Vegetation changes over 12 years in ungrazed and grazed Conservation Reserve Program grasslands in the Central and Southern Plains

Product Type: Report, Pages In

Year: 2005

Author(s): Cade, B.S., M.W. Vandever, A.W. Allen, and J.W. Terrell

Pages: 106-119

Suggested Citation: Cade, B.S., M.W. Vandever, A.W. Allen, and J.W. Terrell. 2005. Vegetation changes over 12 years in ungrazed and grazed Conservation Reserve Program grasslands in the Central and Southern Plains. In: A.W. Allen and M.W. Vandever (eds.). The Conservation Reserve Program: Planting for the future. Proceedings of a National Conference, Fort Collins, Colorado, June 6-9, 2004. Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5145. : U.S. Geological Survey. 106-119 p.

Abstract

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) established under the 1985 Food Security Act has the fundamental objectives of jointly providing economic support to segments of the agricultural community and conservation of natural resources (Osborn, 1997; Heard and others, 2000). Although soil loss on highly erodible lands was the principal natural resource conservation issue addressed in the 1985 CRP, improving water quality and the wildlife habitat both became important considerations as the program evolved (Farmer and others, 1998). For example, Best and others (1997) found that production of young birds on CRP fields in the Midwest was [greater than or equal to] 15 times the production on row-crop fields because of improved habitat. The increasing importance of wildlife habitat is reflected in continuing refinement of the Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to quantify the potential benefits of enrolling lands in CRP (Osborn, 1997; Ribaudo and others, 2001). The refinements reflect input furnished by federal, state, and non-government organizations seeking greater wildlife habitat quality on CRP lands (Roseberry and David, 1994; Hughes and others, 1995; Millenbah and others, 1996; Patterson and Best, 1996; Rodgers, 1999; Allen and others, 2001)…