Production Response of Native and Introduced Grasses to Mechanical Brush Manipulation, Seeding, and Fertilization

Abstract

Effects of two mechanical brush manipulation treatments (root-plowing and front-end stacking) with and without grass seeding and with and without nitrogen fertilization on herbaceous forage production were investigated in the Rio Grande Plain of Texas. Total herbaceous production (4-year average) was 5,981 for root-plowing and 4,789 kg/ha for front-end stacking as compared with 2,178 kg/ha for the undisturbed control. The 4-year average yield of buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliaris L. (L.) Link) seeded alone contributed 53% of total herbaceous production on plots with root-plowing, 73% on plots with front-end stacking, and 38% on control plots. The combined yield of three native species, pink pappus-grass (Pappophorum bicolor Fourn.), four-flower trichloris (Trichloris pluriflora Fourn.), and Arizona cottontop (Digitaria californica (Benth) Henr.), seeded as a mixture contributed 41% of the total herbaceous production on plots with rootplowing, 28% on plots with front-end stacking, and 11% on control plots. The application of 45 kg/ha nitrogen significantly increased total herbaceous production the season after application.