Ventenata dubia in the Zumwalt Prairie Preserve in northeastern Oregon: Biomass and foliar cover response to cattle grazing

This data publication includes a sample of the live aboveground biomass (standing crop) and foliar cover of Ventenata dubia (ventenata) and other plant functional groups of the Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass Prairie (PNB). These data were collected in June and July 2018 as part of a study in the Zumwalt Prairie Preserve in northeastern Oregon. Standing crop and cover was measured within 8 paddocks that were either grazed (1.3 - 1.6 hectares/animal unit months) or excluded from cattle grazing. This project was completed as a component of a study examining the invasion of ventenata in the Blue Mountains Ecoregion (EPA Level III; https://www.epa.gov/eco-research/level-iii-and-iv-ecoregions-continental-united-states).
These data were collected in an effort to examine the effect of cattle grazing on the abundance of ventenata and other plant groups of the PNB. Ventenata's invasion is relatively recent in this region and the existance of an established network of monitoring plots allowed a view of the ventenata invasion in a unique and uncommon plant community of the Pacific Northwest.
More information about the larger study can be found at https://www.nwfirescience.org/ventenata#Extent_of_Ventenata.