Management of rangelands for wildlife and livestock entails understanding growth of clonal shrubs such as Chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia Marsh.). We studied growth of this species in one county in north-central (Payne) and two counties in northwestern Oklahoma (Ellis, Harper) during 2006 and 2007. We estimated age of stems and roots by growth rings and area of stands with the use of a handheld GPS unit. Based on zero-intercept regression models, stands grew at similar rates (overlapping 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) among counties with a pooled estimate of 31.0 m2 yr-1 (95% CI = 26.5–35.6 m2 yr-1; n = 95). This rate showed considerable variability within and among study sites (r = 0.52). Stem diameter increased (zero-intercept models) more rapidly in north-central Oklahoma (5.27 mm yr-1; 95% CI = 5.01– 5.53 mm yr-1; r = 0.90; n = 53) than in northwestern Oklahoma (3.68 mm yr-1; 95% CI = 3.55–3.81 mm yr-1; r = 0.91; n = 102); data were pooled because of similar rates in Ellis and Harper counties. Stem height was a power function of stem age (y = 0.97x0.28; r = 0.56), indicating rate of growth in height (m y-1) declined with age according to dy/dx = 0.27x-0.72. Knowledge of the area expansion rate of Chickasaw plum clones aids in management planning to increase or decrease canopy coverage by this shrub. The Rangeland Ecology & Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.