Rangeland Resilience: Managing Encroachment for Forage and Wildlife Habitat

By: Mason Huddleston

Urban Agriculture and Natural Resource Educator

Oklahoma County

What are Rangelands?

• Any extensive area that is occupied by Native grasses, forbs, and Shrubby Material which is grazed by either domestic or wild animals
• Cover 54% of global land mass
• Largest rangeland biomes are deserts and xeric
• Deserts and xeric shrublands- 35%
• Flooded grasslands and savannas- 1%
• Forest, woodlands and scrub- 4%
• montane grasslands and shrublands- 6%
• temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands- 13%
• tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas and shrublands- 26%
• Tundra- 15%

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In the United States

• Temperate Grasslands, savannas and shrublands
• Deserts and Xeric shrublands
• Mediterranean forests
• Tropical and subtropical grasslands
• Flooded grasslands

In Oklahoma

Temperate Grasslands

• Southwestern Tablelands
• High Plains
• Central Great Plains
• Central Irregular plains
• South central plains

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Cross timber forests

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Southwest Tablelands

• Encompasses part of Oklahoma's Panhandle and Northwestern Oklahoma
• Hilly/ sub-mountainous region
• Grazable plant material in the form of short grasses, shrubs/ bushes
• Low, irregular precipitation- grasslands nearly devoid of all trees

Southwest Tablelands Tablelands Forage

• Buffalograss
• Blue Grama
• Sideoats Grama,
• Little bluestem
• Ragweed
• Maxamillian sunflower
• Prairie clover
• Coneflower
• milkweed

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Central Great Plains

• Spanning from Texas to Minnesota, the great plains was one of Americas largest Rangelands.
• Oklahoma's Central Great plains mostly made up of tall grasses and forbs
• Big Blue Stem
• Indiangrass
• Switchgrass
• Little bluestem
• Forbs (flowers)
• Sunflowers (Maximilian)
• Milkweed
• Ironweed
• Brown/black eyed susan

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Small grassland wildlife

• Oklahoma historically could support all forms of life from fowl such as Turkey, Greater/Lesser Prairie Chicken, pheasants in the panhandle, to bobwhite quail across the entire state
• Turkey and bobwhite quail found throughout the state
• Scaled quail found in panhandle.

Cross Timbers

• “…the trees, consisting primarily of post-oak and black-jack, standing at such intervals that wagons can without difficulty pass between them in any direction.“- Capt. Randolph B. Marcy 1852
• “Cross Timbers” refers to an ecological region where woodland, forest and prairies meet.
• 4.8 million hectares in Oklahoma
• Cross Timbers still found in Kansas and Texas
• Areas within Cross Timbers 5-30 miles wide creating “internal” prairies
• Blackjack and Post Oaks are the most abundant and important tree species in Oklahoma's Cross Timbers.
• Slow growing, intolerant of shade, new sprouts from acorns and root systems.
• Black Hickory, Bitternut Hickory, Black Oak, Shumard Oak and Red Cedar (Juniper)

Cross Timbers Wildlife

• Oklahoma historically has been able to support many large mammalian species due to various biomes
• Black Bears
• Elk
• Pronghorn Antelope
• Bison
• Carolina Parakeet (extinct 1939)
• Passenger pigeons (Extinct 1939)

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Historical Management

• Across Midwest, prairies and woodlands were burned on average every 7 years.
• Lightning
• Indigenous people
• This would ultimately control the prairies, allow for reimergance of suppressed species

Benefits of Fire

• Fire kills most trees and shrubs that are less than 2 inches in diameter
• Controls the boundaries of prairies by removing any trees/shrubs that might have crept in
• Clears out brush in Cross timber, allowing wildlife to move more freely
• Allows for regrowth of essential species
• Grasses, trees, shrubs
• Clears out species that need to be controlled
• cedars
• Cedar trees, though native to Oklahoma Region are still invasive if not managed and controlled correctly

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Benefits of Fire

• When prairies and woodlands are burned, the forage (plant material wildlife can eat from) come back more nutrient rich than previous years
• Protein content upwards of 14% from previous 5-11% crude protein
• Buffalo, cattle, deer ect… will prefer to stay on a burned area as long as possible.
• Stomping in feces, plant material add nutrience back to the Earth
• Buffalo herds and other wildlife will move on to find better forage once area is depleted, coming back 1-5 years later

After Fire

• Some pant species come back after a burn- often more aggressive than before
• Blackberry, oaks, sand plum, sumac, honey locust, black locust
• Some species will be completely irradicated (if small enough)
• Eastern Red Cedar, Cottonwood, Loblolly Pine, Mountain Cedar (Ash Juniper), Mockernut Hickory

Cedar Trees

• Aren't Red Cedar Trees Native? How can they be invasive?
• Yes they are native, but when managed improperly they can become exceptionally invasive causing many ecological problems
• Eastern Red Cedar matures at 5-7 years of age
• Might no produce seeds each year (typically every 2-3) but will produce upward of 1.5 million seeds in a year
• Each seed can naturally travel 200 years away.
• Cedars often start accumulating near streams/riverbeds, pastures and even along the side of the road
• Cedar trees consume more water than prairies or pastures.
• OSU study shows that a 12inch diameter cedar tree will consume up to 42 gallons of water ad day in the summer, and as little as one gallon a day in the winter
• Cedar trees are the #1 reason for dicks/tick diseases are on the incline
• Produce warm microclimate in winter for ticks to survive and a cool, moist environment in the summer

Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP)

• Uses Satellite Imagery to measure biomass in pastures
• %tree cover, %available forage, % shrub cover, can compare year to year from 1986-2024

1986

1995

2000

2005

2010

2024

Methods of Removal (Eastern Red Cedar)

• Prescribed fire
• Will kill smaller cedars, but large established will survive unless HOT
• Kills any viable seeds that may have been deposited
• Cedars left over (too mature to burn completely) need to be removed via mechanical control
• Some plant species come back more aggressive after a burn
• Sumac, sand Plum, blackberry
• Mechanical
• Chainsaw-cedars don’t regrow from root system
• Still leaves viable seeds on ground to germinate at later date

How to burn

• Depending on location there could be restrictions
• OKC- no burning allowed
• Outside OKC in Oklahoma county- possible to burn but must be approved by burn association as well as fire department
• If no burn association, call Conservation Department

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• Burn Associations- A group of volunteer landowners who work together to conduct prescribed burns on their properties. 
• Pool knowledge and equipment and time to help one another out with pastures, prairies, and other land that might need management.

After a burn

• Native grasses are the first to come back
• You will see livestock/ wildlife stay on burned ares for as long as possible
• High protein content
• Some flowers might start emerging
• Maximillian sunflowers
• Most flowers will come back year 2 or 3
• Some species will emerge aggressively
• Sumac
• Sand plum

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Citations

• Oklahoma’s Native Vegetation Types- E-993
• https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/outdoorok/ooj/managing-wildlife-oklahomas-diverse-regions
• Bob-White Quail- L-268
• Northern Bobwhite Habitat Requirements and Evaluation Guide E-904
• https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/tallgrass-prairie-preserve/

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