)(P > 0.05), indicating that mesquite root competition with juniper is probably inconsequential. Since junipers grow mainly in fall, winter and spring when mesquite trees are dormant and leafless, the lack of competition may largely be due to these 2 species using resources at different times of the year. Greater nutrient availability beneath mesquite canopies, reduction of summer temperatures, and temporal separation of resource use clearly benefit juniper seedlings growing in the presence of mesquite. Managing for a vigorous grass component with low densities and cover of mesquite is the best way to limit the rate of invasion by juniper. ) (P > 0.05), indicando que la competencia de raíz de "Mesquite" con el "Juniper" es probablemente insignificante. Dado que el " Juniper" crece principalmente en otoño, invierno y primavera cuando los árboles de "Mesquite" están dormantes y defoliados, la falta de competencia puede deberse en gran parte a que estas 2 especies utilizan los recursos en diferentes tiempos del año. La mayor disponibilidad de nutrientes bajo las copas de "Mesquite", la reducción de las temperaturas de verano y la separación temporal del uso de recursos beneficia claramente a las plántulas de Juniper" creciendo en presencia de "Mesquite". El manejar para mantener un componente vigoroso de zacate con bajas densidades y cobertura de "Mesquite" es la mejor manera de limitar la tasa de invasión del "Juniper.

Assessment of herbaceous standing crop in heterogeneous range plant communities requires large numbers of samples to account for inherent variability. The dry-weight-rank method (DWR) was developed to eliminate the need for clipping and sorting of herbage to determine relative proportions on a dry weight basis. The technique was assessed for applicability and accuracy in the mixed prairie of the Texas Rolling Plains. Much of the herbage within the communities investigated occurred in monospecific patches that resulted in only 15% of quadrats having 3 species ranked for which DWR was designed. Non-harvest methods of determining grass proportion by species were compared to harvested proportions in mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr.) and redberry juniper (Juniperus pinchotii Sudw.) communities. Estimation methods evaluated were 1) harvest by species, 2) weight estimation by species, 3) DWR with quadrat weighting, 4) unweighted estimated proportion by species, and 5) unweighted DWR. Correlations of non-harvest to harvest proportions were improved with quadrat weighting. Weighting improved values more in the juniper than in the mesquite communities. Although cumulative ranking of DWR multipliers was necessary in 85% of sample quadrats, there was a high correlation (r 2 >0.995) between weight estimation and weighted DWR and between estimated proportion and unweighted DWR. This indicates that cumulative ranking with the original DWR multipliers was virtually the same as evaluator estimation. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences in nonharvest methods compared to harvesting. Quadrat weighting with DWR was necessary to draw the same statistical conclusions between means that harvest data provided. Ranks are easier to apply and more likely to be applied similarly by individual evaluators than estimated proportions. For sites with high standing crop variation and patchiness of species that require considerable use of cumulative ranking, DWR with quadrat weighting provides adequate determination of species proportions of biomass.

In 1992 and 1993, pastures of WW-Spar Old World bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum L.) were maintained at 2 levels of soil water, rainfall and rainfall plus 25 mm/week of supplementary irrigation. At both moisture levels the grass was maintained at 2 levels of standing crop, averaging 1,548 and 2,154 kg ha'1, using continuous variable stocking. Measurements were made to determine how different levels of soil moisture interacted with grazing intensity to change leaf area index, leaf-stem and live-dead ratios, tiller density, and the proportion of gross leaf production that was grazed (harvest efficiency). The proportions of live to dead, and leaf and stem biomass, remained constant under the different levels of soil water content. Soil water content alone had no effect on leaf area index, tiller density and the proportion of live or dead, leaf and stem. Winter tiller survival was significantly higher in the pastures with higher soil water content. Increasing soil water content and increasing grazing intensity interacted to reduce the proportion of dead leaf, increase production of new tillers, and increase the proportion of leaf grazed by decreasing leaf that died and was not grazed. This study indicates that if continuously grazed Old World bluestem was maintained at a standing crop of 1,500 kg ha'1, harvest efficiency would be higher in wet years or under irrigation than if standing crop was higher.