Annual defoliation targeted at introduced cool-season grasses, which use similar resources as native grasses, could substantially reduce their competitiveness and improve the quality of the northern tallgrass prairie. The objective of this study was to evaluate annual spring fire or clipping on smooth bromegrass bud bank in tallgrass prairie vegetation. The site consisted of native tallgrass prairie vegetation in east central South Dakota. Treatments consisted of annual spring fire or clipping since 2009 and an undefoliated control. Fire was applied in mid-May and clipping was applied weekly in May to simulate heavy grazing. Each treatment had 4 replications. At the end of the 2015 growing season, tiller density of smooth bromegrass within two 0.1m2 subplots was recorded for each treatment. Three tillers were randomly selected from each treatment subplot and excavated to determine the number of crown positions and buds, and bud viability. Smooth bromegrass tiller density, bud density, and bud viability will be analyzed by treatment. This study will elucidate the underlying mechanisms of vegetative propagation of smooth bromegrass invasion in northern tallgrass prairies. In addition, it will increase our ecological understanding of management techniques aimed at reducing invasive cool-season grasses.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.