Authors hypothesized that these remnant native grass survivors have responded to livestock grazing, over the past 110 years, through development of genetically based ecotypes that are more tolerant of defoliation than populations protected from heavy use by domestic livestock. Transplanted individuals of a native grass, Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), from heavily grazed and ungrazed rangelands were compared. Plants were clipped during the vegetative, boot, and anthesis stages in 1990 and 1991. Results showed that grazing history had no consistent effect on Idaho fescue response to defoliation. However, the protected population average greater height and relative growth than those from grazed areas even with defoliation. These results suggest Idaho fescue survival in heavily grazed areas might be the result of differences in growth form rather than overcompensation or variation in time or phenologic development.
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