An 18-Year Comparison of Control Methods for Wyoming Big Sagebrush in Southwestern Montana

Abstract

Four Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis Beetle and Young) control treatments: burning, spraying with 2,4-D, rotocutting, and plowing, along with no control (rest) were compared in southwestern Montana. Production data (excluding sagebrush) were collected 10 years and sagebrush canopy cover and understory basal cover were collected 8 years during the period 1963-1981. Sagebrush canopy was most effectively reduced by burning while plowing with seeding was least effective. Rest alone resulted in a 29% reduction in sagebrush canopy during the study period. By 1981, burning provided the most production from the dominant forage species (bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum (Pursh) Scribn.) and important vegetal classes, although burning and spraying were equally successful when production was totaled for all years sampled. Understory basal cover did not prove useful to evaluate treatment effectiveness.