Get reliable rangeland science

‘Immigrant’ forage kochia [Kochia prostrata ssp. virescens]1, a shrub, has been seeded on approximately 150,000 acres of rangeland in 10 western states.  Forage kochia was transferred to the genus Bassia as Bassia prostrata (L.) (A. J. Scott 1978, USDA-ARS 1999). We opted to use K. prostrata.  Many scientists and rangeland managers consider forage kochia a prime candidate for use in western range rehabilitation and fire prevention.  However, some people are concerned that it will invade and suppress or eliminate native plant populations.  Many are concerned that because forage kochia is an introduced species it may spread vigorously throughout western rangelands.  We conclude that these concerns are largely unfounded. Although some uncertainty is always associated with the introduction of new plants, only a few of the thousands of the purposefully introduced plants have become major problems (Williams, l980).  This investigation was undertaken to examine Immigrant forage kochia’s competitive ability, invasiveness and its potential effects on the biodiversity of native and introduced plant communities on semiarid rangelands.