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Simulated water quality effects of alternate grazing management practices at the ranch and watershed scales

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  • Park, Jong-Yoon
  • Ale, Srinivasulu
  • Teague, W. Richard

Abstract

Inappropriate grazing management with high stocking rates can result in significantly higher levels of runoff, sediment and nutrient losses to surface water resources. An assessment of water quality effects of various grazing management practices enables the selection of appropriate management practices. The overall objective of this study was to assess the impacts of alternate grazing management practices including the heavy continuous (HC), light continuous (LC) and adaptive multi-paddock (MP) grazing, and no grazing (EX; exclosure) on water quality at the ranch and watershed scales in the rangeland-dominated (71% rangeland) Clear Creek Watershed (CCW) in north central Texas using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The SWAT model was calibrated and validated for water quality predictions using the measured data on county-level crop yield (1980–2013), and monthly sediment (1994–2009), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads (1986–2009) at the watershed outlet. The ranch-scale assessment results at two study ranches indicated that when the grazing management was changed from the baseline MP grazing to HC grazing, the simulated average (1980–2013) annual surface runoff, sediment, TN and TP losses increased within the ranges of 106%–117%, 6.0–8.1tonha−1, 8.3–11.5kgha−1, and 1.6–2.6kgha−1, respectively. At the watershed-scale, shifting grazing management from the baseline HC grazing to the improved MP grazing decreased surface runoff, sediment, TN and TP loads by 47.0%, 39.7%, 35.1% and 34.1%, respectively. Thus, adaptive MP grazing was found to be the best grazing management practice for the CCW in terms of water quality protection and improvement in ecosystem functions such as reduced soil erosion and increased nutrient retention at both ranch and watershed scales. However, the magnitudes of water quality benefits due to adoption of MP grazing vary according to the extent of grazing lands in a watershed.

Suggested Citation

  • Park, Jong-Yoon & Ale, Srinivasulu & Teague, W. Richard, 2017. "Simulated water quality effects of alternate grazing management practices at the ranch and watershed scales," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 360(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:360:y:2017:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.06.019
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Havstad, Kris M. & Peters, Debra P.C. & Skaggs, Rhonda & Brown, Joel & Bestelmeyer, Brandon & Fredrickson, Ed & Herrick, Jeffrey & Wright, Jack, 2007. "Ecological services to and from rangelands of the United States," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 261-268, December.
    2. Gassman, Philip W. & Reyes, Manuel R. & Green, Colleen H. & Arnold, Jeffrey G., 2007. "The Soil and Water Assessment Tool: Historical Development, Applications, and Future Research Directions," ISU General Staff Papers 200701010800001027, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
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    1. Che, Yuyuan & Feng, Hongli & Hennessy, David A., 2023. "Will adoption occur if a practice is win-win for profit and the environment? An application to a rancher's grazing practice choices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    2. Wang, Tong & Jin, Hailong & Kreuter, Urs & Teague, Richard, 2021. "Expanding grass-based agriculture on marginal land in the U.S. Great Plains: The role of management intensive grazing," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    3. Sutie Xu & Sindhu Jagadamma & Jason Rowntree, 2018. "Response of Grazing Land Soil Health to Management Strategies: A Summary Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-26, December.
    4. Che, Yuyuan & Feng, Hongli & Hennessy, David, 2021. "Assessing Peer Effects and Subsidy Impacts in Technology Adoption: Application to Grazing Management Choices with Farm Survey Data," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315123, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Ethan Gordon & Federico Davila & Chris Riedy, 2022. "Transforming landscapes and mindscapes through regenerative agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 809-826, June.
    6. Barbara Wróbel & Waldemar Zielewicz & Mariola Staniak, 2023. "Challenges of Pasture Feeding Systems—Opportunities and Constraints," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-31, April.
    7. Li-Chi Chiang & Yi-Ting Chuang & Chin-Chuan Han, 2019. "Integrating Landscape Metrics and Hydrologic Modeling to Assess the Impact of Natural Disturbances on Ecohydrological Processes in the Chenyulan Watershed, Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Chen, Yong & Ale, Srinivasulu & Rajan, Nithya & Srinivasan, Raghavan, 2017. "Modeling the effects of land use change from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to perennial bioenergy grasses on watershed hydrology and water quality under changing climate," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 198-208.

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