Tag Archives: birds

A Guide to Patch-Burn Grazing for Biological Diversity

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Patch-burn grazing is getting a lot of attention from a wide variety of audiences these days.  The management system has generated substantial enthusiasm among some people – particularly those interested in improving habitat for prairie wildlife species.  It has also generated substantial skepticism among others – particularly those concerned about potential negative impacts of grazing in eastern tallgrass prairies.

To date, the majority of research on and demonstration of patch-burn grazing has been oriented toward influencing agricultural grassland management because of the system’s potential to improve wildlife habitat at those sites.  Research has largely shown that farmers and ranchers can reap the habitat benefits of patch-burn grazing without compromising current stocking rates or livestock performance.  Because wider adoption of patch-burn grazing techniques on private lands could have tremendous positive impacts on prairie wildlife populations, those research results are exciting, and the continuation of work toward that objective is very appropriate and important.

However, the emphasis on developing and testing patch-burn grazing as an agricultural tool has also somewhat limited our ability to evaluate the system’s impacts (current and potential) on biological diversity.  Variables such as stocking rates, timing and intensity of grazing, fire season and frequency, and others tend to be defined such that they are compatible with local grazing systems and cultures.  Again, this is very appropriate, but it also narrows the range of possible modifications to the basic patch-burn grazing model that are being tested.

In contrast to research projects oriented toward balancing agricultural production with wildlife habitat, our work with patch-burn grazing in the Platte River Prairies of Nebraska is targeted only at building and sustaining biological diversity.  Our stocking rates, fire frequency, and other variables are all primarily designed to favor plant diversity.  Because few others are experimenting with patch-burn grazing from the same standpoint, we have tried to gather as much data as we can about the impacts of our various patch-burn grazing modifications – especially related to impacts on plant species and plant communities.  We’re taking the approach that if we can learn how to optimize management for plant diversity and overall biological diversity, we can then help translate and modify those methods to fit the specific needs of private landowners, public land managers, and others.

A burned patch in restored prairie along the Platte River in Nebraska. Cattle are concentrating their grazing in this area, but the light stocking rate employed means that while many grasses are being grazed, most forbs are not. In this case, ungrazed forbs include opportunistic plants such as black-eyed susan and hoary vervain, but also compass plant and Canada milkvetch, which are often viewed as negatively affected by cattle grazing.

This week I attempted to capture what we’ve learned about patch-burn grazing to this point and incorporate it into a single document.  We certainly don’t have all the answers, and the document should not be read as a prescription for precisely how to employ patch-burn grazing.  Rather, it is a description of the kinds of things we’re trying on our sites and the results we’ve seen so far.  I hope it will stimulate thought and discussion among other prairie managers looking for new ideas and options for dealing with prairie management challenges.

As I’ve said before on this blog, patch-burn grazing is not an appropriate management system for all prairies.  Moreover, patch-burn grazing often gets treated as a single narrow management system, but should really be seen as a basic template – and should rarely be implemented without tailoring it to meet particular objectives.   This new document describes some of the modifications of that template being tested at our sites and the responses we’ve seen from the prairie communities we manage.

If you’re interested, you can download the document here.

Sandhill Cranes on the Platte River

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For those of us living and working on the Central Platte River in Nebraska, the birds that signify spring’s arrival are much bigger than robins.  The annual arrival of sandhill cranes (we usually see the first ones around Valentine’s Day) lets us know that winter is coming to a close.  When the last crane leaves in early April, the first wildflowers in the prairies aren’t far behind.  This spring, the skies along the river are already criss-crossed with formations of flying cranes, intermixed with the ducks and geese of numerous species.  If you’ve never seen this unique phenomenon, you’re missing out on one of the greatest wildlife events in the world.  Come out to the Platte and start your spring right!

Every March, more than half a million sandhill cranes - the entire mid-continent population - converge on the Platte River in central Nebraska. Each bird spends about three weeks feeding and building fat reserves for the rest of their northern migration and the grueling nesting season.

In the evenings, the cranes come to the river itself to roost overnight. They favor broad channels with abundant bare sandbars where large groups of cranes can congregate in large noisy masses of up to 50,000 or more. As the sun starts to go down, wave upon wave of sandhill cranes drop gracefully into the river like so many floating dandelion seeds.

Not surprisingly, this wildlife spectacle draws bird watchers and nature enthusiasts from around the world. Crane watchers can drive rural roads to watch the cranes in the fields and meadows during the day, and stand on riverbank platforms (or reserve space in viewing blinds) to see them come to the river at night. Besides cranes, visitors to the Platte in the spring can also see millions of ducks, geese, and other waterbirds.

The cranes spend the night standing on bare sandbars or in shallow water. Their noisy calls eventually subside enough that they get some sleep, but it's rare that the entire group is quiet for long - and any disturbance (real or imagined) can quickly set the birds to calling and shuffling nervously about again.

In the morning, the cranes leave the river and head to nearby meadows and cornfields to feed. On some mornings, the birds seem reluctant to leave their roost, choosing instead to loaf, feed, and even bathe in the shallow water. Other mornings, a foraging eagle or roving coyote can push an entire roost site into flight simultaneously, and the sound of many thousands of wings creates a deafening noise.

Besides the important task of feeding, cranes spend much of their day - in meadows and along the river - socializing.

Courtship behavior is common during the day, and can include elaborate dances with much leaping and ducking of heads, as well as stick tossing.

As March comes to a close, cranes start heading north to breed - mostly in Canada, but also as far north as Siberia. They usually leave on sunny days with a nice south wind to carry them. Cranes can average 35 miles per hour and travel 200-300 miles per day (up to 500 with a good tailwind). In the fall, they pass through the Platte in small scattered groups (we usually just hear them flying overhead) - providing us with just a quick glimpse of them, but a reminder of what we'll see at the end of the coming long winter.

To learn more about how and where to see sandhill cranes in Nebraska, visit this or other websites.  If you come out, feel free to stop and stretch your legs at the hiking trails through our Platte River Prairies.

To see the best portfolio of sandhill crane photos in the world, visit Michael Forsberg’s website and look for his book “On Ancient Wings“.