USGS DDS-43, Conditions of Rangelands Before 1905

WILLIAM C. KINNEY Davis, California 3 Conditions of Rangelands before 1905 ABSTRACT Paleoecological sources indicate that the location and extent of Si- INTRODUCTION erra Nevada rangelands have varied significantly during the last An assessment of the health of Sierra Nevada ecosystems re- 20,000 years. Modern vegetative associations are recent, with mon- quires some basis from which to evaluate current conditions. tane wet meadows appearing during the last 3,000 years. A late Pleis- That is, how similar are current ecosystems to those of the tocene sagebrush grassland existed where montane and subalpine past, and to what extent do recent historical conditions rep- forests occur today. In the central Sierra a pattern of deglaciation and resent their range of variability over longer periods of time? vegetative response was repeated at different times depending on The purpose of this chapter is to address the second of the location, from alpine grassland to a diverse mixture of conifer and three basic assessment questions; that is, what were the con- shrub species in an open forest structure. The Holocene began with ditions of Sierra Nevada rangeland ecosystems in the past, a decline in mesic species and increased charcoal and oak pollen, and how have these ecosystems varied over recent geologic indicating a warming trend. A cooler, wetter climate followed as mesic and historic time intervals? Here, rangelands are defined conifers reappeared and evidence of fire decreased. broadly to include the grassland-, woodland-, and chaparral- Historical accounts indicate that highly productive rangelands ex- dominated associations that have been used by livestock and isted when Europeans arrived. Large ungulate populations were wild ungulates within the study area in the past. A more pre- present, and perennial grasses dominated foothill rangelands. Nu- cise definition of current Sierra Nevada rangeland ecosystems merous observers reported severe overgrazing by livestock in the can be found in Menke et al. 1996. late 1800s, due in part to a lack of regulation of the common range- This chapter reviews available historical and paleoecologi- lands. Livestock management contributed to annual grassland con- cal information on past conditions and the natural range of version on the west side and to juniper woodland expansion on the variability of rangeland resources within the project study east side of the range. area, from the late Pleistocene to the start of public owner- The abundance of a diverse assemblage of large grazing mam- ship at the turn of the century. The focus here is on the last mals at the end of the Pleistocene indicates that Sierra Nevada range- 20,000 years, a period encompassing a wide range of climatic lands were highly adapted to intense grazing pressure and that animal and ecological conditions, from near-maximum glacial ad- disturbance was an integral part of this highly productive system. vance, through a period of deglaciation, to more recent inter- This evidence argues for a recognition that well-managed animal dis- vals that were evidently hotter and drier than the current turbance is as vital as well-managed fire to ecosystem health and climate. The first part of the chapter looks at paleoecological sustainability. studies that illuminate century- and millennial-scale changes in rangeland vegetation. The second part of the chapter addresses questions concerning the conditions and use of Sierra Nevada rangelands during the initial European exploration and settlement period from 1579 to 1905, when public ownership of these lands was consolidated. The final part of Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress, vol. II, Assessments and scientific basis for management options. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, 1996. 31 32 VOLUME II, CHAPTER 3 the chapter discusses implications of these findings for the A large body of reductionist research aimed at selected range- management of Sierran rangelands. Questions relating to the land ecosystem processes has expanded our knowledge of use and management of these rangelands since 1905, and to plant-herbivore relationships but generally fails to address their current condition and trend, are addressed in Menke et the full complexity of ecosystem response. In many cases, al. 1996. there has been a confusion over benefits to individual plants Organization of the chapter is basically chronological. Fol- or communities versus benefits to the overall ecosystem. Key lowing the review of paleoecological conditions is a review findings from these studies are presented later. of historical rangeland conditions and uses. The historical It is clear, however, that plant-herbivore interactions are review focuses primarily on foothill and montane rangelands, very site- and time-specific and that achieving potential ben- based on the limited coverage of early accounts. These ac- efits depends on adapting rangeland management to these counts cover the period from initial European exploration and specific conditions. Even a complete review of this literature settlement to the consolidation of public ownership in 1905, would not answer questions that can be addressed only with special emphasis on the period from 1860 to 1900 when through adaptive experimental designs. Given a lack of adap- rangeland resources were heavily affected by Europeans. tive rangeland-management studies in the project area, project Sources of data include accounts by explorers, trappers, set- resources were allocated to analyzing current data on range- tlers, naturalists, and surveyors. Although some readers may land condition and trend, as addressed in Menke et al. 1996, find the historical accounts “subjective,” they are the best rather than further exploring these broader questions. available sources of information on rangeland condition during the settlement period. Data used by paleoecologists to reconstruct past environ- ments of the Sierra Nevada include tree-ring chronologies; lake and meadow sediment stratigraphy and fossil content; LATE PLEISTOCENE existing and prehistoric lake levels and glacial extents; and PALEOECOLOGY OF pack-rat midden pollen and macrofossils. These proxy data, taken together, sketch an outline of Sierra Nevada rangeland THE SIERRA NEVADA ecosystems and how they have responded to climatic vari- Geologists define the Quaternary period as the most recent, ability. covering the last two million years or so of geologic time. This Unfortunately, data relating to past rangeland conditions period is divided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene ep- are limited, both for the distant past and for the period of ochs, at between 12,000 and 10,000 B.P. As noted earlier, pa- European settlement. These limitations are due in part to the leoecologists analyze a variety of data to infer past ecological lack of systematic studies of rangeland conditions during the and environmental conditions about a given site or region. settlement period (Burcham 1957). In addition, current pa- Recent investigations of paleoenvironmental conditions leoecological research of the Sierra Nevada suffers from lim- continue to modify the picture generated by earlier research ited spatial and temporal resolution. Finally, it is often difficult and to call into question past theories about climate change, to interpret paleoecological data because of a diversity of eco- ecological succession and climax, and the delineation of ex- system responses to changing environmental conditions. isting plant community types. This is because it is often diffi- However, these sources do provide a picture of the location, cult to find modern analogs to some of the plant associations general composition, and extent of broad rangeland types, that evidently existed within the study area in the past (Davis and the relative productivity of past Sierra Nevada range- and Moratto 1988; Grayson 1993). In addition, it appears land ecosystems. that the Sierra Nevada has had a different climatic history In addition to assessing the health of current rangeland than the Great Basin during the last 12,000 years (Davis and ecosystems and reviewing past conditions, initial rangeland Moratto 1988). research objectives included a review of evidence for a late Pleistocene megafaunal herbivory and its coevolution with rangeland vegetation; a review of adaptive livestock-manage- Western-Slope Montane Vegetation ment strategies that recognize these plant-herbivore relation- Cole (1983) analyzed one modern and six Pleistocene pack- ships; evidence of successful application of these strategies rat middens from caves in lower Kings Canyon ranging in by practicing land managers; and implications of this evidence elevation from 920 to 1,270 meters (~3,000–4,000 ft). This area for management of Sierra Nevada rangelands. After initial is within the present oak-chaparral woodland vegetative zone review of the literature in these areas, it became clear that in California. The modern midden showed a high correlation this chapter could not adequately address all these objectives. with local vegetation, as determined by three 60 m (197 ft) Considerable scientific controversy has arisen among ecolo- transects within 100 m (328 ft) of the midden. The Pleistocene gists over whether herbivory can benefit plant communities, middens ranged in age, with five of the six falling between in part because such benefits challenge established paradigms 20,000 and 12,500 B.P. The middens were analyzed for both about the role of

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