Restoring sand shinnery oak prairies with herbicide and grazing in New Mexico

Sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) prairies are increasingly disappearing and increasingly degraded in the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico. Restoring and managing sand shinnery oak prairie can support biodiversity, specific species of conservation concern, and livestock production. We...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southwestern naturalist 2016-09, Vol.61 (3), p.225-232
Main Authors: Zavaleta, Jennifer C, Haukos, David A, Grisham, Blake, Boal, Clint, Dixon, Charles
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cattle
Ecological restoration
Environmental aspects
Feature s
Grasses
Herbicides
Management
Oaks
Plant communities
Prairie plants
Prairies
Quercus havardii
Wildlife conservation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sand shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) prairies are increasingly disappearing and increasingly degraded in the Southern High Plains of Texas and New Mexico. Restoring and managing sand shinnery oak prairie can support biodiversity, specific species of conservation concern, and livestock production. We measured vegetation response to four treatment combinations of herbicide (tebuthiuron applied at 0.60 kg/ha) and moderate-intensity grazing (50% removal of annual herbaceous production) over a 10-year period in a sand shinnery oak prairie of eastern New Mexico. We compared the annual vegetation response to the historical climax plant community (HCPC) as outlined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Ecological Site Description. From 2 to 10 years postapplication, tebuthiuron-treated plots had reduced shrub cover with twice as much forb and grass cover as untreated plots. Tebuthiuron-treated plots, regardless of the presence of grazing, most frequently met HCPC. Tebuthiuron and moderate-intensity grazing increased vegetation heterogeneity and, based on comparison of the HCPC, successfully restored sand shinnery oak prairie to a vegetation composition similar to presettlement.
ISSN:0038-4909
1943-6262
DOI:10.1894/0038-4909-61.3.225