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Soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca Nutt.) is a native evergreen shrub that is one of the most widely distributed yucca species in North America, spreading from southern Alberta and Saskatchewan to southeastern New Mexico, the Texas panhandle and east into Iowa and Arkansas. Research has been primarily focused on the mutualistic relationship between soapweed and the yucca-moth, however, further research is needed on the ecology of soapweed. This includes its interactions with the environment and ability to reduce rangeland health in terms of plant diversity, nutrient availability, and hydrologic cycles, not only in Nebraska, but throughout the Great Plains. This project focused on examining the effect of disturbance size on soapweed establishment and the ability of soapweed to compete with two native warm-season grasses in rangeland pastures in the Nebraska Sandhills. I studied the effect of different grass density stands on soapweed establishment and growth in artificially created densities focusing on the optimum grass density in which soapweed can successfully establish, as well as, looking at the relationship between environmental conditions and soapweed establishment in these stands. I hypothesized that stands with high grass densities will negatively affect soapweed establishment and growth because of the associated environmental conditions (e.g., soil moisture, air and soil temperatures). In addition, I assessed the competitive ability, during drought conditions, of native warm-season grasses on the establishment and growth of soapweed. Results will be presented at the meeting.