Factsheet 1 of 6 in the
Pasture and Range Assessment Series

Introduction to Pasture and Range Health

What is Pasture and Range Health?

Pasture and Range health is defined as the “degree to which the integrity of the soil, vegetation, water and air, as well as the ecological processes of the grazing land ecosystem, are balanced and maintained. Ecological processes include the nutrient cycle, water cycle, and energy flow and thus refer to the ability of grazinglands to perform important natural functions like:

• produce plant biomass including forage for livestock and wildlife

• maintain the soil and protect the site from erosion

• capture and beneficially release water

• cycle nutrients and energy

• maintain biological diversity

• store carbon

Healthy pastures and rangelands will provide a long list of goods and services for society. For livestock producers this means economically and environmentally sustainable grazing opportunities along with watershed and soil protection. Numerous wildlife benefits will also occur if rangelands are managed in a healthy manner.

Background

The material used in this factsheet series (Pasture and Rangeland Health Factsheet Series) is intended for livestock producers who wish to increase their understanding of how they can assist in maintaining a functional:

• nutrient cycle (the cycle of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus through the physical and biotic components of the environment)

• water cycle (the capture, storage and redistribution of precipitation)

• energy flow (conversion of sunlight to plant and animal matter) on their grazinglands

¨     It is also designed to assist livestock producers in preventing and decreasing environmental impacts on their farm while maintaining or increasing profits and achieving the objectives outlined in a Grazing Management Plan. Finally, it is important to note that future revisions of this methodology will occur as science and experience provide additional information on indicators of rangeland health and its assessment.

If you are concerned about your riparian areas, please see the Riparian Factsheet Series.

Why Should I Consider Pasture and Range Health?

Healthy pasture and rangelands will provide a long list of goods and services for society. For livestock producers this means economically and environmentally sustainable grazing opportunities along with a functional watershed and soil protection. Numerous habitat and wildlife benefits will also occur if pastures and rangelands are managed in a healthy manner.

Additional benefits include:

• reduced feed costs
   
• maintenance and/or improvement of forage production (even through drought!)
   
• increased flexibility around season of use
   
• reduced weeds and associated control costs
   
• reduced fertilizer costs
   
• quality wildlife and fisheries habitat
   
• prevention of soil erosion
   
• timber production
   
• watershed protection
   
• water quality
   
• large soil carbon sinks

A New Tool for Ranchers!

This Factsheet Series is designed to provide livestock producers with tools to assists in the identification of management issues and problems on their pastures.

As a part of this series, a group of factsheets describing assessment procedures and decision making tools to assist you in managing the health of your pastures have been developed. The titles of these factsheets are:

1. Introduction to Pasture and Range Health
2. Assessing Your Grazinglands
3. Assessing Range Health
4. Assessing Pasture Health
5. Identifying Concerns and Selecting Revised Management Practices

The Grazing Management Factsheet series also suggests tools that can be employed to manage the health of your pastures. The titles of these factsheets are:

1. Improving Livestock Distribution
2. Grazing Frequency and Utilization
3. Seasonal Considerations for Grazing Management
4. Pasture Design
5. Riparian Pasture Design
6. Watering Livestock Directly from Watercourses
7. Monitoring Grazinglands
8. Managing Grazinglands Through Drought
9. Pasture Management 

Do I need to do a Pasture or Rangeland Health Assessment?

If grazing on tame pasture or native rangeland, is pasture and range health protected? Answering “Yes” to any of the questions below indicates that a pasture or range health assessment may be needed.

1. An expected plant layers is absent (i.e., grasses, trees, shrubs, mosses and lichens)?
2. Plant litter and/or residue (standing dead material) is missing?
3. Accelerated soil erosion is occurring or higher than expected amounts of bare soil are present?
4. Are invasive plants are present?
5. If your site is a tame pasture, introduced forage species do not dominate the site? Introduced species include orchardgrass, crested wheatgrass, timothy, brome grasses, creeping red fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, clovers and alfalfa.
6. If your site is a tame pasture, woody growth is competing with forages on the site?

Now What?

Review Factsheet 2 in this series (Assessing Your Grazinglands) and determine what type of pasture you want to assess and then select either, Factsheet 3 (Assessing Native Range), or Factsheet 4 (Assessing Tame Pasture) of the Pasture and Range Assessment Series. You may also find Factsheets 5 and 6 useful if you want to consider making changes to your operation.

Further Information

	Grazing Management Guide: Environmental Farm Plan Guide Series. Available online
	Rangeland Health Assessment for Grassland, Forest & Tame Pasture. Available online
	Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health. This publication provides you with a more detailed assessment of rangeland health. This publication as well as numerous others are available online:  It is important to note that this approach was specifically designed to: Be used only by knowledgeable, experienced people. Provide a preliminary evaluation of soil/site stability, hydrologic function, and integrity of the biotic community (at the ecological site level). Help land managers identify areas that are potentially at risk of degradation. Provide early warnings of potential problems and opportunities. Be used to communicate fundamental ecological concepts to a wide variety of audiences in the field. Improve communication among interest groups by focusing discussion on critical ecosystem properties and processes. Select monitoring sites in the development of monitoring programs. Help understand and communicate rangeland health issues.
	Rangeland Handbook for BC. Available online

For further information contact:

Darren Bruhjell
Phone:  250 371-6058
Email: Darren.Bruhjell@gov.bc.ca

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