Nutritional dynamics of 7 northern Great Basin grasses

Abstract

Land, livestock, and wildlife managers need to understand the nutritional dynamics of forages to sustain adequate growth and reproduction of their animals and/or assure equitable payment for forages. Despite a long history of livestock grazing in the northern Great Basin, seasonal and annual nutritional dynamics of many of the region's prominent grasses have not been described. We addressed this issue via monthly sampling of 7 cool-season grasses at 6 sites during 1992, a drier than average year having 86% of mean precipitation, and 1993, when above average precipitation (167% of average) occurred. With high yields predicted in 1993 (1,257 kg ha -1 ), the period of adequate forage quality [crude protein (CP) ≥ 7.5%] was 83 days. In addition grasses did not respond to 97 mm of July-August rain with renewed growth. During 1992, a growing season beginning with less than average moisture, grasses responded to midsummer (49 mm) and fall (69 mm) rains by maintaining greater than 7.5% CP for 185 days. A diversity of grasses expanded the period of adequate forage quality especially during the lower than average moisture year. Giant wildrye (Elymus cinereus Scribn. & Merr.), a deeply rooted grass, supported high quality forage until mid August, but did not respond to late-season moisture. In contrast, shallow rooted grasses like bottlebrush squirreltail (Sitanion hystrix (Nutt.) Smith), Sandberg's bluegrass (Poa sandbergii Vasey), and the winter-annual cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) responded to summer or fall moisture with herbage ranging from 10 to 16% CP, thereby supplying high quality late-season forage. With most precipitation occurring in the northern Great Basin during colder months, livestock or habitat managers can, with a fair degree of certainty, predict yields from their pastures before turnout. With abundant moisture, managers will see the rapid deterioration of forage quality that occurs when grasses advance through their reproductive stages of phenology and generate a wealth of reproductive stems. The quandary arrives, however, when moisture accumulations are less than optimum. Fewer reproductive tillers develop, and our results show that timely precipitation may elevate desirable nutrient characteristics and expand the duration of adequate livestock/wildlife nutrition in the region. More long-term research is needed to decipher the mechanisms governing growth and development of rangeland grasses and to assess risks of various stocking alternatives when managers face uncertain yield and forage quality issues. ResumenLos manejadores de tierras, ganado y fauna silvestre necesitan entender las dinámicas nutricionales de los forrajes para mantener un crecimiento y una reproducción adecuados de sus animales y/o asegurar el pago equitativo de sus forrajes. A pesar del largo historial de apacentamiento de ganado en la Gran Cuenca del norte, las dinámicas nutricionales estacionales y anuales de muchos de los zacates prominentes de la región no se han sido descritas. Nosotros abordamos este problema a tra...

Functional traits of graminoids in semi‐arid steppes: a test of grazing histories

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The interrelationship between productivity, plant species richness and livestock diet: a question of scale?

“…The combination of the two factors -low productivity and low crude protein contents of the plants -emphasises that a satisfactory livestock nutrition cannot be guaranteed if there is no additional food resource although "diversity (of grasses) expands the period of adequate forage quality..." (Ganskopp & Bohnert 2001) and is also important for a varied nutrition. In view of the need for adequate grazing management according to targets of nature preservation, which we have already pointed out, an optimal combination would be that sheep can graze alternately between these low productivity areas described: (a) with a nutrient-poor but varied diet and (b) more productive nutrient-rich areas with low plant species richness, where adequate livestock nutrition is guaranteed.…”

Controls over invasion of Bromus tectorum: The importance of climate, soil, disturbance and seed availability

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