A 36-yr old species adaptation test was evaluated and the relative quality of some persisting native and introduced grass species was determined. The site was Conlen loam on the Rita Blanca National Grassland in Dallam County, Texas. Of the 25 species planted, only yellow bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum),1 Caucasian bluestem (Bothriochloa caucasica), and galleta (Hilaria jamesii) tended to dominate the plots on which they were originally planted. Yellow and Caucasian bluestem had spread into plots planted to other grasses but galleta had spread very little. Yellow bluestem was as high or higher in protein, mineral content, and digestibility (IVDMD) than the other grasses analyzed [Caucasian bluestem, galleta, sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and western wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii)]. The contents of Caucasian bluestem and galleta were not significantly different from those of yellow bluestem, except that galleta was lower in IVDMD, especially when mature. These 3 grasses merit consideration in range seeding programs on Conlen and similar soils in the Southern High Plains. 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.