Rangelands Final Exam

All grasslands are rangelands

True

All shrublands are rangelands

True

All forests are rangelands

False

Rangeland is a land use, not a type of land

False

Rangelands are natural areas without management from humans

False

Grazing includes herbivory and browsing

False

Describe the Beef Bonanza period

We had an influx of livestock that benefited landowners economically with little cost, lead to severe overgrazing

Who is Fredrick Clements?

Created plant succession theory

Who is Arthur Sampson

Father of range management; the range model via integrating successional theory

Integration of praise strips in cropland to support other ecosystem services is an example of what?

Utilitarian

Using beaver dam analogues to restore the ecological integrity to riparian areas is an example of what?

ecological

Placing tires in blowouts to reduce soil erosion in sandy ecological sites is an example of what land ethic?

Economic

Open pit mines are examples of what land ethic

economic

Managing for the middle is an example of what land ethic?

Utilitarian

Beef bonanza is an example of what land ethic?

Economic

What is the largest level of organization below the biosphere?

Biome

Two primary factors for the global distribution of terrestrial biomes

Temperature and Precipitation

What biome type is best described by a bell-curve with similar precipitation and temperature, with precipitation being highest during the summer months

Grasslands

What biome type is best described a bell curve shaped temperature and extremely low precipitation

Desert

Vegetation: drought adapted scrub species

Climate: semi-arid and arid

Fire: rare due to sparse vegetation cover

Desert and Xeric Scrubland

Vegetation: herbaceous plant dominance and a lack of tree cover

Climate: typically 300-1000 mm of precipitation. Maximum precipitation tends to occur in the growing season

Fire: Frequent, low intensity

Grassland

Vegetation: low growing plants that persist over permafrost

Climate: cold, with annual temperatures below 0 degrees

Fire: rare

Tundra

Vegetation: Grass and tree co-dominance

Climate: distinct wet and dry seasons

Fire: frequent, low intensity

Woodland and Savanna

How does climate affect vegetation patterns at the level of biomes?

It influences biomass production and the type of vegetation, like drought adapted plants in deserts, and herbaceous plants in grassland.

What drives climate patterns?

Continental effect, Hadley Cell, latitude effect, topographic effect

What is the Hadley Cell effect?

Dry air picks up moisture while it moves towards equator (desert). Then rises, causing rainfall (rainforests) and hits the atmospheric ceiling, cooling, and then heading back north.

Explain why rain shadows occur on the down wind side of mountain ranges

as wind drives moist air up and over the mountain, it cools, causing precipitation on the windward side

What’s an annual plant?

One growing season

What’s a perrenial plant?

from one growing season to the next

Is a rhizome a stem or a root?

stem

Is a stolon a stem or a root?

stem

Thorns, spines an awns are an example of what plant strategy?

Avoidance

Growth points (meristems) located near the base of the plant is an example of what stategy

tolerance

Development of toxins in lead material is an example of what strategy?

avoidance

Rangelands are managed with ecological principles, while pasturelands are managed with agronomic principles

True

What percentage of ND is comprised of rangeland, today?

32%

Plant succession theory (also known as equilibrium theory) was originally adopted as the foundation of range science, however, it has since been challenged by non-equilibrium ecology which accounts for alternative stable states in rangeland ecosystems (e.g., grassland conversion to woodland).

True

Solar radiation is more concentrated at the poles compared to the equator?

False

_____ climates have large temperature changes throughout the year and experience seasonality

Continental

Climate and fire equally influence the global distribution of biomes

False

If you are burning a portion of a grassland, pasture, how long should you wait before giving cattle access to that area?

No need to wait any amount of time

All wildlife are undomesticated

True

Wild animals that are adopted can be domesticated over a period of days, weeks, or years

False

Introduced or exotic species are those that were unintentionally introduced to a new area outside of their home range

False

Naturalized species are those that

have been introduced to a new area and can reproduce and spread on their own

What cannot digest cellulose?

omnivore and carnivore

In plant cells, the cell wall is made up primarily of starches and sugars

False

Energy, and nutrient demands for reproductive mammals is greatest during

lactation

Fruits, young shoots, and buds are associated with high levels of

cell contents

Grass/roughage selectors can ferment and use cellulose

True

Emery and nutrient supply is greatest during

summer

Concentrate selectors tend to have long retention times to digest low quality foods compared to roughage selects

False

Deer, pronghorn, and rabbit are

concentrate selectors

cattle, bison, sheep, and horse are

grass/roughage selectors

Which of the two herbivores would be expected to have the greatest competition for forage resources, based on annual diet composition?

cattle and horse

ability to traverse steep slopes, heat tolerance, and diet

inherited behaviors

avoidance of poisonous plants and diet preference

learned behaviors

Explain why stocking rate is considered the most important grazing management decision?

Stocking rate balances supply and demand, so the wrong rate could lead to over or under grazing. It drives the vegetation community.

Maintenance is the greatest energy requirement for animals on a yearly basis?

true

What is a standard Animal Unit (AU)

Based on an 1000 lb cow with a 6 month calf or younger

How many pounds of air-dried forage does a single AU eat in a month?

913

Proper utilization rates for mixed grass prairie range from

40-50%

Explain the rationale between the take half, leave half grazing management decision

The take half leave half grazing management decision states that 50% of the forage on a piece of land is used. The other 50% is used for photosynthesis, litter, wildlife, habitat, and soil protection from wind erosion. Of that 50%, 25% is actually eaten, which is the harvest efficiency.

On average, what percentage of forage biomass is consumed/harvested/eaten by grazing animals under 50% utilization (e.g., harvest efficiency)?

25%

Gains per animal are highest when stocking rate is light

True

Gains per acre are highest when stocking rate is heavy

True

Explain one reason why managers set stocking rates below carrying capacity in rangelands

To account for low production years.

Fire can be used to manage livestock distribution because livestock will avoid recently burned areas for the first growing season after fire.

False

Livestock can travel farther from water sources on flat and sandy land compared to flat land.

False

Fire kills woody plants and promotes grass dominance. Grass dominance promotes more fire, which kills woody plants and further promotes grass dominance.

ecological feedback loop

People maintain productive rangelands, productive rangelands support the livelihood of people, those people manage and maintain productive rangelands

social ecological

Prescibed fire restores lost forage production, neighbors see and adopt. The community forms a new prescibed burn association

destabilizing or positive feedback

People maintain productive rangeland systems. productive rangeland systems support livelihood, those people manage and maintain productive rangelands

stabilizing or negative feedback loops

Which one of the following is associated with the severe changes in the provisioning of ecosystem services?

State transitions

Cattle breed influences, to some degree, how far cattle can travel from water, the topography they can traverse, and their ability to tolerate climate extremes (e.g., heat, cold, aridity).

True

Wool is an example of what ecosystem service type

provisioning ecosystem services

Soil erosion control is an example of what ecosystem service

regulating ecosystem service

Hunting is an example of what ecosystem service

Cultural

Beef is an example of what ecosystem service

provisioning

lifestyle is an example of what ecosystem service

cultural

Which of the following can be used to provide effective rest after a grazing period (select all that apply)?

Rotational and patch-burn grazing

Photosynthesis is an example of

supporting

Who benefits from rangeland ecosystem services?

Everyone

Explain the difference between overgrazing and overstocking.

Overgrazing is over a long period of time and involves heavy grazing that results in damage to plant community and can happen when land is overstocked for too long or too frequently. Overstocking is over short periods of time and may or may not result in overgrazing. Land managers use overstocking to reach management goals.

Plants are most sensitive to grazing during...

flowering/seed set

Explain how a rangeland manager could manage the distribution of cattle over time to ensure that the same areas are not grazed during sensitive periods year after year. (1-4 sentences)

Use patch-burn grazing to drive changes in cattle distribution over time.

Use a rotation system to provide pasture with rest.

Fence off areas that were grazed during sensitive times in previous years.

Grassland bird populations in North America are....

declining overall

The extent of grasslands in the Great Plains is..

declining

Some wildlife species are immediately attracted to burned areas.

True

Some wildlife species are attracted to areas that have not been burned for several years.

True

Explain how the interaction between fire and grazing can increase the complexity/diversity of rangeland vegetation structure in the Great Plains

Patch-burn grazing results in a patchy structure in grasslands where patches range in structure from open habitats (recently burned areas) with little cover to dense plant cover (patches with longer times since fire).

Explain why complex/diverse structure in rangelands is important for grassland bird diversity

Different bird species have different habitat requirements and so diversity in grassland structure supports more species than simplified rangelands that accommodate a narrow range of habitat requirements.

Plant succession describes a linear change in plant communities over time

True

What term best describes plant community changes following a wildfire?

Secondary Succession

What term best describes plant community changes on a newly emerged volcanic island?

Primary Succession

The climax or potential natural community is the end point of plant succession

True

______ is the theoretical foundation of the range model

succesion

The range model works well in describing how grazing management can be used to regulate grassland plant communities in the Great Plains

True

Alternative stable states, states, or regimes refer to

Different ecosystems maintained by distinct stabilizing feedbacks and separated by state transitions or regime shifts

Ecological resilience is defined by

the capacity of systems to absorb disturbances and reorganize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks.