Two-year understory production was determined on 6 major forest soils across 2 geomorphic regions in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Stepwise multiple regression was used to determine those variables best explaining yield variability. Canopy cover, basal area, soils, May-June precipitation, and soil × cover interactions further improved the models, which accounted for 65 to 76% of the variability in herbage production. Footslope, nonskeletal soils had the highest herbage production (yielding 1,800 kg/ha at 0% canopy cover). The least developed, backslope, skeletal soil had the lowest herbage production (producing only 550 kg/ha at 0% canopy cover) from comparable areas of the Black Hills. Developed models can be used in conjunction with soil survey reports to estimate the forage potential of a given soil mapping unit. Results from this study emphasize the importance of considering the understory vegetation production potential of individual soil series when developing grazable woodland management plans. Soil-related production differences were most strongly expressed under conditions of limited overstory canopy cover. 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.