Management of feral equids in the American West is hindered by the lack of a formal habitat map and monitoring system. To address this shortcoming, we developed a method based on annual metrics of water accessibility and forage availability to map the dynamic rangelands where free-roaming equids (FRE) are found in the western United States. Usable space, defined here as an area that provides the necessary forage and water to sustain a population of free-roaming equids annually, was mapped for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered Herd Management Areas (HMA), an area covering 107,434 km2 across 10 western states. We ranked usable space in 3 simple categories representing low, moderate, and high-quality habitats annually during 1984-2021. The resulting maps displayed a high temporal correlation with the FRE locations derived from aerial population surveys conducted by BLM at triennial intervals across the distribution of FRE. Resultant maps can be used for monitoring changes in habitat, and detection of degradation/enhancement for each individual HMA on an annual basis. Lastly, we ranked mapping units based on their resilience to changes in precipitation and, therefore, the ability to maintain greater proportions of high-quality habitats through time. From high to low, rankings for HMAs that retained the most high-quality usable space were found in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, whereas most of the low-quality rankings were found in Oregon and Idaho. The approach described herein has utility for planning aerial surveys, establishing long-term range monitoring stations, identifying areas for manipulating water availability, or siting habitat restoration activities.

Resource matching can be a common assumption that underlies anthropogenic rangeland improvements for wildlife or livestock. Countless resources are spent on targeted vegetation manipulations for both livestock and wildlife, but selection for improved areas has not been well quantified in livestock. This case study investigates whether cattle exhibit preferential use of historically improved rangeland sites within sagebrush steppe ecosystems, and whether these effects are relevant long-term compared with inherent landscape heterogeneity. We used a generalized linear mixed-effects resource selection function on Global Positioning System points collected at a fix rate of 2 h from a subset of animals grazing throughout 14 pastures (totaling 13 079 ha) over 3 yr to investigate cattle distribution in relation to historical rangeland improvements. These consisted of various methods for reducing woody plant cover and increasing forage production, most followed by grass and legume reseeding. Overall selection for treated areas was positive (0.16, P < 0.0 0 01), but highly variable (pasture estimates range from-1.81 to 0.77). Differences in enhanced vegetation index (EVI) accounted for 25% of the variation in treatment selection, whereas herbaceous production did not have an appreciable effect on treatment selection. Within individual pastures, the effects of landscape variables (distance to water, slope, herbaceous production, EVI, tree cover, and shrub cover) were more variable than treatment effects and on average 2.4-fold more influential to selection than anthropogenic treatments. Still, the combined effects of all landscape variables accounted for only 8% of the variation in site selection. The observed inconsistency among selection patterns underscores the complexity of large herbivore resource selection behavior, and the statistical challenges to modeling that behavior. These results provide limited and inconsistent support for the hypothesis that large herbivores select long-term (5–20 yr post establishment) for range improvements in relation to their forage quality/quantity in a resource-matching manner.

Beef ranchers must remain profitable while adapting to growing expectations for environmentally sound and socially responsible production. Although cattle evolved grazing diverse plant communities, contemporary herds on rangelands often subsist on monotonous grass diets that decline in nutritional value through summer and fall. This seasonal bottleneck disrupts nutrient cycling, increases supplementation costs, diminishes ecosystem services, and limits exposure to functional biochemicals or plant secondary compounds (PSCs) that support animal health. This review synthesises the foodscape concept and evaluates evidence for spatially distributed ‘resource islands’ of complementary plant functional groups as a strategy to address these limitations, illustrated through a case example translating principles into design and implementation. Establishing spatially distributed ‘resource islands’ of perennial legumes, forbs, and shrubs, species with higher nutrient density and beneficial PSCs, offers a low-cost strategy to enhance cattle performance while reducing environmental impacts. These islands can elevate forage quality, improve soil processes, and provide critical habitat services across monotonous landscapes. Implementing this approach requires integrating diverse disciplines such as plant chemistry, restoration science, landscape design, animal nutrition, and soil ecology with producer decision-making, and ranch-level social dynamics. Yet, deployment in semi-arid rangelands faces key constraints and research needs, including establishment costs, propagule and precipitation limitations, protection during early establishment, and added management complexity. We propose this transdisciplinary framework as a pathway to reconcile restoration of phytochemical and structural diversity with beef production and habitat provision, advancing a testable paradigm for sustainable rangeland management.

Virtual fencing (VF) offers an alternative to physical fences for managing livestock, but its effectiveness may be influenced by animals’ ability to perceive and respond to virtual boundaries. We examined whether supplemental visual cues—traffic cones paired with the audio warning—modify cattle responses to a commercially available VF technology. We included three group-level replicates per treatment, located in adjacent paddocks separated by temporary electric fencing. Twenty-seven Angus heifers were randomly assigned to one of six paddocks (N=4-5 animals/paddock). Control animals were subject to eShepherd® VF, while treatment animals were subject to the same VF with supplemental visual cues placed along all virtual boundaries. The first phase—training—consisted of three 24-hour grazing periods. The next phase—exclusion zone testing (EZT)—consisted of four 24-hour periods, where each circular exclusion zone contained hay bales as attractants. The final phase consisted of conditioned-response extinction, during which the VF was disabled, but visual cues were left in place. We analysed animal locations, and auditory and electrical cues. Visually cued animals received fewer audio cues (p = 0.024), grazed more in proximity to the virtual boundary (p = 0.035) and were generally quicker to learn which hay bale-containing exclusion zones were open (no active VF) and utilize that forage resource. However, visually cued animals were generally less responsive to the auditory cue and more likely to be located outside the designated grazing area (p = 0.007). Virtual fencing with or without visual cues was an effective method for managing grazing access to resource-rich patches, but visual cues enhanced the ability for virtually fenced resource patches to influence animal movement and distribution. Ultimately, these results suggest that visual cues can supersede auditory cues and lead to a behavioural trade-off in which spatial awareness of the virtual boundary is improved while compliance is reduced. Longer term and larger scale studies will be helpful in understanding how this trade-off applies in other management contexts.

Successfully restoring rangelands hinges on the design of site-appropriate seed mixes that enhance species establishment and persistence. There is a need for tools to facilitate the design process, particularly in regions like the Intermountain West, USA, where restoration occurs across vast extents of rangeland. The Resistance and Resilience (R&R) framework offers a way to classify sites based on soil moisture and temperature regimes and assess their capacity to resist invasion (e.g., cheatgrass [ Bromus tectorum L.]) and recover from stress and disturbance (e.g., drought, fire). However, the utility of R&R for restoration seed mix design, including the extent to which site-appropriate species selection is consistent with the framework, is unclear. We investigated how species-selection patterns of seedings in Utah, USA, aligned with the R&R framework, as well as the correspondence of those patterns with seed cost and traditionally used elevation and precipitation guidelines found in agency technical documents and tools. We found that species selection was consistent with elevation and precipitation guidelines. Species selection frequency also declined with increasing seed cost, despite the ecological importance of some high-priced species. Selection patterns for many species were distinguishable according to the R&R framework, indicative of being treated as "specialists" for certain R&R categories. High R&R (cold, moist) specialist species were mostly native, while low R&R (warm, dry) species were a mixture of native species and high-performing non-native grasses, such as crested wheatgrass ( Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.). We advocate for developing plant material (e.g., increase seed collections, production, and supply) to reduce costs of ecologically valuable species. Depending on the field performance of R&R-informed mixes, the framework could be used to create robust, customizable tools for restoration planning. (c) 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of The Society for Range Management. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Rangelands across the globe increasingly face anthropogenic disturbances, including improper grazing practices, maladaptive fire regimes, and climate change, leading to the emergence of novel ecosystems. These systems are stable ecological states that cannot feasibly be reverted to previous preferred conditions. We focus on a specific type of novel ecosystem characterized by monocultures of competitive introduced forage species. While not always regarded as “degraded landscapes,” these ecosystems can have dramatically altered spatiotemporal distributions of resources, leading to resource deficits that severely diminish the ability of rangelands to support livestock and wildlife and to provide other critical ecosystem services. For instance, seasonal protein deficiencies in large herbivores, insufficient vegetation structure for wildlife cover, and diminished soil function are all manifestations of these resource deficits. In this paper, we explore the use of strategic islands of functional and diverse perennial plants as a landscape intervention for both long-term ecosystem restoration and near-term mitigation of resource deficits to optimize livestock or wildlife production. Current agricultural approaches, such as protein supplementation, tend to address resource deficits symptomatically rather than holistically, while diversity-oriented ecological restoration approaches do not always prioritize continued production or plant–animal interactions within working landscapes. We introduce the islands of diversity (IOD) approach which aims to restore spatial and/or temporal distribution of critical resources, including nutrients and medicinal secondary compounds, plant structure, adaptive soil conditions, and vegetative propagules, while potentially improving the health of grazers and nutrient density of resulting animal products. We explore the current challenges and opportunities associated with a case study in which IODs are used to improve rangeland condition, livestock production, and wildlife habitat. Within this case study we explore the use of emerging technologies such as remote sensing and drone imaging for IOD site selection, virtual fencing for the management of grazing within IOD, and the influence of IOD on animal movement and distribution. Ultimately, IODs are a promising landscape intervention for addressing resource deficits affecting livestock, wildlife, and ecosystem processes in rangeland monocultures.

Outreach and programs aimed at encouraging the adoption of conservation practices in agriculture often rely upon insights from past, current, and potential users. However, collecting feedback can be challenging, especially for innovative or complex practices. This research note presents an approach used to elicit rancher input on Smart Foodscapes (SFS) -islands of diverse perennial legumes and forbs with high nutrient content, tested as part of a transdisciplinary USDA-funded project designed to improve the sustainability and profitability of western US beef production. We shared a 4-minute video about SFS, followed by an online survey to a sample of Utah ranchers. We reflect on the usefulness of this technique in gathering ranchers’ feedback, focusing on strengths and weaknesses in informing the iterative project along with methodological considerations. We find that ranchers’ perceptions of SFS are motivated by economic benefits, environmental stewardship, and better land management. Challenges included managing SFS within their existing ranching system and cost and time investment compared to future benefits. Methodologically, our research highlights the role of audiovisual tools to help convey complicated concepts. However, our research revealed the limitations of purchased email lists from private vendors and strategies to filter out irrelevant responses from social media were required. Finally, the study provides insights for outreach efforts and highlights early engagement and clear communication as critical aspects of transdisciplinary projects. We recommend that future research should explore how ranchers’ sense of place influences adoption decisions. Also, the survey revealed ranchers’ concerns about government trust (12%). Thus, we will investigate whether government trust affects their willingness to adopt SFS in future research. Also, involving stakeholders and setting up a dynamic feedback mechanism is necessary for the successful implementation of innovative systems-level sustainable agricultural systems. While focused on SFS, applied and methodological insights can be used in agricultural conservation efforts more broadly.

A collaboration between Extension Agriculture and Natural Resource specialists and county faculty responded to a need to educate public land grazing permit holders, public land management agency personnel, and public members on regulations, management, economics, and social values associated with public land grazing permits.

Abstract Sheep and goats prefer forbs and browse, respectively, which make them ideal for targeted grazing of weeds. However, this grazing may negatively affect sheep and goat performance. The objectives of the study were to monitor the effects of intensive grazing on sheep and goat performance and forage selection, as well as reduce Convolvulus arvensis. To do this, sheep [n = 40; average body weight (BW) 74 kg ± 1.45 kg] and goats (n = 40; average BW 45 kg ± 1.45 kg) grazed six paddocks, each an acre in size, on a wildlife refuge area managed by the Utah DNR near Richmond, Utah. The flock was in each paddock for 3.5 to 4 d. Paddock rotation corresponded with the amount of forage in each plot. Sixteen ground coverage measurements/day, split between morning and night, were taken. Measurements estimated percentages of ground cover, litter cover, and bare ground. Bite counts were taken at dusk and dawn to record the number of weedy forb, grass, native forb, and shrub bites. One ewe or doe was randomly observed for 5 min, then the observer would randomly select another ewe or doe until 4 does and 4 ewes were sampled. Body weights and body condition scores (BCS) of ewes and does were taken at d 0 and 22. The GLIMMIX procedure of SAS with main effects of species and days on pasture was used to analyze ground cover, bite counts, weight, and BCS with paddock as the random variable. Bare ground increased (P = 0.006) by day in each paddock. Both ground and litter cover decreased over time in each paddock (P < 0.05). There was no difference (P > 0.10) in number of bites of native forbs or grasses between sheep and goats. A species × day effect (P = 0.02) occurred where sheep consistently had 20 more bites of weedy forbs than goats, except for at d 12 where goats took 27 more bites of weedy forbs than sheep. Goats consumed an average of 10 bites more (P = 0.03) shrubs than sheep. Consumption of grasses increased (P = 0.006) in each pasture between d 0 and 22, but no species difference (P = 0.80) was observed. There was a day effect where both species lost 3.6 kg between d 0 and 22 (P = 0.22) which represented 5% of sheep and 8% of goat BW from the start of the trial; however, body condition score increased (P < 0.05) by one-half a score on a 5-point scale between d 0 and 22 in both species. The results of this study indicate that sheep will graze more field bindweed than goats. Sheep and goats in this grazing system may see some losses in productivity, therefore stage of production and supplementation strategy should be considered to optimize rangeland health and minimize negative effects on animal performance.

Rangeland ecosystems, and their managers, face the growing urgency of climate change impacts. Researchers are therefore seeking integrative social-ecological frameworks that can enhance adaptation by managers to these climate change dynamics through tighter linkages among multiple scientific disciplines and manager contexts. Social-ecological framings, including resilience and vulnerability, are popular in such efforts, but their potential to inform meaningful rangeland adaptation science is limited by traditional disciplinary silos. Here, we provide reflective lessons learned from a multidisciplinary Rangelands, Ranching, and Resilience (R3) project on U.S. western rangelands that addressed 1) biophysical science projections of forage production under future climate scenarios, 2) ranchers’ views of resilience using social science methods, and 3) outreach efforts coordinated through extension professionals. Despite the project's initial intentions, human dimensions and ecological researchers largely worked in parallel sub-teams during the project, rather than weaving their expertise together with managers. The R3 project was multidisciplinary, but it provides a case study on lessons learned to suggest how social and ecological researchers can move towards approaches that transcend individual disciplines. Transdisciplinary science and management in rangelands requires more than just conceptual social-ecological frameworks. Additional methodological concepts need to include: 1) relationship building; 2) shared meaning making; and 3) a commitment to continual conversations and learning, or staying with the trouble, following Haraway (2016). If the goal is to address meaningful rangeland adaptation science rather than just produce academic products, researchers, outreach professionals, and rangeland-based communities should address a series of critical troubling questions. In the process of addressing these, deeper engagement among and beyond disciplines will occur as relationship building, shared meaning, and continual conversations and learning facilitate staying with the trouble.

Background Land uses such as crop production, livestock grazing, mining, and urban development have contributed to degradation of drylands worldwide. Loss of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on disturbed drylands across the western U.S. has prompted massive efforts to re-establish this foundational species. There has been growing interest in avoiding the severe limitations experienced by plants at the seed and seedling stages by instead establishing plants from containerized greenhouse seedlings ("tubelings"). In some settings, a potential alternative approach is to transplant larger locally-collected plants ("wildlings"). We compared the establishment of mountain big sagebrush (A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana) from tubelings vs. wildlings in southeastern Idaho. A mix of native and non-native grass and forb species was drill-seeded in a pasture previously dominated by the introduced forage grass, smooth brome (Bromus inermis). We then established 80 m x 80 m treatment plots and planted sagebrush tubelings (n = 12 plots, 1200 plants) and wildlings (n = 12 plots, 1200 plants). We also established seeded plots (n = 12) and untreated control plots (n = 6) for long-term comparison. We tracked project expenses in order to calculate costs of using tubelings vs. wildlings as modified by probability of success. Results There was high (79%) tubeling and low (10%) wildling mortality within the first year. Three years post-planting, chance of survival for wildlings was significantly higher than that of tubelings (85% and 14% respectively). Despite high up-front costs of planting wildlings, high survival rates resulted in their being < 50% of the cost of tubelings on a per-surviving plant basis. Additionally, by the third year post-planting 34% of surviving tubelings and 95% of surviving wildlings showed evidence of reproduction (presence / absence of flowering stems), and the two types of plantings recruited new plants via seed (3.7 and 2.4 plants, respectively, per surviving tubeling/wildling). Conclusions Our results indicate that larger plants with more developed root systems (wildlings) may be a promising avenue for increasing early establishment rates of sagebrush plants in restoration settings. Our results also illustrate the potential for tubelings and wildlings to improve restoration outcomes by "nucleating" the landscape via recruitment of new plants during ideal climate conditions.

Abstract Mineral supplementation in the intermountain west region of the US may be necessary for maintenance of healthy flocks since important trace minerals are deficient in this region. However, rough terrain can make mineral supplementation challenging. The objective of this study was to evaluate the trace mineral status of ewes on range. We hypothesized that ewes with access to a mineral supplement would have decreased risk of mineral deficiency. In this study, ewes (n = 59) grazed four summer pastures on Cedar Mountain near Cedar City, Utah. Ewes between the ages of 1 and 6 yr of age were stratified by initial body weight (BW) = 87 kg ± 13 kg and breed [black face (BLF; Suffolk) and white face breeds (WF; Targhee, Rambouillet, and their crosses)] into two treatment groups 1) trace mineral supplement ad libitum (TRT; n = 7 BLF and 23 WF) or 2) no mineral supplement (CON; n = 15 BLF and 14 WF). All ewes received a diet of mixed alfalfa and triticale hay without mineral supplementation 30 d before the trial began. A SmartFeed (C-lock Inc.) was used to track individual animal mineral intake. Plasma samples were collected via jugular venipuncture at d 0, 34, 77, and 116. A clinical veterinarian from Utah State University performed liver biopsies at d 0 and 116 on a subset of ewes (n = 10). After the grazing season, plasma and liver samples were sent to the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for analysis of Cu, Mn, Se, and Zn. The mixed procedure of SAS was used to analyze plasma mineral content with day as a repeated measure and individual ID as a random variable. The Glimmix procedure of SAS was used to analyze liver mineral content. Plasma Cu and Se increased (P ≤ 0.05) by day in all ewes throughout the grazing season. No differences related to treatment or breed (P > 0.10) were observed for plasma Cu or Se concentrations. Plasma Mn and Zn decreased (P < 0.0001) by 1.5 ppb and 0.4 ppm, respectively, between d 0 and 116 with no treatment effect (P > 0.10). BLF ewes had 0.3 ppm (P = 0.01) greater plasma Mn concentrations than WF ewes, with no difference (P = 0.6) observed due to treatment. Hepatic Cu and Se increased (P ≤ 0.05) by 114 ppm and 1 ppm, respectively, between d 0 and 116. Hepatic Mn concentrations did not differ (P > 0.10) by day or treatment. Hepatic Zn concentrations tended to increase by day (P = 0.07), 23 ppm between d 0 and 116. CON ewes had 28 ppm greater (P = 0.04) hepatic Zn concentrations than TRT ewes. Additional research is warranted to understand why CON had greater hepatic Zn concentrations than TRT, which may indicate that diverse rangeland forages may provide sufficient concentrations for sheep production in summer months.

•In recent decades rangeland science has moved from a “command and control” framework to one that values heterogeneity, recognizes rangelands as social-ecological systems, and seeks to integrate complexity.•This new framework recognizes management as fundamentally site-specific, but rangeland science has not provided clear principles for successful livestock grazing management for use by producers and other stakeholders. This reticence has created a void often filled by prescriptive solutions that contradict our best understanding of rangeland systems.•We engaged hundreds of livestock grazing management experts in an iterative conversation to distill a set of evidence-based, adaptable principles for successful livestock grazing management in the semiarid and arid rangelands of the western United States.•The seven principles are: Practice adaptive management; Optimize stocking rate; Use a grazing plan; Prioritize ecological health; Evaluate distribution; Welfare begets performance; and Think beyond the range. The full versions of these principles contain paragraph length descriptions highlighting key considerations for each.•We envision these principles as a first draft to be improved with discussion and additional research. Further development can include definitions, suggested applications, and checklists for assessment for use in teaching, extension, and industry evaluation efforts.

AbstractThe disciplines of rangeland and wildlife management were born out of necessity to protect dwindling resources during the early twentieth century. The development of the fields followed parallel paths to meet the needs and desires of society. Around the world, rangelands provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species. Across North America, wildlife conservation problems have impacted rangelands and thus influenced rangeland management. Wildlife and rangeland professionals often work on the same landscapes to manage related resources. Yet, because of professional traditions and biases, there is potential for misunderstanding of terminology, values, and conflicts. However, these two professions have more in common than differences. For example, early management for both fields revolved around sustainable harvest (i.e., game species and forage) and providing guidance on conserving limited but renewable resources. Although both disciplines were born out of similar needs, they have often been viewed as separate entities. In this chapter, we will attempt to address the differences and parallels between these two disciplines with the objective of finding common ground for future collaboration. We will outline the parallel development of crucial principles of rangeland and wildlife management, and professionals can improve communication and understanding between disciplines.

Western US sheep production systems are dependent on rangeland forages to meet nutritional needs for animal production. While many native rangeland soils and forages are deficient in minerals like Cu, Se, and Zn, it is unknown whether ewes will alter forage selection if they receive a mineral supplemented diet and if alternative forages will affect performance on range. The objectives of this study are to quantify the effects of mineral supplementation on ewe forage selectivity on rangeland, range utilization, and animal performance. We hypothesized ewes who receive a trace mineral supplement will have a more diverse diet, greater rangeland utilization, and improved performance characteristics than their non-supplemented contemporaries. In this study, (n = 59) ewes were grazed across four summer pastures on Cedar Mountain near Cedar City, Utah. Ewes between the ages of 1 and 6 with an average weight of 87 Kg ± 13 Kg were stratified by initial weight and breed into one of two different treatment groups: 1) trace mineral supplement ad libitum (TRT; n = 30), or 2) no mineral supplement (CON; n = 29). Ewe breed types consisted of black face type breeds (BLF; Suffolk) and white face type breeds (WF; Targhee, Rambouillet, and their crosses). All ewes received a similar diet of alfalfa hay and triticale without access to ad libitum mineral supplementation 30 days before the start of the trial. A solar powered C-lock inc. pro was used to track individual animal mineral intake. Back fat (BF) and loin eye depth (LED) were measured at day 0 and day 116 of the trial via ultrasound. Additionally, fecal samples were collected and used for fecal metabarcoding (fDNA) at approximately 30% pasture utilization, which measures the proportion of plant DNA in the feces to determine forage species consumed. Plant species were sorted into functional groups (forbs, grass likes, grasses, shrubs, and trees). The GLM procedure of SAS was used to analyze BF, LED, and fDNA. The mixed procedure of SAS with day as a repeated measure was used to analyze percentage change in body weight. Control ewes had greater BF by 0.08 cm (P = 0.02). No difference in BF was observed by breed (P = 0.8). Loin eye depth was greater by 0.2 cm (P = 0.01) in BLF ewes than WF ewes. Supplemented ewes maintained 1% more of their initial body weight than CON ewes (P = 0.01). No forage selection differences were observed by treatment or breed (P> 0.2). The current study results indicate that mineral supplementation on range may not affect forage selectivity but can benefit animals by maintaining body weight over the grazing season.

AbstractThe grasslands, deserts, shrublands, savannas, woodlands, open forests, and alpine tundra of western North America where livestock grazed were collectively referred to as ‘range’ in the nineteenth century. Today these ecosystems are often referred to as rangelands. In the United States, rangelands comprise about 1/3rd of the total land area, mostly in the 17 western states. Large areas of rangeland also occur in Canada and Mexico. Rangelands provide numerous products, values, and ecosystem services including wildlife habitat, clean air, clean water, recreation, open space, scenic beauty, energy and mineral resources, carbon sequestration, and livestock forage. This chapter describes rangeland ecoregions in western North America.

In Southern Utah, sheep are utilized to a greater extent to graze rangeland due to the presence of Tall Larkspur (Delphinium spp.), which is known to be toxic to cattle. The objectives of this study are to quantify to what degree sheep consume Tall Larkspur and identify forage preferences on a diverse rangeland. We hypothesize that ewes consume tall larkspur based off preferences applied to other forages across range. In this study, ewes (n = 400) were grazed across four summer pastures on Cedar Mountain near Cedar City, Utah. Ewe breed types consisted of Suffolk, Targhee, Rambouillet, and their crosses. During the 116-day trial plant consumption type, time of day, forage availability, weather, range utilization, and apparent weight of sheep were monitored and recorded. Data were collected via a 5-minute bite count procedure, noting all variables above, for each observed ewe. Fecal samples were collected and used for fecal metabarcoding (fDNA) at approximately 30% pasture utilization, which measures the proportion of plant DNA in the feces to determine forage species consumed. Plant species were sorted into functional groups (forbs, grass likes, grasses, shrubs, and trees). Data were evaluated through a CART analysis in R v4.1.2 and stratified using the GLM procedure in SAS v9.4. There was an increase in consumption of forbs, shrubs, and grasses over time, (P < 0.001), (P = 0.01), and (P < 0.001), respectively. For the grass-like and lichen plant types, there is little evidence of forage preference, (P = 0.7) and (P = 1.00) respectively. Fecal metabarcoding analysis indicates that protein content of diet originated from forbs, grass likes, grasses, shrubs, and trees by approximately 57%, 1%, 5%, 6%, and 31%, respectively. Tall Larkspur appeared in fDNA samples, but did not represent a significant portion of the diet. Our findings indicate that sheep in Southern Utah utilize tall larkspur on range to a small extent in their diet, but do not preferentially graze it over other forb species.

AbstractFire is a fundamental ecological process in rangeland ecosystems. Fire drives patterns in both abiotic and biotic ecosystem functions that maintain healthy rangelands, making it an essential tool for both rangeland and wildlife management. In North America, humanity’s relationship with fire has rapidly changed and shifted from an era of coexistence to one that attempts to minimize or eliminate its occurrence. Prior to Euro-American settlement, Indigenous people’s coexistence with fire led to regionally distinct fire regimes that differed in terms of their fire frequency, intensity, severity, seasonality, and spatial complexity. As the relative occurrence of prescribed fire and wildfire continue to change in North American rangelands, it is necessary for wildlife managers to understand the complex social-ecological interactions that shape modern fire regimes and their conservation outcomes. In this chapter, we discuss the fire eras of North American rangelands, introduce foundational relationships between fire and wildlife habitat, and discuss potential futures for fire in wildlife management.