Rangeland Ecology & Management

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TUMBLEWEED CONTROL ON CALIFORNIA�S CENTRAL COAST
Author
Rao, Devii R.
Gornish, Elise
Smith, Richard
Davy, Josh S.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Tumbleweed (Salsola sp.) was introduced to the United States, initially in South Dakota, from Russia in the 1870s.� It was first observed in California in 1895.� This plant is widespread across the western United States and is of concern to livestock producers because it can grow in dense stands, outcompeting plants that provide better forage for livestock.� Because limited research has been conducted on tumbleweed control in rangelands, we deployed an experiment to test whether cattle grazing, herbicide, or seeding would control tumbleweed.� Nine replicates were installed across two ranches in San Benito County, California.� Each replicate includes a grazed section and an ungrazed section.� Treatments for both sections were: 1) no herbicide, no seeding, 2) no herbicide, native seeding, 3) no herbicide, forage seeding, 4) herbicide, no seeding, 5) herbicide, native seeding, 6) herbicide, forage seeding.� Plots on Ranch A were grazed by stocker cattle from September 2015 to May 2016 and September 2016 to June 2017.� Stocker cattle grazed plots on Ranch B from December 2015 to June 2016 and November 2016 to June 2017.� The herbicide treatment was applied in spring 2016. �Seeding was conducted in fall of 2016.� Elymus glaucus (Blue wildrye), Bromus carinatus (California brome grass), and Poa secunda (Pine bluegrass) were seeded into the native seeding subplots.� Forage subplots were seeded with Festuca arundinacea (flecha fescue).� Initial observations suggest that strong grass growth during the spring of 2017 had a limiting effect on tumbleweed; seeded species were able to germinate and grow; tumbleweed cover was less in grazed subplot compared to ungrazed subplots, and less in the herbicide subplots compared to subplots not treated with herbicide.� Overall, cover of tumbleweed was lowest in subplots that received both the grazing and herbicide treatments.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV