Vegetation Response to Removal of Plant Groups and Grass Seeding in a Microphyllous Desert Shrubland: A 4-Year Field Experiment

Abstract

Grazing is one of the most important land management activities worldwide, and cases of overgrazing increase erosion, land degradation, and plant invasion. The objective of this study was to assess the effect on individual species and species composition in response to groups of plants removals or grass seeding after four years of vegetation transformation in a microphyllous desert shrubland excluded from cattle grazing. Nine treatments involved (1) clearing of vegetation and seeding of Bouteloua curtipendula (BOCU), a native grass, (2) clearing and seeding of Chloris gayana (CHGA), an introduce grass from Africa, (3) clearing except for grasses (GRA), (4) clearing except for grasses and fodder shrubs (GRA-SHR), (5) free grazing by cattle (GRAZ), (6) clearing except fodder shrubs (SHR), (7) no modification (CON), (8) clearing of all plants (BARE), and (9) clearing except plants not eaten by cattle (UND). Treatments were replicated five times each in 10 m × 10 m experimental plots. Plots were surveyed for density, cover of all plants, and standing forage. Total plant cover was higher in CON and UND than the other treatments. Except for BOCU, where forage production was the highest, forage production ha−1 was low among all other treatments. Plant density was highest in SHR and lowest in CON. Results after four years of transformation indicate that seeded Chloris gayana failed to become established, but seeding of Bouteloua curtipendula was able to persist, and had the greatest influence on the vegetation restoration, which is what we consider the most appropriate restoration treatment.

Changes in Richness and Species Composition after Five Years of Grazing Exclusion in an Endemic Pasture of Northern Mexico

“…Responses of plant communities to cattle and horse grazing exclusion were partly species-specific, with larger values for grasses in the excluded plots and a greater number of forbs in the control plots, whereas woody species varied along the years with no differences between grazed and ungrazed sites. These results are in line with previous studies where grasses have increased in sites excluded from cattle grazing [36][37][38][39]. This suggests that this stratum has the ability to spread as a consequence of grazing exclusion.…”

Growth, Physiology, and Productivity of Bouteloua gracilis and Cenchrus ciliaris Using Moisture Retainers under Different Planting Methods

“…According to the growth analysis, B. gracilis showed a slightly higher growth rate than C. ciliaris, differentiating after 56 DAEE, highlighting the CHR treatment with exponential growth rates of 1.0 (R 2 = 0.94) and 1.09 (R 2 = 0.94) in C. ciliaris and B. gracilis, respectively (Figure 3a,b). These differences in the growth and development dynamics between the grass species suggest that they are more related to their phylogenetic nature [45,46], although both were favored by a higher soil moisture content when CHR was applied. This indicates a good adaptability of both species to degraded soils under a regular rainfall regime.…”

Restoration of Rangelands Invaded by Amelichloa clandestina (Hack.) Arriaga & Barkworth after 12 Years of Agriculture Abandonment (Coahuila, Mexico)

“…Thus, management through different tools is required to restore, to some degree, the ecological processes of the plant community (native species, regeneration, species richness, etc.) [13,14].…”