Barry Perryman

Professor & Department Chair

Department: Agriculture, Veterinary and Rangeland Sciences
Office: 775-784-1265
Email: perryman@unr.edu
Building: FA
Room: 236
Mailstop: 202

Summary

Cheatgrass fueled wildfires are a result of not only the current year's phytomass production, but production from past years as well. Fuel accumulation over several years optimizes fuel amounts and continuity. Within the Intermountain region, grass biomass decomposes slowly and with little or no grazing activity, the cheatgrass in any given year may represent two or more production cycles. It appears that two years of fuel accumulation is optimal for grassland fires in the Intermountain West.

Reducing cheatgrass fuels using spring cattle grazing techniques is not practical on scales large enough to be effective. It is difficult to concentrate animals during spring for long enough periods of time to be of any use. However, cattle can be concentrated on cheatgrass during the fall, using supplementation as a tool. Reducing the amount of cheatgrass fuel carryover may effectively reduce the amount of total fuel available during the next years’ fire season.

If several hundred pounds per acre of cheatgrass can be removed during the fall, through cattle grazing, that is several hundred pounds that will not be added to the next year fuel load. We will also investigate further reducing the fuel load using spring sheep grazing, following fall cattle grazing. The concentrated effort should have not only short-term benefits, but should reduce cheatgrass competition to a point where perennial species can increase. We will also investigate the effect of these grazing treatments on the perennial plants. We will also assess animal condition and performance in order to make sure there will be no detrimental effect on the grazing animals utilizing fall season cheatgrass as the primary forage base.

Education

B.S. Agronomy, 1978, Abilene Christian Univ.
M.S. Rangeland Ecology, 1993, Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie
Ph.D. Rangeland Ecology, 1996, Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie

Publications

Book Chapter(s)

A field guide to Nevada shrubs (pp. 247).

2014

Lander, WY: Indigenous Rangeland Management Press.

Perryman, B. L.

<p>A taxonomic field guide of Nevada shrubs that includes state of the art photography along with vegetative, inflorescence and ecological keys; also includes glossary of taxonomic terms and a...

Field guide to Nevada grasses (pp. 256)

2007

Lander, WY: Indigenous Rangeland Management Press.

Perryman, B. L.

<p>There are more than 100 species of range grasses in the mountains and valleys of Nevada's Great Basin, and the author describes them in both technical and practical language. All grasses are...

Bulletins

The Wyoming Big Sagebrush State and Transition Model and Management Key for Nevada – First Approximation

2009

Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin

Perryman, B. S. Swanson, G Brackley, B. Schultz, P Blackburn, K McAdoo, G. Medlyn, and R Tausch, B. Morrill.

Wyoming Big Sagebrush State & Transition Model And Management Key for Nevada First Approximation

2009

NAES Bulletin

Barry Perryman, Sherman Swanson, Gary Brackley, Brad Schultz, Paul Blackburn, Kent McAdoo, Gary Medlyn, Robin Tausch

<p>During the late twentieth century, public perception of Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) [Beetle & A. Young] changed from being a ‘weed’ to a valuable...

Fact Sheets

Nutritional Properties of Windrowed and Standing Basin Wildrye over Time

2012

University of Nevada Cooperative Extension

Foster, S. and Perryman, B.

Many Nevada farmers and ranchers are in constant search of economical, high- producing winter forages for their beef cattle production system. An often overlooked forage but one that is common in...

Journals

Pre-fire grazing treatments can affect post-fire vegetation in a dryland system

2023

Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 4:e12215.

Gornish, Elise S., Guo J. S., L.M. Porensky, B.L. Perryman, E.A. Leger

Strategic supplementation to manage fine fuels in a cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invaded system

2022

Rangelands, Volume 44, Issue 2, 2022, pp. 129-135

Mitchell B. Stephenson, Barry L. Perryman, Chad S. Boyd, Brad W. Schultz, Tony Svejcar, Kirk W. Davies

A Change in the Ecological Understanding of Rangelands in the Great Basin and Intermountain West and Implications for Management: Revisiting Mack and Thompson (1982)

2021

Rangeland Ecology & Management Vol 76, Pages 1-11

Perryman, P., Schultz, B., Meiman, P.

Using native grass seeding and targeted spring grazing to reduce low-level Bromus tectorum invasion on the Colorado Plateau

2021

Biological Invasions, vol. 23, pg. 705–722

L. Porensky, O. Baughman, M. Williamson, B. Perryman, M. Madsen, E. Leger

Fall-Grazing and Grazing-Exclusion Effects on Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) Seed Bank Assays in Nevada, United States

2020

Rangeland Ecology & Management

BL Perryman, BW Schultz, M Burrows, T Shenkorua, J Wilker

Assessment of cheatgrass seed bank characteristics under fall-grazing by cattle and grazing exclusion treatments...

Climatic influences on establishment pulses of four Artemisia species in Nevada.

2018

Rangeland Ecology and Management, Volume 71, Issue 1, January 2018, Pages 77-86

Hourihan, E., Schultz, B. W., Perryman, B. L.

Effect of replacing calcium salts of palm oil with camelina seed at 2 dietary ether extract levels on digestion, ruminal fermentation, and nutrient flow in a dual-flow continuous culture system

2018

Journal of Dairy science 101:1-14

Brandao, V.L.N., X. Dai, E.M. Paula, L. G. Silva, M.I. Marcondes, T. Shenkoru, S.R.Poulson, and A.P. Faciola.

Forum: A Framework for Resetting Wild Horse & Burro Management.

2018

Rangelands. 40:160-165.

Perryman, B.L., McCuin, G., and Schultz, B.W.

Nutritional evaluation and ruminal fermentation patterns of kochia compared to alfalfa and orchardgrass hays, and ephedra and cheatgrass compared to orchardgrass hay as alternative arid-land forages for beef cattle in two dual-flow continuous culture system experiments.

2018

Journal of Animal Science.

Silva, L. G., Sampaio, C. B., Paula, E. M., Shenkoru, T., Brandao, V. L., Dai, X., Perryman, B. L., Faciola, A. P.

Viewpoint: An alternative Management Paradigm for Plant Communities Affected by Invasive Annual Grasses in the Intermountain West

2018

Rangelands. 40:77-82

Perryman, B. L., Schultz, B. W., Mcadoo, J. K., Alverts, B., Cervantes, J. C., Foster, S., McCuin, G., Swanson, S. R.

Today’s landscapes are not those described in 1860. With over 400,000 km2 colonized by cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and other annual grasses, we believe it is time to declare: The...

Effects of species and maturity stage on nutritional and fermentation characteristics of Sarcobatus species

2016

Animal Feed Science and Technology, 211: 241-245

Shenkoru, T. and B. Perryman

Case study: Chenopod cultivation to increase the forage base for domestic grazing animals in Turkmenistan.

2015

Journal of Arid Land Studies, 25.

Esenov, P., Zverev, N., Narayanan, R., Nowak, R. S., Perryman, B. L.

Frothy bloat (primary ruminal tympany) potential and nutrient content of Forage Kochia (Bassia prostrata L.)

2015

Journal of Arid Land Studies, 25(3), 177-180

Shenkoru, T., Faciola, A. P., Schultz, B. W., Perryman, B. L.

Frothy bloat (primary ruminal tympany) potential and nutrient content of Forage Kochia (Brassia prostrata L.).

2015

Journal of Arid Lands Studies. 25-3: 177-180.

Teshome, S.A., Faciola, A., Schultz, B., and Perryman, B.

Nevada (USA) range management school - Adapting an American grazing management curriculum to other continents.

2015

Journal for Arid Lands Studies. 25-3: 273-276.

Schultz, B., McAdoo, K., Perryman, B., Foster, S., and Davison, J.

Nevada (USA) Range Management School – Adapting an American, Grazing Management Curriculum, to other Continents.

2015

Journal of Arid Lands Studies, 25(3), 273-276.

Schultz, B. W., Mcadoo, J. K., Perryman, B. L., Foster, S., Davison, J. C., Smaoui, A., Isoda, H.

Case Study: Reducing cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) fuel loads using fall cattle grazing.

2014

The Professional Animal Scientist, 30:270-278.

Schmelzer, L., B. Perryman, B. Bruce, B. Schultz, K. McAdoo, G. McCuin, S. Swanson, J. Wilker, and K. Conley.

Wildfire is a major concern in the Intermountain West. Fuels management can lower the potential for negative wildfire effects. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), an exotic annual grass, invasion has...

Reducing cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) fuel loads using full cattle grazing.

2014

Professional Animal Scientist. 30:270-278.

Schmelzer, L., Perryman, B., Bruce, B., Schultz, B., McAdoo, K., McCuin, G., Swanson, S., and Wilker, J.

Western land managers will need all available tools for adapting to climate change, including grazing: A critique of Beschta et al.

2014

Environmental Management, 30, 1035-1038.

Svejcar, T., Perryman, B. L.

Biomass Production, Nutritional and Mineral Content of Desiccation-Sensitive and Desiccation-Tolerant Species of Sporobolus under Multiple Irrigation Regimes.

2013

Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science. doi: 10.1111/jac.12022

Yobi, A., Schlauch, K. A., Perryman, B., Oliver, M. J. and Cushman, J. C.

Explaining patterns of species dominance in the shrub steppe systems of the Junggar Basin (China) and Great Basin (USA).

2013

Journal of Arid Lands, 5(3), 415-427.

Trowbridge, W., Albright, T., Ferguson, S., Li, J., Perryman, B. L., Nowak, R. S.

Nutritional properties of windrowed and standing Basin Wildrye over time.

2012

Professional Animal Scientist, 28, 284-291.

Bruce, L. B., Perryman, B. L., Shenkoru, T., Conley, K., Jon, W.

Age and growing season nutritional value relationships of three Artemisia tridentata subspecies

2011

Rangeland Ecology and Management

Perryman, B. L., Shenkoru, T., Bruce, L. B., Hussein, H. S.

Site and age class variation of hematologic parameters for female greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) of northern Nevada.

2010

J. Wildlife Diseases. 46:1-12.

Dyer, K.J., B.L. Perryman, and D.W. Holcombe

Lay or Popular Publications

Evaluation of the Winnemucca District Drought Response Plan

2015

The Progressive Rancher

Perryman, B. L., Stringham, T., Schultz, B. W.

Professional Papers

Fall grazing to reduce cheatgrass fuel loads.

2008

Society for Range Management 2008.

Schmelzer, L., Perryman, B. L., Conley, K., Wuliji, T., Bruce, L. B., Piper, K.

Research Reports

Reducing Cheatgrass Fuel Loads Using Fall Cattle Grazing

2015

University of Nevada Cooperative Extension: Special Publication 15-03

Foster, S., Schmelzer, L., Wilker, J., Schultz, B. W., Mcadoo, J. K., Swanson, S. R., Perryman, B. L.

Cattle grazed a cheatgrass-dominated pasture during the fall dormant period for four years (2006-2009) and were provided a protein nutrient supplement to improve their distribution, uptake of dry feed...

Special Publications

Ranchers' Monitoring Guide

2020

Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, SP-20-03

B. Schultz, B.L. Perryman, S.R. Swanson, P.T. Tueller, G. McCuin, D. Voth, P. Novak-Echenique

This guide assists ranchers and others who want to monitor rangeland vegetation with methods that are useful, simple, quick and efficient....