Standing crop and production in annual grass communities in Washington and California: a comparison

Technical Report · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:6000181

Rickard, W H

An annual grass community in eastern Washington comprised mostly of cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum L., produced a yearly average of 226 g dry wt per m/sup 2/ of shoot biomass over a four-year period. Litter averaged 408 g per m/sup 2/ and belowground biomass 776 g. Total standing crop averaged 1400 g per m/sup 2/. Seventy percent of the root biomass was concentrated in the upper 10 cm of soil profile and 88% was in the upper 20 cm. An annual grass community in the central valley of California was about two times more productive than the cheatgrass community. The major botanical difference between the two communities, other than a more diverse species composition and greater productivity in the California community was the proportion of litter in the total aboveground biomass. The litter component of the cheatgrass community amounted to 30% of aboveground biomass as compared to only 14% for the California community. Litter accumulation in the cheatgrass community may indicate a slower decomposition rate but differences in grazing histories between the Washington cheatgrass and the California communities could have accounted for the difference in litter accumulation. 14 references, 3 figures, 3 tables.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6000181
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-11546; ON: DE85005523
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
GRASS
PRODUCTIVITY
BIOMASS
CALIFORNIA
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
SPECIES DIVERSITY
WASHINGTON
DATA
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION IX
FEDERAL REGION X
INFORMATION
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
PLANTS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
USA
140504* - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)