One of the goals of the Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge is to preserve native vegetation on grasslands that have been invaded by mesquite (Prosopis velutina) and many non-native species, including Eragrostis lehmanniana. This study reports the effects of the refuge's management actions, the initiation of a prescribed fire program and the elimination of cattle grazing, on grassland composition for 15 years. The authors found that Eragrostis lehmanniana was one of the two most abundant species on the refuge and that its abundance was related to soil composition and precipitation and that the removal of livestock grazing and prescribed fires had no effect on grassland species composition during this long term study. These results suggest that the grasslands at the Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge will not recover to native species dominated grasslands under the current management and that the grasslands may have passed a threshold from which recovery will require more management inputs.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.