Range condition Estimate of how close a particular area of rangeland is to its potential for producing vegetation that can be consumed by grazing or browsing animals. Sustainable yield Highest rate at which a renewable resource can be used without impairing or damaging its ability to be fully renew. Overgrazing Consumption of rangeland grass by grazing animals to the point that it cannot be renewed or can be only slowly renewed because of damage to the root system. Deferred-rotation grazing Moving livestock between two or more range areas. Biome Terrestrial regions inhabited by certain types of life, especially vegetation.
Examples are various types of deserts, grasslands, and forests.
Federal and other public lands play a very important part in our food and fiber system. Much of the land is unable to be used to plant crops and the grasses that grow there can only be utilized by grazing animals. We get food, clothing and by-products such as pharmaceuticals, household products, and many other important products from grazing animals. Blades of rangeland grass grow from the base, not the tip, and thus as long as only its upper half is eaten and its lower half remains, rangeland grass is a renewable resource that can be grazed again and again. Range plants vary in their ability to recover, however and grazing pressure changes the balance of plant species in grassland communities.