Domestic goat browsing was used to stimulate twig production by blackbrush. Precipitation, soil depth and stoniness, branch location, and the number of years of browsing and rest from browsing affected twig production (P<0.05). As precipitation doubled, production increased by a factor of 1.9. Twig production by plants growing on deep soils (71 cm) was 1.9 times that by plants growing on shallow soils (39 cm). Older branches growing on the outer edges of blackbrush plants (terminal branches) produced 4.6 times more current season's twigs than sprouts and young branches (basal branches) growing within the shrub canopy. Heavily browsed plants increased twig production by a factor of 3.6 relative to control plants, and production remained at this level, even after 4 consecutive years of browsing. Annual twig production declined with rest from browsing. However, plants that were browsed and subsequently rested for 2 years yielded an aggregate 1.6 times more available forage than plants that were browsed on a yearly basis. This was due to an accumulation of twigs ranging in age from 1 to 3 years. 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.