Woody encroachment into grasslands, savannas, and steppes have become a management and conservation concern because of woody plant�s ability to change ecosystems through decreases in biodiversity, alterations in water and nutrient cycles as well as decreases in forage production and quality. In grasslands, woody encroachment can be categorized in to two groups: non-resprouting species that can be killed with fire and resprouting species that cannot be killed with fire. Resprouting species require additional active management strategies to remove them from encroached grasslands. In this study, we investigated the physiological effects of continuous browsing on a resprouting woody species.� In 2015, at the Konza Prairie LTER, 40 discrete�Cornus drummondii�shrubs were selected at two woody encroached watersheds. During the growing seasons 20 shrubs received a continuous simulated browsing treatment of 50% removal of new aboveground meristematic growth. Each month we sampled leaf gas exchange, leaf ?13C, leaf temperature and LAI. The simulated browsing treatment continued through 2016. After two years of continuous simulated browsing we found that browsing does not change the rate of photosynthesis but it does change the stomatal conductance and transpiration rates. Midday stomatal conductance and transpiration rates were higher compared to unbrowsed shrubs. Additionally, we found that browsed shrubs had a 0.5� � 1.5� lower ?13C value compared to the unbrowsed shrubs, complementing the observed increase in stomatal conductance. �Leaf temperatures did not vary significantly between browsed and unbrowsed shrubs but did vary throughout the diel period in the growing season. With no difference in leaf temperature between browsed and unbrowsed shrubs and the increased transpiration rates in browsed shrubs, we hypothesize that browsed shrubs are lowering their leaf temperatures through increased water use to avoid photorespiration. Browsing alone is not enough to decrease woody encroachment but coupled with fire it could provide a realistic management strategy.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.