Curious cattle on the Colorado Plateau

Cattle and grazing management are important to consider when thinking about ecosystem function in water-limited ecosystems. Management style can either promote or hinder productivity. Strategic distribution of water drinkers on the rangeland is a method that ranchers and land managers use to move cattle and reduce the threat of overgrazing. These cattle are keeping watch from a cattle tank in Northern Arizona. The USGS RAMPS program is working to increase forage available to cattle through a network experiment adjacent to this cattle tank.