Effects of sheep grazing on a riparian-stream environment effectsofsheepgr307plat Year: 1981 1** United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station Research Note INT-307 March 1981 Effects of Sheep Grazing on a Riparian-Stream Environment - William S. Platts1 ABSTRACT if >** A stream section in a meadow receiving high intensity grazing from sheep was almost five times as wide and only one-fifth as deep (average) as an adjoining stream section where the meadow received light or no grazing. In the heavily grazed area, undercut banks were
Effects of sheep grazing on a riparian-stream environment effectsofsheepgr307plat Year: 1981 1** United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station Research Note INT-307 March 1981 Effects of Sheep Grazing on a Riparian-Stream Environment - William S. Platts1 ABSTRACT if >** A stream section in a meadow receiving high intensity grazing from sheep was almost five times as wide and only one-fifth as deep (average) as an adjoining stream section where the meadow received light or no grazing. In the heavily grazed area, undercut banks were elim'inated, streambanks were outsloped, and water depth at the stream surface-stream channel interface was only one- thirteenth as deep as in the lightly or nongrazed area. To hold sheep on meadows for long periods of time is probably detrimental to the riparian-stream ecosystem, f KEYWORDS: streamside vegetation, fishery, stream morphology, streambank erosion. A valid assessment of the result of sheep grazing on riparian-stream habitats is not possible because of the lack of quantitative data for evaluation (Meehan and Platts 1978). Some data are available which describe the effects on stream ecology of cattle grazing (Platts 1978a, 1978b), but only rough, subjective information that describes the effects of sheep grazing on aquatic ecosystems is available. When evaluating the effects of livestock grazing on streams, it must be recognized that different classes of livestock graze the watershed in different ways. Sheep are often classified as grazers that use slopes and upland areas, while cattle are usually thought of as grazers that have more tendency to use the lesser slopes or bottom- lands which usually include riparian habitats. Because sheep grazing on public lands is usually controlled by herding, it is possible to graze a watershed without exerting significant influences on riparian habitats. This situation appears to be the case in my study sites (fig. 1) on Frenchm
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