Revegetation of Retired Farmland: Evaluation of Six Range Grasses Under Three Irrigation Regimes

Abstract

Buffelgrass, kleingross, "Catalina" lovegrass, "Cochise" lovegrass, bottlebrush, and sideoats grama grass were seeded on retired farmland in the Avra Valley west of Tucson in 1986 and again in 1987. Each grass species was seeded in plots that received no irrigation, or two establishment irrigations or four establishment irrigations. For both year's tests, buffelgrass had a significantly higher percent cover than the other grasses at three months after planting. In the evaluation of the 1986 test in October 1987, buffelgrass, kleingrass, Cochise lovegrass, and Catalina lovegrass had increased their presence in the irrigated plots from one year before and appeared promising for the revegetaion of retired farmland. Plots that did not receive establishment irrigations did not have significantly higher cover ratings than plots with no cover at all. The one exception to this was buffelgrass in the first evaluation of the 1986 test.