Title: Recovery of Streamside Woody Vegetation after Exclusion of Livestock Grazing
Abstract: Removal of livestock grazing along a small, perennial desert stream allowed the reestablishment of woody vegetation (Sulix amygdaloides) in the riparian zone within 10 years. Small spring/streams are widely distributed in the semiarid, sagebrush-steppe region of the northwestern United States. They are characteristically bordered by narrow corridors of deciduous trees especially cottonwoods (Populus spp.) and/or willows (Salix spp). The value of these wooded habitats of limited extent to bird populations is well recognized and has been especially well documented on the Arid Lands Ecology (ALE) reserve in south-central Washington (Rotenberry et. al. 1979). Historically, spring streams have also been the focal points of human habitation and the congregation areas for herds of domestic livestock that pasture in the surrounding sagebrush-steppe and trek back and forth to the few widely separated spring streams that serve as watering points. The physiological requirement for drinking water has tended to concentrate livestock at a few places, causing damage and even destruction of riparian woody vegetation (Thomas et al. 1979). Our paper reports on the self-recovery of woody vegetation along a small spring/ stream in south central Washington after exclusion of livestock by fencing.