| Cheatgrass is an invasive winter annual grass negatively affecting rangelands across western North America and prevalent in the state of Wyoming. This research focuses on two aspects of cheatgrass management. The first is the development of distribution models to provide a starting point for a landscape scale approach to cheatgrass management in Wyoming. This project has two objectives: (1) synthesize distribution data and (2) develop distribution prediction models, including a presence/absence model for determining "establishment niche" and three abundance models for determining "impact niche." The second is evaluating multi-species targeted grazing for cheatgrass control. This project has three objectives: (1) determine the effectiveness of targeted grazing for cheatgrass control, (2) determine the effects of livestock species and timing on cheatgrass populations, and (3) compare the results to those of commonly used herbicide treatments. We conclude springtime targeted grazing has potential as a control method for cheatgrass, especially in severely-degraded sites. |
