Mitigating ecosystem service tradeoffs in rangelands by using grazing duration and timing to manage water quality

1. Mitigating ecosystem service (ES) tradeoffs is a key management goal in locations where stakeholders value different and potentially conflicting ecosystem services (ESs). However, studies are not often designed to examine how local management actions address ES tradeoffs, and therefore do not provide options that can alleviate conflict.

2. In semi-arid rangelands, we examined the potential for managers to mitigate tradeoffs between livestock production and water quality. To move away from solutions that offer cattle removal as a singular management strategy, we examined how cattle presence, plus two elements of rotational grazing - the length of time cattle spend on rangeland (i.e., duration), and the season grazed (i.e., timing), affected stream Escherichia coli (E. coli concentrations). We also modeled how grazing duration and timing affected the ability to meet regulatory benchmarks for water quality throughout a grazing season.

3. Grazing duration controlled the length of t...