a global range of environand steer responses to grazing in the ments.Ecol. Monogr.63:327-366. Southern Plains. J. Range Manage. Berg, W.A. 1994. Sand sagebrush-mixed Milchunas, D.G., J.R. Forwood, and W.K. 55:651-660. prairie, p. 99. In: T.N. Shiflet (ed.) Lauenroth. 1994. Productivity of long-term Rangelandcover types of the United States. P.L. and J.S. Singh. 1978. The structure Sims, grazing treatmentsin response to seasonal Soc. RangeManage.,Denver,Colo. and functionof ten westernNorthAmerican precipitation. J. Range Manage. 47:133-139. Berg, W.A., J.A. Bradford, and P.L. Sims. grasslands: III. Net primary production, 1997. Long-term soil nitrogenandvegetation Pechanec, J.F. and G.D. Pickford. 1937. A turnoverand efficiencies of energy capture estimate method for weight the determination change on sandhill rangeland. J. Range andwateruse. J. Ecol. 66:573-597. of range or pasture production. Agron. J. Manage.50:482-486. Sims, P.L., B.E. Dahl, and A.H. Denham. 29:894-904. Burzlaff, D.F. and L. Harris. 1969. Yearling 1976. Vegetationand livestock response at steergains andvegetationchangesof western Rhoades,E.D., L.F. Locke, H.M. Taylor, and three grazing intensities on sandhill rangeE.H. Mcllvain, E.H. 1964. Waterintakeon Nebraska rangeland under three rates of land in eastern Colorado. Colo. Agr. Exp. a sandyrangeas affectedby 20 yearsof difstocking. Nebr. Agr. Exp. Sta. SB-505. Sta.Tech.Bull. 130. Ft. Collins,Colo. Lincoln,Nebr. ferential cattle stocking rates. J. Range Gillen, R.L. and P.L. Sims. 2002. Stocking Manage.17:185-190. rate and cow-calf productionon sand sagebrush rangeland. J. Range Manage. 55:542-550.

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