Livestock overgrazing can silently convert vast rangeland to a new weed

Evidence

Others arrived later, from the West, and found thousands of square miles of ready-made seedbed prepared by the trampling hoofs of range livestock. In such cases the spread was often so rapid as to escape recording; one simply woke up one fine spring to find the range dominated by a new weed. A notable instance was the invasion of the intermountain and northwestern foothills by downy chess or cheat grass (Bromus tectorum). — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 548

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ecological invaders succeed one another in chains driven by land-use change — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 546; Overgrazing caused cheat to replace native grasses on foothill rangeland — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 551; Introduced wild boar can reduce Appalachian herb cover below five percent of expected value — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1472 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Introduced wild boar can reduce Appalachian herb cover below five percent of expected value #exemplifies (0.85) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1472
• A plant species persists where it is harvested respectfully and departs where ignored. #complicates (0.72) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 546