Examining the impact of patch burning on livestock grazing patterns in Edwards Plateau, Texas

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Weiqian Gao, Department of Ecology & Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, Jay P. Angerer, Department of Range, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, X. Ben Wu, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, Douglas R. Tolleson, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Sonora, TX and John Walker, Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, San Angelo, TX

Background/Question/Methods
Livestock production is a major enterprise on Texas rangelands, especially in the Edwards Plateau region. Historically, fire was not used as a management tool in this region. More recently, prescribed fire has been used, and studies have evaluated cattle use of burned versus unburned vegetation patches. However, there is a paucity of studies examining combinations of livestock species grazing together on patch burned areas. This study’s objective was to examine cattle, sheep and goat’s spatial and temporal grazing patterns on areas where patch burning was implemented on a ranch within a Mesquite-Oak-Savanna ecosystem in Menard County, Texas, USA. In February 2019 and September 2020, patch burns were installed on about 29% of the total ranch area (480 of 1655 ha). After burns, animals from the resident herd were randomly selected and GPS collars placed on 34 goats, 33 sheep, and 8 cows to reflect the species herd proportions. GPS collars were set to collect movement data every 10 minutes during an 18-month period. GPS data were evaluated to determine locations where animals grazed and their preferences for different areas of the landscape. Gates and fences across the ranch were opened and livestock were free to choose areas to graze.
Results/Conclusions
Results of preliminary analyses indicate that cattle and sheep were more attracted to recent burned patches compared to goats. Cattle and sheep increased their visits to the most recent burned patches by 50%, immediately after the burn. Then they reduced their use of the burned pasture and switched to unburned pasture as time since the burn was implemented increased. During peak vegetation biomass in August and September, all three species of livestock increased their visits to burned pastures by an average of 5%. Areas classified as grass vegetation types were visited more frequently by all three livestock species during the daytime (66%-76% grazing time per day) when compared to other land cover types (small shrub, large shrub/tree, and bare ground). This study provides an opportunity to evaluate how the different livestock species use the landscape after patch burning and can provide information to land managers on how patch burning and multi-species livestock grazing would influence their management of these grazing lands. Future work will focus on interpolation of livestock distribution over larger temporal scales by species and seasons, in addition to paired comparisons of GPS locations with camera trap observations of livestock and wildlife species.