A new University of Wyoming (UW) study shows if the spread of cheatgrass and other invasive grasses remains unchecked, mule deer will lose important habitat in Wyoming. Researchers also found mule deer avoid areas where invasive grasses overtake native sagebrush and grassland landscapes.
Cheatgrass and similar invasive vegetation offer poor-quality forage with little to no nutrition for mule deer and other wildlife. Researchers found that once invasive annual grasses covered more than 13 percent of sagebrush lands, mule deer began to use those areas less. When invasive grasses covered more than 20 percent of the land, mule deer strongly avoided those areas.
“This is one of the first research studies to clearly assess the impacts of invasive annual grasses on mule deer habitat selection,” said Kurt Smith, UW senior research scientist and lead author of the study. “The picture is grim if we sit back and do nothing. But there’s plenty of hope that we can maintain big game populations if we strategically treat cheatgrass and other invasives.”
Thanks to a focus on habitat stewardship for elk, mule deer and other wildlife, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation supplies funding to fight invasive species. To cite one Wyoming example, RMEF committed $365,000 in 2016 for the multi-year Shoshone Landscape Habitat Project in the northwest part of the state. Treatments across 260,000 acres include removing encroaching conifers, invasive weed control, prescribed burning, thinning and other treatments to enhance aspen stands and improve wildlife habitat.
Dating back to 1986, RMEF and its partners completed 1,006 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects in Wyoming with a combined value of more than $231 million. These projects conserved or enhanced 1,371,104 acres of habitat and opened or improved public access to 243,846 acres.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)