Search

How much forage can be removed from ranges by grazing without reducing later yields? This is the crucial question of proper range use. Various standards have been devised, each based on some important consideration in range welfare or livestock management. Common criteria are the physiological responses of certain key plants, observed "improvement" of the range, or condition of the animals. These guides have been useful in improving range management. But many ranges managed by them have continued to waste away, or have met disaster from drought. A reexamination of utilization standards seems in order. This paper proposes to consider range utilization from the viewpoint of bioecology, and to examine available information on the requirements of site protection as an essential of safe range use.