The canopy of Quercus douglasii H. & A. (blue oak) has been variously reported to enhance or suppress understory production. The effects of canopy removal have been reported only for the northern portion of blue oak's range. We removed all blue oaks from 6 plots in the central coast of California and found no significant change in understory biomass over 3 years. Understory herb cover averaged 32.6% on cleared plots, compared to 24.3% on uncut plots, but composition changed little with the exception of an increase in Erodium cicutarium (L.) L'Her. Clearing did not produce the distinctive species composition and forage enhancement under Q. douglasii canopy reported in other studies, an based on comparisons between unmanipulated canopy and adjacent grassland. Our results suggest that the canopy effect could instead be caused by differences in sites occupied by trees. Clearing of Q. douglasii in regions with 50 cm or less of mean annual precipitation is not recommended for increasing forage production. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.