Rangeland Ecology & Management

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Herbaceous Community Dynamics Following Above-Ground Harvest of Mesquite Trees
Author
Jim Ansley
Mustafa Mirik
Brady Surber
Publication Year
2013
Body

In the southern Great Plains, USA, expansion of native invasive woody plants such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) has caused a shift in grassland community composition away from warm-season (C4) midgrasses and toward cool-season (C3) midgrasses and C4 shortgrasses. This composition shift combined with the direct competitive effects of mesquite during the growing season has severely reduced the forage growth potential in these regions, especially in summer months. Mesquite has recently been considered for bioenergy feedstock and a key secondary benefit to this potential new industry would be the restoration of the grass community and an increased livestock carrying capacity following mesquite harvest. In this study we have monitored the natural recovery of grasses in terms of biomass production and shifts in community composition for each of 5 years following an above ground harvest of mature mesquite trees under moderate livestock grazing. In spite of several droughts, the recovery trend follows what has been hypothesized: (1) initially the dominant C3 midgrass (Texas wintergrass; Nasella leucotricha) increases in production; (2) several years after that, the C4 midgrasses begin to re-appear and contribute to overall grass production; and (3) overall community production increases with a greater percentage attributed to C4 grasses, and (4) C3 midgrass production begins to decline. Herbaceous litter amounts were similar in both the harvested and no-harvest treatments. The increased amount of wood litter resulting from the harvesting process slowly declined over time. Mesquite regrowth steadily increased but had not negatively impacted grass recovery by 5 years after harvest.

Language
eng
Additional Information
Jim Ansley, Mustafa Mirik, Brady Surber --- Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Vernon, TX, USA