Perennially and intermittently available water in lentic, spring-fed herbaceous meadows supports wetland plants that build and maintain absorbent soil organic matter, capture sediment, prevent erosion, and thereby sustain riparian ecosystems. Enhanced forage and available water attract a diversity of wildlife and grazing animals that can degrade riparian vegetation through prolonged overuse. We tested novel monitoring methods and adapted existing methods to obtain quantified vegetation data that have been consistently linked to riparian functionality and compared these data to ungulate species use. We quantified ungulate use with time-lapse cameras at 10 Nevada spring-fed herbaceous meadows where core greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitat, public land grazing allotments, and free-roaming horse (Equus caballus) herd management areas (Bureau of Land Management) or territories (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) overlapped. Free-roaming horses used most study sites over longer periods and grazed more intensely than cattle or domestic sheep. Native ungulate grazing intensity was comparatively negligible. Free-roaming horses selected spring-fed meadow sites on average 51 (±33 [SE]) times more than the surrounding rangelands, and cattle selected them 30 ± 23 times more. Within the wettest area of a site, study sites with longer duration of use and higher intensity of use had more soil alteration and bare ground. Riparian ecosystem degradation occurred where meadows had limited rest or recovery time from grazing during the growing season. At all sites we noted loss of riparian function, especially within the hydric areas with the highest potential to grow abundant cover of stabilizing wetland plant species. Transects for monitoring soil alteration and vegetation cover in this hydric location can provide a leading indicator of riparian recovery or degradation and help in adjusting free-roaming horse population levels or livestock management strategies. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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马和牛放牧后草甸和河岸功能受损

常年和间歇性可用的泉水草本草甸常年和间歇性可用水支持湿地植物，这些植物建立和维持吸收性土壤有机质，捕获沉积物，防止侵蚀，从而维持河岸生态系统。增强的草料和可用水吸引了各种野生动物和放牧动物，这些动物会因长期过度使用而导致河岸植被退化。我们测试了新的监测方法并调整了现有方法以获得与河岸功能始终相关的量化植被数据，并将这些数据与有蹄类动物物种的使用进行了比较。我们在 10 个内华达州春天喂养的草本草地上使用延时相机量化了有蹄类动物的使用情况，其中核心大鼠尾草松鸡（Centrocercus urophasianus) 栖息地、公共土地放牧地块和自由漫游的马 ( Equus caballus) 畜群管理区（土地管理局）或领地（美国农业部林业局）重叠。自由漫游的马使用大多数研究地点的时间更长，并且比牛或家养羊更密集地放牧。本地有蹄类动物的放牧强度相对可以忽略不计。自由漫游的马选择春季喂养的草地比周围牧场多 51 (±33 [SE]) 倍，而牛选择它们的次数多 30 ± 23 倍。在一个站点的最潮湿区域内，使用时间较长和使用强度较高的研究站点有更多的土壤变化和裸露的地面。河岸生态系统退化发生在草地在生长季节从放牧中休息或恢复时间有限的地方。在所有地点，我们都注意到河岸功能丧失，尤其是在最有可能种植大量稳定湿地植物物种的水文地区。用于监测这个水文地区土壤变化和植被覆盖的横断面可以提供河岸恢复或退化的领先指标，并有助于调整自由漫游的马种群水平或牲畜管理策略。© 2021 野生动物协会。