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Publication Date
1981
Description
Poor grazing management has led to deterioration of vast expanses of the world's semiarid rangelands. Although contemporary thought in range-management circles suggests that combinations of grasses, forbs, and shrubs are desirable in revegetating these areas, past revegetation mainly involved the establishment of monocultures of perennial grass. The objectives of this study were to determine the forage and protein yields of a grass-legume-shrub planting in a semiarid rangeland. The study was conducted in central Utah on a rangeland receiving 32 cm of annual precipitation. Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) was established alone and in combination with fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), sicklepod milkvetch (Astrogalwfalcatw), and cicer milkvetch (Astrogalw cicer). Belt transects were established, and all of the current year's above-ground production for each species was clipped, dried, weighed, and analyzed for total nitrogen. Total forage and protein yields were greatly increased when crested wheatgrass was grown in association with either fourwing saltbush or legumes compared with when crested wheatgrass was grown alone. These enhanced yields in areas where crested wheatgll"ass was grown witl1 other species were due to increases in (1) the high-quality forage provided by the associated species and (2) the forage and protein yields of the crested wheatgrass component. Revegetation of semiarid rangelands with combinations of crested wheatgrass, fourwing saltbush, and legumes (particularly alfalfa) should provide a more productive, higherquality forage resource than crested wheatgrass alone.
Citation
Johnson, D A.; Rumbaugh, M D.; and Van Epps, G A., "Forage Quantity and Quality Contributions from a Grass-Legume-Shrub Planting on a Semi-Arid Rangeleand" (1981). IGC Proceedings (1981-2023). 18.
(URL: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1981/section7/18)
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Forage Quantity and Quality Contributions from a Grass-Legume-Shrub Planting on a Semi-Arid Rangeleand
Poor grazing management has led to deterioration of vast expanses of the world's semiarid rangelands. Although contemporary thought in range-management circles suggests that combinations of grasses, forbs, and shrubs are desirable in revegetating these areas, past revegetation mainly involved the establishment of monocultures of perennial grass. The objectives of this study were to determine the forage and protein yields of a grass-legume-shrub planting in a semiarid rangeland. The study was conducted in central Utah on a rangeland receiving 32 cm of annual precipitation. Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) was established alone and in combination with fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), alfalfa (Medicago sativa), sicklepod milkvetch (Astrogalwfalcatw), and cicer milkvetch (Astrogalw cicer). Belt transects were established, and all of the current year's above-ground production for each species was clipped, dried, weighed, and analyzed for total nitrogen. Total forage and protein yields were greatly increased when crested wheatgrass was grown in association with either fourwing saltbush or legumes compared with when crested wheatgrass was grown alone. These enhanced yields in areas where crested wheatgll"ass was grown witl1 other species were due to increases in (1) the high-quality forage provided by the associated species and (2) the forage and protein yields of the crested wheatgrass component. Revegetation of semiarid rangelands with combinations of crested wheatgrass, fourwing saltbush, and legumes (particularly alfalfa) should provide a more productive, higherquality forage resource than crested wheatgrass alone.
