A greenhouse study was conducted to determine the effects of ambient environmental conditions on cattle dungpat temperature, moisture, and crust formation dynamics, which in turn, influence ingested/passed‐seed germination and plant establishment at different locations in dungpats. ‘'Hycrest”; crested wheatgrass [ Agropyron desertorum (Fisch, ex Link) Schult, × A. cristatum (L.) Gaert.] was used as a representative revegetation species for the Great Basin region of the western United States. After collecting feces from Holstein steers that had each been fed 60,000 seeds of crested wheatgrass, uniform dungpats were prepared and placed on loam and coarse sand soil types, in containers, under three initial watering treatments (field capacity, one‐half field capacity, and no water)...