Pilot study to assess northern bobwhite response to short-duration intensive grazing on Tamarack State Wildlife Area

Pilot study to assess northern bobwhite response to short-duration intensive grazing on Tamarack State Wildlife Area

Widespread suppression of historic disturbance regimes have reduced heterogeneity in vegetation communities on which many wildlife rely for various life events and stages. Northern bobwhites require areas of thicker grass cover for nesting within close proximity to more open areas with bare ground and abundant food producing forbs for brood rearing and feeding. Altered or eliminated vegetation disturbance has been implicated in the rangewide decline of northern bobwhite populations. Lack of disturbance on state wildlife areas in Northeast Colorado has caused the vegetation to become uniformly dense and tall which is likely not meeting the needs of all parts of the northern bobwhite life cycle. Some type of disturbance is required to reduce the vegetation biomass and create some of the open structure on which bobwhites rely. Grazing represents one of the only options for disturbance at Tamarack State Wildlife Area and other similar riparian areas in northeast Colorado. Whereas unmanaged continuous grazing has been linked to degradation of bobwhite habitat quality, short-duration intensive grazing holds promise to reduce the vegetation biomass and rejuvenate the habitat to become more attractive to bobwhites.

Behney, Adam C.

Northern bobwhites

Northeast Colorado

Tamarack State Wildlife Area

Wildlife management

14 pages

2016-10-28

Text

application/pdf

English