A 3-year study of the vegetation in 4 livestock exclosures was begun in 1976 in the mixed grass prairie of southwestern North Dakota. Three of the exclosures were established in 1937 and the fourth in 1938. The exclosures had greater graminoid leaf heights and greater mulch accumulations than the adjacent grazed plots; however, total yield and total belowground biomass were not significantly different between plots in 3 out of the 4 sites. The major difference between the exclosures and the adjacent grazed plots was species composition. The production of blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Griffiths) was lower, and the production of thread-leaf sedge (Carex filifolia Nutt.) and another sedge (Carex heliophila Mack.) was greater in the exclosures than on the adjacent grazed plots. A summary by growth form also showed that the midgrass and tallgrass growth form category was more dominant in only 1 out of 4 exclosures. The interpretation of these data indicates that the potential for changes in growth form dominance and total yield due to management inputs must be evaluated on a site specific basis. Species composition also was a more reliable indicator of successional status than growth form dominance. 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.