Rangelands in semiarid climates experience dramatic spatial and temporal variability in precipitation, which drives variation in forage production and plant species composition. With such variability, effects of grazing management on vegetation may only be detectable over long time periods. We examined the degree to which collaborative, adaptive, multipaddock rotational grazing management (CARM) influenced vegetation relative to traditional season-long continuous grazing management (TRM) over a decade in the semiarid shortgrass steppe. CARM herd(s) grazed paddocks dominated by C3 graminoids (Sandy Plains) early and late in the growing season and primarily grazed paddocks dominated by C4 grasses (Loamy Plains) during the middle of the season. Current growing season conditions determined the exact timing of rotations. Additionally, CARM incorporated periodic season-long rest (without grazing) for select paddocks. On the Loamy Plains, CARM increased cover and production of C3 relative to C4 graminoids, beginning in year 5 and persisting through year 10. Multivariate analyses identified Pascopyrum smithii , Hesperostipa comata , Elymus elymoides , and Carex duriuscula as the C3 species and Bouteloua gracilis and Bouteloua dactyloides as the C4 species responsible for the shift on Loamy Plains. In contrast, on the Sandy Plains, CARM had no detectable effects on herbaceous plants, whereas cover of the shrub Atriplex canescens increased in CARM relative to TRM. Sustained shifts in grazing timing (associated with the rotation sequences) across years altered the relative abundance of perennial grasses on Loamy Plains; however, these shifts were offsetting such that total forage production was unaffected. Our findings can be explained by the greater sensitivity of C3 versus C4 perennial graminoids to early-season grazing and highlight challenges associated with enhancing forage production via multipaddock rotations in semiarid rangelands. The degree to which vegetation compositional changes are desirable depends on paddockscale and ranch-scale management objectives, as well as the composition of the landscape in which the livestock are managed.