An analysis of the range forage situation in the United States: 1989-2040

Abstract

Range vegetation is defined as grasses, grass-like plants, forbs, and shrubs. When the plant community is dominated by this type of vegetation, the land is referred to as rangeland. Rangelands predominate in the western United States as natural grasslands, shrublands, savannas, deserts, tundra, alpine, coastal marshes, and wet meadows. In the eastern United States, rangelands occur as tallgrass prairie, marshes, or wet meadows. Riparian ecosystems and plant communities dominated by introduced species are also considered rangeland. About 34% or 770 million acres of the total land base in the United States is rangeland.

Citation

Joyce, Linda A. 1989. An analysis of the range forage situation in the United States: 1989-2040. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-GTR-180. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 136 p.