Persistence of Idaho fescue on degraded rangelands: Adaptation to defoliation or tolerance
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Authors: R. G. Jaindl, P. Doescher, R. F. Miller, and L. E. Eddleman
Date: 1994
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 47
Number: 1
Pages: 54-59
Summary of Methods: Authors hypothesized that these remnant native grass survivors have responded to livestock grazing, over the past 110 years, through development of genetically based ecotypes that are more tolerant of defoliation than populations protected from heavy use by domestic livestock. Transplanted individuals of a native grass, Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), from heavily grazed and ungrazed rangelands were compared. Plants were clipped during the vegetative, boot, and anthesis stages in 1990 and 1991. Results showed that grazing history had no consistent effect on Idaho fescue response to defoliation. However, the protected population average greater height and relative growth than those from grazed areas even with defoliation. These results suggest Idaho fescue survival in heavily grazed areas might be the result of differences in growth form rather than overcompensation or variation in time or phenologic development.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: idaho fescue, festuca idahoensis, genetic variation, relative growth, compensatory gain, genetic variation
Annotation: Before growth initiation in the spring of the years of study, all plants were clipped 5-cm above the ground to reduce the confounding influence of different quantities of standing litter. Plants were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 defoliation treatments with 10 replicates per collection per treatment. Defoliation treatments were: (1) no clipping; (2) clipping when plants were in the 3-4 leaf stage (vegetative stage); (3) clipping when plants were beginning to exert inflorescences (boot stage); and (4) clipping when plants were in anthesis (complete inflorescence emergence). Plants were clipped to a height of 5-cm above ground level.
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