Early summer grazing effects on defoliation and tiller demography of prairie sandreed

Abstract

Grazing strategies should be designed to maintain vigorous populations of plant species critical for livestock production, wildlife habitat, and/or ecosystem functions. Treatments consisting of 5- to 7-day, mid-month grazing periods in June or July at 16, 32, or 48 animal unit days (AUD) per ha, were replicated 3 times and applied to the same pastures in 1995 and 1996 to quantify cattle use and tiller recruitment and mortality of prairie sandreed [Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook) Scribn.], a rhizomatous species characterized by dispersed populations of tillers. Cumulative grazing pressure (AUD Mg-1) was used to quantify treatments because of differences in phytomass among pastures and dates. Grazing pressure ranged from 10 to 90 AUD Mg-1 and accounted for 69, 61, and 77% of the variation in percentage of tillers grazed, mean defoliation of grazed tillers, and use of prairie sandreed, respectively. As grazing pressure increased from 10 AUD Mg-1, percentage of tillers grazed increased from 48 to 90%; defoliation of grazed tillers increased from 54 to 74%; and utilization of prairies and reed increased from 27 to 67% at plateaus beginning at 50 to 60 AUD Mg-1. When spring precipitation was above average, 45 to 55% use in June or July increased tiller densities, however, these increases were not sustained or repeated in the following year with average precipitation. Utilization was 50% at 28 AUD Mg-1 and 60% at 40 AUD Mg-1. Relatively large increases in utilization per-unit-change of grazing pressure below 20 AUD Mg-1 indicated that yearling cattle selectively grazed prairie sandreed. The high degree of correlation between percentage of prairie sandreed tillers grazed and use of prairie sandreed (R2= 0.91 in June and 0.90 in July) suggests that percentage of grazed tillers can be used to monitor early-summer use of this species in the Nebraska Sandhills.