Green and Detling examined the effect of clipping at weekly, biweekly, monthly, bimonthly intervals on aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), shoot nitrogen concentration and aboveground nitrogen yield on mixed grass range previously grazed by bison (Bison bison) at Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. During the above-average moisture year when the experiment was conducted, ANPP of graminoids clipped monthly or bimonthly did not differ from controls, while weekly and biweekly clipping reduced ANPP significantly. However, shoot nitrogen concentration and aboveground nitrogen yield of graminoids increased under all clipping treatments and reached their highest level under monthly to bimonthly clipping, for the former, and biweekly to bimonthly clipping, for the latter. The authors suggest that bison may optimize their nutritional status by maintaining ANPP and increasing nitrogen concentration and yield through grazing at approximately monthly intervals, which approximately matched with herd observations during the study.
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