Cattle Use of Riparian Meadows in the Blue Mountains of Northeastern Oregon

The intensity and pattern of cattle use of small riparian meadows were studied by periodically sampling vegetative standing crop and by continuously monitoring meadows with time-lapse photography. Temperature and relative humidity were also measured in riparian and upland plant communities. Herbage standing crop at the end of the grazing season was similar under continuous grazing and the early and late grazing periods of a two pasture deferred-rotation grazing system. Early grazing tended to decrease the total cattle occupation and the frequency of cattle occupation of riparian meadows when compared to continuous grazing. Late grazing tended to increase the frequency of cattle occupation but did not change the total cattle occupation of riparian meadows when compared to continuous grazing. Cattle were present on a given meadow site on about 60% of all days but for only 3-10% of the total daylight period. Cattle occupation of riparian meadows was greater during the afternoon hours. The seasonal pattern of cattle occupation was influenced by the location where cattle entered a pasture but not by seasonal temperatures. Temperature and the temperature-humidity index did not differ between riparian and upland plant communities between 12:00 noon and 6:00 p.m.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202