Effects of single season and rotation harvesting on cool- and warm-season grasses of a mountain grassland

Abstract

A mountain bunchgrass community with cool-season Parry oatgrass (Danthonia parryi) and warm-season slimstem muhly (Muhlenbergia filiculmis) as major grasses was treated with early partial harvest of cool-season grasses and late partial harvest of warm-season grasses. Warm-season grasses in these communities were greatly reduced by repeated late harvest, slightly reduced by late harvest in alternate years, and slightly promoted by early harvest of cool-season grasses. The dominant cool-season grasses responded less to repeated early harvests than did the less abundant warm-season grasses to repeated late harvests. The hypothesis that different harvest schedules may lead to alternative equilibria is supported, and rest alone may not cause a shift from a cool-season dominated equilibrium toward a greater warm-season presence in the plant community.