End of season components of biomass and litter were measured on a Nebraska Sandhills prairie site to follow vegetation changes during the first 4 years following the cessation of intense livestock grazing. The 1977-1980 mean annual end of season biomass at Arapaho Prairie, a Sandhills prairie site, was 109 g/m2. Summer grazing on Arapaho Prairie was terminated in 1977, and as a result, significant increases in the biomass of the deep-rooted, palatable warm-season (C4) grasses, sand bluestem, little bluestem and switchgrass, have occurred since then. The biomass of the shallowly rooted C4 grama grasses for the 4-year period was significantly correlated with growing season precipitation. Significant decreases in end of season biomass of the cool-season (C3) grasses during the same 4-year period were highly correlated with yearly decreases in May precipitation. Following the removal of grazing, litter increased from 40 to 127 g/m2 from 1977 to 1980. A nonsignificant yearly increase in litter production occurred in the third year after grazing as a steady state of litter production and decomposition was approached. 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.