Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2019

Keywords

prairie restoration, glyphosate, Bromus inermis control, Andropogon gerardii

Abstract

The North American Great Plains tallgrass prairie was once a system of native cool and warm season grasses, which have been degraded by non-native invasive plants. Native grass restoration is highly desirable to improve ecosystem functions and productivity. In this two-year study, the impact of fire, herbicide, and nitrogen on productivity and the presence of invasive species [primarily the cool season grass, smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.)] and native warm season native grass species [big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), sideoats and blue grama (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.), and B. gracilis (Willd. Ex Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths] were investigated. Spring fire or a glyphosate application increased warm season grass biomass and decreased cool season grass biomass at peak warm season growth (August) during the treatment year. A second consecutive year of fire or herbicide further increased warm season grass biomass. If left untreated in the second year, cool season grasses tended to increase when sampled in August. Longterm management implementation is needed to suppress the tenacious cool season species and encourage the reestablishment of warm season grass populations.

Publication Title

Grasses and Grassland Aspects

DOI of Published Version

10.5772/intechopen.90537

Publisher

IntechOpen

Rights

Copyright © 2019 The Author(s).

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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