Heavy Precipitation Influences Saline Clay Flat Vegetation

Abstract

A vegetational analysis was made of the native grasses on a saline clay flat range site located on the Rio Grande Plains of Texas prior to and two months following Hurricane Beulah in 1967. Data prior to the hurricane indicated a mean grass plant density of about 26,000 per acre with negligible yield. Following the hurricane, an influx of annual and short-lived perennial grasses increased the density to approximately 700,000 grass plants per acre. Herbage yields increased to over 1200 pounds per acre. Presence of short-lived grasses provided forage and a desirable microenvironment for the establishment of seedlings of the more desirable grasses.