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Herbage Digestibility as Influenced by Community Density¹

Utah State University^,3, Logan

Abstract

EXTENSIVE areas of the United States have been artificially seeded to both native and introduced forage species to increase the productivity of the rangeland ecosystems, and hence the production of livestock. In the quest for better methods and techniques of rehabilitating rangelands, it is essential to determine the community density, defined as the number of plants per unit area (Oosting, 1956), that most efficiently utilizes the abiotic resources of the ecosystem.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of density of community stand on the seasonal digestibility of dry matter and cellulose of four species of introduced wheatgrasses: crested (Agropyron cristatum), tall (A. elongatum) , pubescent (A. trichophorum) , and intermediate wheatgrass (A. intermedium).

Methods and Procedure

Herbage samples of wheatgrass leaves and stems collected in central Utah during two summers, 1964 and 1965, at successive stages of phenological development from both thick and thin stands were used for in vivo nylonbag digestibility trials.

¹ Published with a approval of Utah Agr. Exp. Sta., Utah State University, Logan 84321, as Journal Article No. 937.

² Present address: Department of Range Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80521.

³ Department of Range Science.