Oak Woodland Vegetation Dynamics: A - US Forest Service Fire is a normal disturbance in California’s oak-woodlands Cooper (1926) observed a coast live oak stand in Santa Clara County and concluded that an oak savanna requires disturbance and, in the absence of heavy grazing or frequent fires, live oaks and bird-dispersed shrubs will increase
Oak savanna vegetation response to layered restoration approaches . . . Thinning + burning increased canopy openness, herbaceous cover, and shrub density Low-intensity grazing did not improve vegetation structure more than thinning + burning Restoration shifted the plant community from woodland species to savanna associates
Stability Part Two: Why I Seldom Recommend Grazing Grassland and savanna species declines are not the result of failure to graze prairie and oak ecosystems; those declines arise from loss of grassland and savanna habitat across the landscape and changes in land use
Restoring Native California Oaks on Grazed Rangelands Abstract: Efforts to regenerate oaks on California’s oak woodlands often must address how to establish seedlings in areas grazed by livestock Research indicates that damage to young oak seedlings from cattle varies by season, with less damage during the winter when deciduous oaks do not have leaves
Ecosystem Service-based State and Transition Models There has been large scale mechanical-chemical tree and shrub thinning within oak-grassland ecosystems for commercial fuel wood harvest, brush management and cattle forage production goals Across the landscape, these management practices have increased carrying capacities for grazing cattle
Livestock grazing and its effects on ecosystem structure . . . - SFEI Today, roughly two-thirds of California’s Mediterranean-type grasslands and oak woodlands are grazed by livestock (Huntsinger and Bartolome, 2014; Huntsinger and Oviedo, 2014), which plays an important role in maintaining and managing the remaining native vegetation and wildlife habitat
Balanced Grazing - Pacific Northwest Oak Alliance Grazing, when managed well, can occur in healthy oak woodlands Too much grazing pressure, however, can increase soil erosion, compact the soil, and favor non-native grasses, shrubs, and conifers instead of native grasses and oak trees