Larger Pits Aid Reseeding of Semidesert Rangeland

Abstract

Broad, shallow intermediate pits have proved to be longer lasting than conventional pits on semidesert range in the 6- to 8-inch summer rainfall zone in southern Arizona. Rainfall penetration averaged twice as deep in the pits as on adjacent flats. Herbage production of buffelgrass averaged 2 1/2 times as high, over a 4-year period, on the intermediate pits as on conventional pits, and five times as much as on similar adjacent untreated range.