Plant community functional shifts in response to livestock grazing in intermountain depressional wetlands in British Columbia, Canada

Wetlands are ecologically and economically important ecosystems with high conservation value. Although wetland vegetation is strongly determined by abiotic factors, grazing disturbance may also be an important influence on this community. We evaluated the effects of livestock grazing on wetland vegetation in marsh and wet meadow zones in intermountain depressional wetlands in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. We sampled marshes and wet meadows in 36 wetlands along a grazing intensity gradient ranging from fully fenced and ungrazed wetlands to unfenced wetlands heavily grazed by livestock. The amount of bare ground was used as a surrogate measure of the intensity of livestock grazing. Vegetation community structure and composition was strongly associated with grazing intensity. Increased livestock grazing favored shorter-lived and smaller plants; conversely, the frequency of tall and rhizomatous species, which constitute the dominant plant species in these systems, declined with higher livestock use. The effects of grazing were more pronounced in the marsh than in the wet meadow. Associations between species richness and grazing differed between zones: native and exotic species richness showed a unimodal response in the marsh while in the wet meadow exotic richness increased and native richness showed no response. The relationship between exotic frequency and grazing was also inconsistent between zones, with a negative association in the marsh and a positive but weak association in the wet meadow. Grazing-related changes in vegetation along the grazing intensity gradient were substantial and may affect the habitat value of these wetlands for dependent wildlife such as breeding waterfowl.

Research highlights
► Vegetation structure and composition were strongly associated with grazing intensity.
► Shorter-lived and smaller plants increased with livestock grazing.
► Tall and rhizomatous plants decreased with livestock grazing.
► Associations between species richness and grazing differed between wetland zones.
► The effects of grazing were more pronounced in the marsh than in the wet meadow.