GRSM ELK OFFTAKE

Many factors combine to determine how much vegetation consumption can occur before a habitat is no longer sustainable. These factors include species composition, season of use, intensity of use, and prior grazing history. In semiarid systems, when grazed versus ungrazed plots were compared, grazed plots had a mean consumption rate of aboveground net primary production (ANPP) of 35 percent. The Forage Offtake Sampling project measures the carrying capacity for elk on the landscape with the goal of ensuring that the habitat remains sustainable in terms of the health of the vegetation and grazing ungulates. The “habitat sustainability threshold” is the amount of forage that must remain ungrazed and maintaining this threshold promotes habitat sustainability by not allowing all vegetation production to be consumed by ungulates. The corresponding Integration of Resource Management Applications (IRMA) NPS Data Store reference is Great Smoky Mountains National Park Elk Forage Offtake Sampling locations.