How can rangeland be improved?
1 Answer
It can be made more sustainable and more friendly to the surrounding ecosystems.
Explanation:
Overgrazing is a large issue on rangelands. If cattle populations are controlled, they can all have enough food to survive, which, although it brings profits down short-term for ranchers, saves money in the long run and saves cattle from being undernourished.
A large problem with rangelands is that they interfere with the wildlife surrounding it unnecessarily. Example: Ranchers put barbed wire fences around their rangeland to prevent animals from getting on their land, but although it protects against bison and wolves that might hurt the cattle, it also hurts pronghorns, which are harmless. When faced with an obstacle, pronghorn don't jump, but dive down, which ends really badly when barbed wire is there.
One project I know of involved putting a smooth barrier under the barbed wire so that the pronghorn could pass through, but still kept out animals that might hurt the cattle or compete with them.
Source: Took an Environmental Science class.
