The Nature Conservancy’s Niobrara Valley Preserve (NVP) on the northern edge of Nebraska’s sandhills is a pretty amazing place. I had the chance to spend a couple days there last week, something I always enjoy. While there, I managed to get a few photos of bison from one of the two herds on the property.
Three bison bulls on the edge of burned sandhill prairie - The Nature Conservancy's Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska. These three bulls were feeding in the burned area until I wandered along with my camera. They then kept a safe distance (for both of us) as I hiked past on the trail. Click for a larger view.
In addition to being an important site ecologically – and a beautiful place to visit – the NVP was also a key site in the development of the fire/bison grazing model that eventually developed into today’s patch-burn grazing. Al Steuter and others used the Preserve as an incubator for the initial idea of moving bison grazing intensity around large prairies by shifting the location and season of fires.
I’m often asked about the differences between the way bison and cattle impact prairies. As we continue to experiment with patch-burn grazing, we’re finding that the forage selection differences (they way they choose which plants to eat) between the two animals are pretty slight when they’re managed with patch-burn grazing or similar systems. Under light stocking rates, both bison and cattle prefer to graze in recently burned patches, and both prefer grass over wildflowers and other plants.
The major differences between bison and cattle appear to be mostly behavioral. Cattle like to walk in single file, forming trails, while bison tend to move in loose groups. Cattle tend to sit/stand/poop in water on hot days, while bison don’t hang around water or shade for long periods. While these can be important differences, there are ways to mitigate the more negative impacts of cattle – e.g. fencing out sensitive areas and/or keeping stocking rates low.
On the other hand, there are some disadvantages to using bison to manage prairies instead of cattle. These are mostly logistical. With rare exceptions, it’s not possible to lease herds of bison, so if you run bison, you have to own them. Among other issues, that usually means an annual roundup for innoculations and sorting of animals to thin from the herd (assuming you don’t have unlimited land). It also means big strong fences and corral systems. In short, bison can be expensive and time-consuming. Also, they work best in prairies of several thousand acres or more. On those large prairies, they can be an important part of good prairie management. On smaller prairies, cattle can be a very good substitute, if managed carefully.
The Prairie Ecologist 
Great photo. The Sandhills sure are pretty.
I always appreciate learning more about how you manage prairies. I’ll never have the opportunity to use bovines for prairie management, but it’s always good to learn more about doing things I won’t do myself. You never know how such information finds a practical use.
Daniel
Thanks Daniel. I’m glad it’s interesting (if not directly applicable) to you! I think there’s a lot of ideas from patch-burn grazing and other grazing techniques that can be applied to non-grazable prairies. Just the idea of defoliating plants now and then to create root space for new plants/new growth can be valuable. Summer fire, mowing, and even some selective burn-back herbicides can all create somewhat similar effects – though with grazing, it’s the repeated defoliation of dominant grasses within the same season that has the strongest impact.
Chris
Hi Daniel – maybe not bovines, but what about horses? They do a mighty fine job and are a pleasure to have in a prairie because you can take a break from looking at plants to give them a back scratch.
Here are citations for some of the articles that explore/discuss the differences (or lack thereof) between bison and cattle:
Fuhlendorf, Allred, and Hamilton. 2010. Bison as keystone herbivores on the Great Plains: can cattle serve as proxy for evolutionary grazing patterns? American Bison Society Working Paper (eds. American Bison Society).
Hartnett, Steuter, and Hickman. 1997. Comparative ecology of native and introduced ungulates. Ecology and Conservation of Great Plains Vertebrates (eds Knopf and Samson), pp. 72-101. Springer, New York.
Plumb and Dodd. 1993. Foraging ecology of bison and cattle on a mixed prairie: implications for natural area management. Ecological Applications 3:631-643.
Schwartz and Ellis. 1981. Feeding ecology and niche separation in some native and domestic ungulates on the shortgrass prairie. Journal of Applied Ecology 18:343-353.
Steuter and Hidinger. 1999. Comparative ecology of bison and cattle on mixed-grass prairie. Great Plains Research 9:329-342.
Towne, Hartnett, and Cochran. 2005. Vegetation trends in tallgrass prairie from bison and cattle grazing. Ecological Applications 15:1550-1559.
Van Vuren. 2001. Spatial relations of American bison (Bison bison) and domestic cattle in a montane environment. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 24:117-124.
A recurring theme in most of these citations is that most differences are likely due to differences in the management of the animal, not differences inherent to the species of animal.