Use of Supplemental Feeding Locations to Manage Cattle Use on Riparian Areas of Hardwood Rangelands

Abstract

Typical cattle use on two range units of hardwood rangeland (annual rangeland) at the San Joaquin Experimental Range, Madera County, California, left 50 percent of riparian area with less than optimum amounts of residual dry matter (RDM) for promoting seedling growth and soil protection. By relocating supplemental feeding sites away from water sources and into areas of high amounts of RDM, the impact of cattle on riparian areas was greatly reduced. In Range Unit 1, where supplemental feeding sites were relocated, only 1 percent of the riparian area was left with low amounts of RDM. In Range Unit 8, where feeding sites were left unchanged, over 50 percent of the riparian area was left with low amounts of RDM.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the California riparian systems conference: protection, management, and restoration for the 1990s; 1988 September 22-24; Davis, CA.

Citation

McDougald, Neil K.; Frost, William E.; Jones, Dennis E. 1989. Use of Supplemental Feeding Locations to Manage Cattle Use on Riparian Areas of Hardwood Rangelands. In: Abell, Dana L., Technical Coordinator. 1989. Proceedings of the California Riparian Systems Conference: protection, management, and restoration for the 1990s; 1988 September 22-24; Davis, CA. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-110. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 124-126