Changes on a Sagebrush-Grass Range in Nevada Ungrazed for 30 Years

Abstract

Thirty years rest enabled a 20-acre tract of eroded sagebrush-grass range in northern Nevada to increase its vegetal cover in all life forms. The cover of perennial forbs increased the most, 85%. Thurber needlegrass increased 7 fold. Only annual forbs and locoweed declined. Bluebunch wheatgrass was reestablishing naturally in favored spots. Newly cleared and seeded range outside the exclosure produced three times as much grass forage as produced after long rest without clearing.