Vegetation trends in a young conifer plantation after grazing, grubbing, and chemical release. Forest Service research paper
A 3-year-old Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi Grev. and Balf.) plantation in northern California was released by grazing with sheep for 5 years, manual grubbing for 3 years, and applying a herbicide 1 year. These treatments plus an untreated control provided an opportunity to evaluate density and developmental trends for the pine, shrub, and grass components of the plant community during 1986-1994. Creating a near-free-to-grow condition by applying Velpar herbicide modified the plant community by controlling the shrubs, reduced cheatgrass in the second and third years, and caused mean pine diameter, foliar cover, and height to be significantly greater than counterparts in all other treatments. Nipping of twigs by sheep stimulated foliar cover of snowbrush to more than three times that of similar plants in the control. Grazing significantly reduced greenleaf manzanita cover. Grubbing a 4-foot radius around pine seedlings, and grazing with sheep did not increase Jeffrey pine development relative to the control. Because of this ineffectiveness, the efficacy of grazing as a silvicultural tool is questioned and suggestions for its betterment are presented.
- Research Organization:
- Forest Service, Berkeley, CA (United States). Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station
- OSTI ID:
- 557558
- Report Number(s):
- PB--98-105737/XAB; FSRP-PSW--228
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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