Old World Bluestem (OWB) is native to Europe and Asia and was widely planted historically in the southern United States to prevent soil erosion and to serve as forage for livestock (Shaw 2012). However, its invasive nature allows it to frequently invade an area, displacing more desirable species of native plants (Hickman, et al., 2004). This invasion decreases biodiversity as the native range is replaced with a monoculture of OWB. OWB does not provide adequate nesting habitat for many grassland species of birds, including northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and other upland game birds, and is only fair forage for livestock (Hatch and Pluhar 1993). Therefore, it is often necessary for land managers to control the invasion of OWB. Seed production of OWB is an important control point for the OWB invasion. If OWB stands within particular soil types/ecological sites were found to produce more germinable seed than other sites, land managers could target their control practices on these localized areas, thus decreasing the cost of control. Our objective was to assess whether germinable seed production differed in different soil types/ecological sites invaded by Bothriochloa ischaemum, and if there were differences, did soil type/ecological site have an effect.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.