Rangeland Management Series: Annual Range Forage Production

Becchetti, Theresa; George, M.R.; McDougald, Neil K.; Dudley, Dennis M.; Connor, Mike; Flavel, Dustin; Vaughn, Charles E.; Forero, Larry; Frost, Bill; Oneto, Scott R.; Larsen, Royce E.; Striby, Karl; Davy, Josh; Doran, Morgan; Markegard, Gary

doi:10.3733/ucanr.8018

Cited by 16 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Measured precipitation was 53%-54% less than that estimated by PRISM in both study years, that is, the recorded precipitation measured 246 mm and 104 mm less during the 2016-17 and 2017-2018 growing seasons, respectively ( Figure S1). Fourteen years (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) of forage monitoring at the site showed an average of 1,665 kg ha −1 peak standing dry biomass, ranging from 132 kg ha −1 in 2014 to 4,205 kg ha −1 in 2011 (Becchetti et al, 2016b). Forage documented in 2016-17 included the following nine annual species, listed in order of prevalence: Bromus madritensis (red brome); Erodium cicutarium (filaree); Festuca microstachys (annual fescue); Acmispon wrangelianus (California clover); Avena occidentalis (wild oats); Astragalus didymocarpus (two-seeded milkvetch); Centaurea melitensis (tocalote); Lipidium sp.…”

Section: Study Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is generally accepted that aspect has an effect on microclimate and productivity in California rangelands with the expectation that southfacing terrain experiences more pronounced moisture limitations (Becchetti et al, 2016a;Eviner, 2016). However, despite the paucity of studies noted thirty years ago (Bartolome, 1989), there still remains a lack of studies describing and quantifying this relationship.…”

Section: Aspect Effect On Soil Moisturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soil moisture is generally recognized as an important constraint on annual rangeland production given precipitation variability (e.g., amount and seasonal distribution) in California's Mediterranean climate (Becchetti et al, 2016a). Several studies have developed linear regression models describing relationships among site precipitation, air temperature, and peak annual forage growth across diverse California climates (Duncan & Woodmansee, 1975;George et al, 1988;George, Williams, McDougald, Clawson, & Murphy, 1989;Murphy, 1970;Pitt & Heady, 1978).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have developed linear regression models describing relationships among site precipitation, air temperature, and peak annual forage growth across diverse California climates (Duncan & Woodmansee, 1975;George et al, 1988;George, Williams, McDougald, Clawson, & Murphy, 1989;Murphy, 1970;Pitt & Heady, 1978). Together, these factors are recognized to control California annual range growth across four distinct growth phases: (1) fall or winter germination following at least 1.25-2.5 cm precipitation in less than a week with rapid fall growth if the temperature is in the ideal range of 16-27°C; (2) slow winter growth if the temperature is <10°C and little growth if the temperature is <5°C, pending available moisture and light; (3) rapid growth with spring warming and longer days, pending available soil moisture; and (4) peak forage from early April to end of May, depending on region and weather, but generally as a result of exhausting root-zone soil moisture (0-30 cm for annual species, George et al, 1988;Becchetti et al, 2016a). Productivity depends on the timing of precipitation and coincidence of available moisture with suitable temperatures and light availability.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Productivity depends on the timing of precipitation and coincidence of available moisture with suitable temperatures and light availability. Together, these factors are recognized to control California annual range growth across four distinct growth phases: (1) fall or winter germination following at least 1.25-2.5 cm precipitation in less than a week with rapid fall growth if the temperature is in the ideal range of 16-27°C; (2) slow winter growth if the temperature is <10°C and little growth if the temperature is <5°C, pending available moisture and light; (3) rapid growth with spring warming and longer days, pending available soil moisture; and (4) peak forage from early April to end of May, depending on region and weather, but generally as a result of exhausting root-zone soil moisture (0-30 cm for annual species, George et al, 1988;Becchetti et al, 2016a). Thus, average production can occur in both relatively high and low rainfall years, as recently documented at 26 range-monitoring sites across California (George et al, 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microclimate–forage growth linkages across two strongly contrasting precipitation years in a Mediterranean catchment

O’Geen

Larsen²,

Dahlke

et al. 2019

Ecohydrology

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Given the complex topography of California rangelands, contrasting microclimates affect forage growth at catchment scales. However, documentation of microclimate-forage growth associations is limited, especially in Mediterranean regions experiencing pronounced climate change impacts. To better understand microclimate-forage growth linkages, we monitored forage productivity and rootzone soil temperature and moisture (0-15 and 15-30 cm) in 16 topographic positions in a 10-ha annual grassland catchment in California's Central Coast Range. Data were collected through two strongly contrasting growing seasons, a wet year (2016-17) with 287-mm precipitation and a dry year (2017-18) with 123-mm precipitation.Plant-available soil water storage (0-30 cm) was more than half full for most of the wet year; mean peak standing forage was 2790 kg ha −1 (range: 1597-4570 kg ha −1 ).The dry year had restricted plant-available water and mean peak standing forage was reduced to 970 kg ha −1 (range: 462-1496 kg ha −1 ). In the wet year, forage growth appeared energy limited (light and temperature): warmer sites produced more forage across a 3-4°C soil temperature gradient but late season growth was associated with moister sites spanning this energy gradient. In the dry year, the warmest topographic positions produced limited forage across a 10°C soil temperature gradient until late season rainfall in March. Linear models accounting for interactions between soil moisture and temperature explained about half of rapid, springtime forage growth variance. These findings reveal dynamic but clear microclimate-forage growth linkages in complex terrain, and thus, have implications for rangeland drought monitoring and dryland ecosystems modeling under climate change.

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Section: Study Site Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Aspect Effect On Soil Moisturementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Microclimate–forage growth linkages across two strongly contrasting precipitation years in a Mediterranean catchment

O’Geen

Larsen²,

Dahlke

et al. 2019

Ecohydrology

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The climate change mitigation potential of annual grasslands under future climates

Mayer

Silver

2022

Ecological Applications

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Composted manure and green waste amendments have been shown to increase net carbon (C) sequestration in rangeland soils and have been proposed as a means to help lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations. However, the effect of climate change on soil organic C (SOC) stocks and greenhouse gas emissions in rangelands is not well understood, and the viability of climate change mitigation strategies under future conditions is even less certain. We used a process‐based biogeochemical model (DayCent) at a daily time step to explore the long‐term effects of potential future climate changes on C and greenhouse gas dynamics in annual grassland ecosystems. We then used the model to explore how the same ecosystems might respond to climate change following compost amendments to soils and determined the long‐term viability of net SOC sequestration under changing climates. We simulated net primary productivity (NPP), SOC, and greenhouse gas fluxes across seven California annual grasslands with and without compost amendments. We drove the DayCent simulations with field data and with site‐specific daily climate data from two Earth system models (CanESM2 and HadGEM‐ES) and two representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) through 2100. NPP and SOC stocks in unamended and amended ecosystems were surprisingly insensitive to projected climate changes. A one‐time amendment of compost to rangeland acted as a slow‐release organic fertilizer and increased NPP by up to 390–814 kg C ha−1 year−1 across sites. The amendment effect on NPP was not sensitive to Earth system model or emissions scenario and endured through the end of the century. Net SOC sequestration amounted to 1.96 ± 0.02 Mg C ha−1 relative to unamended soils at the maximum amendment effect. Averaged across sites and scenarios, SOC sequestration peaked 22 ± 1 years after amendment and declined but remained positive throughout the century. Though compost stimulated nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, the cumulative net emissions (in CO2 equivalents) due to compost were far less than the amount of SOC sequestered. Compost amendments resulted in a net climate benefit of 69.6 ± 0.5 Tg CO2e 20 ± 1 years after amendment if applied to similar ecosystems across the state, amounting to 39% of California's rangeland. These results suggest that the biogeochemical benefits of a single amendment of compost to rangelands in California are insensitive to climate change and could contribute to decadal‐scale climate change mitigation goals alongside emissions reductions.

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Composted biosolids amendments for enhanced soil organic carbon and water storage in perennial pastures in Colorado

Cooper¹,

DeMarco²

2023

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Rangeland Management Series: Annual Range Forage Production

Cited by 16 publications

References 13 publications

Microclimate–forage growth linkages across two strongly contrasting precipitation years in a Mediterranean catchment

Microclimate–forage growth linkages across two strongly contrasting precipitation years in a Mediterranean catchment

The climate change mitigation potential of annual grasslands under future climates

Composted biosolids amendments for enhanced soil organic carbon and water storage in perennial pastures in Colorado

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