Assessment of Precision Rangeland Management Tools in the Nebraska Sandhills

Authors

• Hannah K. Allen, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Mitchell B. Stephenson

Second Advisor

Daniel R. Uden

Committee Members

Nicholas A. McMillan

Date of this Version

4-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Major: Agronomy

Under the supervision of Professors Mitchell B. Stephenson and Daniel R. Uden

Lincoln, Nebraska, April 2026

Comments

Copyright 2026, Hannah K. Allen. Used by permission

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to evaluate tools and management strategies that contribute to rangeland monitoring and livestock distribution in heterogeneous grassland systems of the Nebraska Sandhills. Chapter one reviews relevant literature related to precision livestock management, the Nebraska Sandhills, biomass estimation, and pyric herbivory. The second chapter evaluates the use of fractional green canopy cover (FGCC) derived from the Canopeo mobile application as a rapid method for estimating aboveground biomass in Sandhills rangelands. Biomass samples were collected across topographic positions in both early and late growing season, and relationships between FGCC and clipped biomass were assessed using generalized linear models. Environmental covariates including sampling month and topographic position were incorporated to account for plant phenology and landscape variability with month being the most important co-predictor, emphasizing the importance of phenology in green biomass imaging analysis. Model results indicated a moderate relationship between FGCC and biomass (R² = 0.58), with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.686 between observed and predicted values following ten-fold cross validation. The third chapter examined cattle grazing behavior in response to patch-burn grazing management using GPS collar data. Step-selection functions were used to quantify cattle selection for recently burned patches versus areas more than one year post-fire within the PBGS and between the PBGS and a deferred rotational grazing system. The environmental covariate of topographic position classes was incorporated to assess cattle selection of topographic positions within these systems. Cattle selected recently burned areas 20% more than unburned sites and exhibited increased use of upland and open slope positions within burned patches. However, cattle selection for open slopes and uplands in burned areas did not exceed their selection for similar landscape features in the deferred rotational grazing system. At day 91 of the grazing season, cattle selection for burned areas was equal to their selection for unburned areas. Together, these studies demonstrate that emergent monitoring tools and ecological grazing strategies can improve understanding of forage dynamics and livestock grazing behavior in Nebraska Sandhills rangelands.

Advisors: Mitchell B. Stephenson and Daniel R. Uden