The Value of Litter
By Taylor Lenard, AAg, Range Management Extension Specialist, Tisdale
Rangeland functions include productivity, site stability, capture and slow release of water, nutrient cycling and plant species diversity. Litter plays a key part in achieving these rangeland functions and can account for close to half of forage production in dry environments.
One of the indicators of range health dealing specifically with litter is hydrologic function and soil protection. This looks at the amount and distribution of litter found on a pasture. Finding the right balance of litter is very important to the health of the rangelands for both grazing animals and the surrounding ecosystem.
What is Litter?
- Litter is defined as previous year’s ungrazed residue including standing or lying (as well as slightly decomposed) plant material covering the soil surface.
What Does Litter Do?
- Litter provides a barrier to the soil surface to protect it from invasive species take-over, insects, wind and water erosion, runoff, etc. It also holds soil moisture in by keeping the soil surface cool and acts as a vapour barrier.
- Litter is an indicator of past utilization. If more forage is consumed than produced, litter levels will decline. Whether it is abundant, lacking or uneven, litter will tell a story and give some indication for future management decisions. Although it does not tell the whole story, it is a piece that should be taken into consideration.
- A healthy or normal litter amount will depend on what type of areas are within your pasture. For instance, native prairie will generally be grazed differently than tame pasture. Different soil types may also yield different litter amounts.
- Having adequate litter can slow the effects of a drought and allow it to recover faster once moisture becomes available again.
Low Litter Impacts
- Creates open, bare soil, which allows invasive species to move in.
- Not as much soil protection from wind and water erosion.
- Little vapour barrier for water retention.
- Plants are more exposed for insects to damage.
- Less nutrient cycling, as when litter breaks down into organic matter on the soil surface it feeds microbes and recycles nutrients.
High Litter Impacts
- Has the potential to slow forage production in extreme cases.
- Old growth not as tempting for cattle to graze.
- Can increase undesirable plants that like higher moisture microenvironments, or grasses like Kentucky bluegrass that are adapted to growing through dense layers of litter.
- More research is being done on the effects of a large amount of litter and if there can, in fact, be too much.
Litter plays a very important role in the functions of rangelands. Find the right balance in forage use to ensure enough litter is present year to year, while preventing build up. For the most part, having litter retention far outweighs the potential risk of forage production loss. For more information on litter amounts and assessing your rangelands, visit the Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan website or contact your local range management extension specialist.
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