The Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series is a 9-part online publication that provides owners and leasees of California rangelands with a comprehensive source of information pertinent to the management and enjoyment of these lands. This information will help you formulate and implement strategies for achieving your personal goals as a landowner.

Part 1 is an overview of the characteristics that define a Mediterranean Climate.

This publication provides an overview of the research and practices for brush and weed control, seeding, and fertilization. Also covered are practices that reduce seasonal gaps in forage availability and quality and the economics of vegetation management.

While increasing carrying capacity by producing more forage remains an important objective, ranchers and public agencies also manage for fire hazard reduction, improved water quality, air quality, and biodiversity. In addition, suppressing introduced species and restoring native species has become a major theme among conservation organizations and some government agencies. 

The Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands Series is a 9-part online publication that provides owners and leasees of California rangelands with a comprehensive source of information pertinent to the management and enjoyment of these lands. This information will help you formulate and implement strategies for achieving your personal goals as a landowner.

Range livestock production developed as an enterprise with the colonization of California by the Spanish and their formation of ranches or ranchos, and it expanded rapidly during early statehood. The development of improved animal management and range management practices ensured that the industry would continue its dominance in California agriculture throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century.

Livestock grazing remains a common practice on California’s hardwood rangelands. This can create problems for oak regeneration because grazing has been identified as one of the factors limiting the establishment of certain oak species. Previous research, as well as recent studies at the UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center, suggests that cattle will damage both planted and/or naturally occurring oaks, but damage varies by season with less during the winter when deciduous oaks do not have leaves. Damage is also influenced by the density and distribution of cattle stocking. Oaks taller than 6.5 feet seem relatively resistant to cattle damage in lightly to moderately grazed pastures, but smaller seedlings need protection.

The response of vegetation, livestock, and ecosystems to grazing is complex, and grazing managers are confronted with a variety of grazing strategies or systems that are sometimes hard to compare or evaluate.

This publication covers what are commonly known as the four components of grazing—intensity, season, frequency, and duration—and their effects on annual rangelands. We will discuss why grazing management research results sometimes conflict with experience. And you will get an overview of the adaptive management process of planning, implementation, and learning that grazing managers can use to help them cope with complexity and knowledge.