"Invasion Biology" - Pitchstone Waters (Page 11)

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"Invasion Biology"

Since the beginning of time, species have spread and contracted their ranges. A variety of factors including weather and climate influenced their spread and movement. Arguably, one of the most important modern factors is human influence.

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"Invasion Biology"

How the West Was Won: Selling of the Waggoner Ranch

The “80-20 Rule” states that typically, 80 percent of business profits come from 20 percent of total efforts. This simple insight is the single most powerful of all money-making principles. In ranching, 80 percent of total profits come from the capital appreciation of the asset. The idea that ranching can

Cowboys Turn to High-Tech Ear Tags to Monitor Animal Health

"Invasion Biology"

Cowboys Turn to High-Tech Ear Tags to Monitor Animal Health

Small, inexpensive tracking devices embedded in ear tags that work through cellular towers instead of costly, heavy GPS devices would revolutionize grassland restoration. This would allow ranchers to track their stock on open ranges. Controlling theft, minimizing straying and limiting searches for missing animals would fundamentally improve grass-fed ranch economics.

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"Invasion Biology"

Circle Ranch Game Cameras - July 2016

To be healthy, desert ranges need three things: (1) Large, concentrated migratory bison herds, or, cattle grazed to mimic bison’s migratory patterns; (2) a lot of predators of all sizes; and, (3) a high, diverse population of prey species. Remove any of these and the systems collapse. Most wildlife

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"Invasion Biology"

Circle Ranch Open Gate Day, August 26, 2016

On August 26, 2016, Holistic Management International (HMI) held an Open Gate educational day at Circle Ranch in far-West Texas. We demonstrated desert grassland restoration using ‘Plug and Spread’ water harvesting from eroded gullies, and Keyline contour plowing. Circle Ranch Open Gate, August 26, 2016 from Christopher Gill on Vimeo.

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"Invasion Biology"

Early Summer 2016 - Game Cameras

Healthy ranges need: (1) Big nomadic grazers (bison or cows under planned grazing), (2) abundant predators and (3) lots of prey numbers and kinds. Take any one of these out and the system collapses. The systems’ need for biodiversity is a physiological fact, not a social concept. For 10-years in

Circle Ranch - Genuine Land Stewardship

"Invasion Biology"

Desert Grassland Restoration: Creosote Bush

CREOSOTE BUSH (Larrea tridentata) is generally misunderstood as an invader plant. In fact creosote is a symptom – but not the cause – of dying desert grasslands. Creosote will predominate as grasslands decline but eventually it also dies. 1. Creosote bush flowers and fruits Creosote bush is one of the most common

Killing Wolves to Save Livestock May Backfire

"Invasion Biology"

Killing Wolves to Save Livestock May Backfire

Why predator “control” increases predation.

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"Invasion Biology"

Killing Bighorn to Save Bighorn?

It‘s hard to name a modern wildlife “management” practice that does not involve killing some plant or animal to “help” other plants or animals to the unintended detriment of all. The idea that humans can improve on nature would be laughable but for the damage being done to wild

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"Invasion Biology"

Wildlife, Habitat Flourishing in High Desert Mountains of Far West Texas

Gary Joiner and I became friends when he was Executive Director of Texas Wildlife Association, and I was on his board. He has a weekly radio show on wildlife, for which I gave this short interview. For more Texas Wildlife Radio Show / Texas Farm Bureau reports visit: http://texasfarmbureau.org/

Biodiversity Benefiting Wildlife, Plants on Circle Ranch

"Invasion Biology"

Biodiversity Benefiting Wildlife, Plants on Circle Ranch

Wildlife population, habitat flourish in far West Texas Note: This originally appeared in Texas Wildlife Radio Show / Texas Farm Bureau reports Circle Ranch is a 32,000-acre high-desert mountain ranch located in the Sierra Diablo (Devil Mountains) of Hudspeth County in far West Texas. Range and wildlife habitat conditions right

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"Invasion Biology"

13 Chronic Wasting Disease Cases Confirmed at Medina County Facility

All cases of CWD can be traced back to the Foothills Wildlife Research Station in Ft. Collins, a facility of the Colorado Department of Wildlife, in 1967. Agencies have closed ranks: It appears that amnesia has spread like CWD. No one seems to remember what was being done to the

Learning from Africa's Herbivores

"Invasion Biology"

Learning from Africa's Herbivores

These articles shed light on some of the basic insights of holistic management, planned grazing, and permaculture, as to the physiology of desert grasslands: * Plants need animals as much as animals need plants. * Many, many kinds of animals, from large to small, are necessary for healthy habitat. * Restoration of animal

"Invasion Biology"

Are GMOs Really That Bad?

Since humans began raising food by farming and keeping livestock, we have bred for better plants and animals. This is not and never has been the problem with GMOs; attempts to portray GMO opponents as nuts fighting better plants are a red herring. In classic bait-and switch, the agro-giants promised

Book Review: The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters

"Invasion Biology"

Book Review: The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters

The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters by Sean B. Carroll is a great book about nature’s basic rules and contains many valuable insights on desert grasslands. While Carroll didn’t intend to write a book about holistic management, The Serengeti Rules

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"Invasion Biology"

Jim Howell – Conserving and Restoring the World’s Grasslands

Take the time to listen to this great interview with our friend Jim Howell, in which he explains how cattle ranching can restore rangeland viability. NOTE: post initially appeared on MountainPrarie.com Jim Howell is the CEO of Grasslands LLC, which is the land management arm of the Savory Institute,

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"Invasion Biology"

HMI Open Gate Day - August 26 2016

HMI Open Gate: Circle Ranch Day Helping Water Flow Where it Needs to Go – August 26, 2016. Circle Ranch, Van Horn, TX Our Circle Ranch Day is part of HMI’s Open Gate Learning Series. Open Gates are on-the-ground learning days for producers and consumers who care about land health

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"Invasion Biology"

Spring 2016 Game Cameras

Biodiversity is Good, not Bad Because plants need animals as much as animals need plants, a biodiverse plant community requires a biodiverse animal community. Conventional wildlife “management” and “conservation” theory says that most of the animals, and especially the predators pictured below harm “native” plants and animals, through “competition”, and

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"Invasion Biology"

Book Review: Woody Plants of the Big Bend and Trans-Pecos

This is a very useful book to the far-West Texas and Southern New Mexico landowner. Every landowner should try to know these plants by sight. Over 100 common trees, shrubs, cacti and other plants are identified and described. These are photographed as shrubs, in leaf detail, flower detail and seed

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"Invasion Biology"

Game Cameras - February 2016

In far-West Texas, a coalition of government agencies, agricultural universities and conservation organizations has decreed that on public lands more than half of the species pictured below should be severely reduced or removed altogether to help bighorn, pronghorn and deer. The coalition claims that all “exotics” and many “natives” including

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"Invasion Biology"

What Caused the Spread of Saltcedar and the Decline of Cottonwood Along the Rio Grande?

As this article explains, cottonwood decline was caused by river dams which ended seasonal flooding, not by an “invasion” of saltcedar. NOTE: article was originally published in the Hudspeth County Herald April 1, 2016 In October 1916, dignitaries gathered at the Rio Grande, near present-day Truth or Consequences, New Mexico,

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"Invasion Biology"

Cows and Elk - A Symbiotic Relationship

When grazed properly, cattle can be very beneficial for elk. Cattle are similar in their grazing impact to bison; bison and elk were mutually dependent for many thousands of years in North America. NOTE: originally published in HMI In Practice Newsletter May June 2013

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"Invasion Biology"

Winter 2016 Game Photos

A basic disagreement between Big Wildlife and holistic thinkers like Aldo Leopold is whether multiple species compete with each other or compliment each other. Another is whether predators like wolves, lions, coyotes & bobcats harm prey species, or, as Aldo Leopold observed, benefit them by getting rid of sick animals

Eyewitness Account of Pronghorn, Bison, Elk, & Mule Deer Sharing Desert Ranges

"Invasion Biology"

Eyewitness Account of Pronghorn, Bison, Elk, & Mule Deer Sharing Desert Ranges

According to invasive species believers, including TPWD, bison and elk should be removed from our state parks and wildlife management areas because they don’t belong and because they “compete” with, and “harm” desert bighorn sheep and pronghorn. Here is an eyewitness account of these species sharing range in the

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"Invasion Biology"

Feral Hogs Pegged as One of Top Contaminators of San Antonio River

Since Europeans arrived in Texas, pigs have roamed our river bottoms, fattening on acorns and mast and in so doing, stimulating plants. Before the Civil War, these were gathered seasonally, slaughtered and the meat provided the primary cash crop for Hill Country farmers. At the time of the Civil War,

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"Invasion Biology"

A Hint of Danger in the Forest

Proliferation of feral pigs is not limited to Texas. Regulations against selling free-range pigs as food and regulatory red tape that has driven small processors out of business are why we have the feral pig “problem.” Free-ranging pigs have provided humans with nutritious, safe, enviornmentally sustainable meat for thousands of