Response of Bouteloua eriopoda (Torr.) Torr. and Sporobolus flexuosus (Thurb.) Rybd. to Season of Defoliation

Abstract

Production, total nonstructural carbohydrates, and crown diameters were measured to evaluate the effects of season of clipping on black grama and mesa dropseed. Vegetative reproduction was also monitored for black grama. Early defoliation of both black grama and mesa dropseed had less impact on plant vigor than continuous defoliation or defoliation during the last half of the growing season. Black grama plants clipped during or after flowering, or continuously through the growing season, produced less herbage in the following year than those plants clipped during the vegetative stage. Removal of 65% of the current year's growth any time during the growing season significantly reduced stolon numbers on black grama. Mesa dropseed clipped during maturity, during flowering, or clipped continuously throughout the growing season was negatively affected on one or more of the plant parameters measured. Clipping during the vegetative state had little apparent effect on plant vigor.