Mineral element concentrations of common grass and shrub species on sheep winter range in Wyoming: insights for mineral supplementation strategies

摘要

Rangelands are natural ecosystems that include an inherent diversity of native grasses, forbs, and shrubs all of which are commonly utilized by livestock and wildlife. In Wyoming, United States, approximately 85% of the land surface area is considered rangelands. Plant communities on these rangelands span from sagebrush steppe to shortgrass prairie and include plant communities important for sheep production such as salt desert shrublands (Knight et al., 2014). As of 2017, Wyoming’s total sheep inventory is approximately 367,702 (USDA-NASS, 2017), to which 82% come from ranches with 1,000 sheep or more. Furthermore, we estimate that approximately 82% of all Wyoming sheep come from operations that utilize winter range resources.