Effects of single season and rotation harvesting on cool-and warm-season grasses of a mountain grassland
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Authors: D. A. Jameson
Date: 1991
Journal: Journal of Range Management
Volume: 44
Number: 4
Pages: 327-329
Summary of Methods: A mountain bunchgrass community with cool-season Parry oatgrass (Danthonia parryi) and warm-season slimstem muhly (Muhlenbergia filiculmis) as major grass species was treated with early partial harvest of cool-season grasses and late partial harvest of warm-season grasses. Warm-season grasses were greatly reduced by repeated late harvest, slightly reduced by late harvest in alternate years, and slightly promoted by early harvest of cool-season grasses. The dominant cool-season grasses responded less to repeated early harvests than did the less abundant warm-season grasses to repeated late harvests. These results indicate that careful management of grazing time and intensity can alter plant species composition in mountain grasslands towards cool- or warm-season grasses, however the clipping treatments used in this study may not accurately reflect the selection of plants by large herbivores and therefore further research should be done before this management is implemented.
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: bifurcation, cusp catastrophe, competition, preferential harvest, alternative steady states, simulated grazing
Annotation: Clipping treatments were applied to cool season grasses in mid-June and warm season grasses in mid-July for 2 years. Plants were harvested in August after the second year of clipping. Clipping treatments removed 10, 30, 50, 70, or 90% of the plant by estimated weight.
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