Variations in the Growth of Side-Oats Grama Grass at Hays, Kansas, from Seed Produced in Various Parts of the Great Plains Region

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The recent great drought covering the plains area has caused a change in the type of grassland research. A realization of the importance of the conservation of our soil and native plants has been brought clearly before the research workers as well as our entire population. Overgrazing, depletion of soil moisture, continued tilling of pulverized soil, and the resultant blowing and dust caused an enormous reduction in plant cover. Any one of these factors would have resulted in serious damage, and taken together they have literally cost the people of the region millions of dollars. New soil conservation methods have been brought into use and with them has come a need for hardy soil binding plants which can be easily established on disturbed soil. These conditions have caused research workers in the area to turn their attention toward finding plants with which to revegetate the stricken areas and methods to get these plants established. Quadrat studies, as well as general observations, show that side-oats grama grass (Bouteloua curtipendula) is more drought resistant than its associate, little bluestem grass (Andropogon scoparius). Before the draught little bluestem covered the hillsides of the mixed prairie association; at the present time, however, it has been almost completely replaced by side-oats grama grass (Albertson, 1938). This indicates that side-oats grama is a drought resistant plant and may have possibilities as a plant for revegetation purposes. It is widely adapted as is shown 'by its widespread distribution covering much more territory than any of the other grama grasses (Hoover, 1939). Side-oats grama is a good forage producer and shows capabilities of improvement by selection and crossing. It is the one species of (Bouteloua) which might make a favorable plant for domestication (Range Plant Handbook, 1937). The rhizomatous nature of the species together with its tough fibrous root system makes it a good soil binder, in spite of the fact that it is not a sod former. Its habit of growing in slightly favored spots suggests that this would be an excellent grass for roadside ditches, dam spillways, terrace outlets, etc. This study, which covered a period of two years, was originated in order to learn more of the merits and faults of side-oats grama grass as a revegetation and soil conservation plant in the Great Plains region. It was suggested by the fact that there is a definite need for more knowledge about the native grasses which are potential revegetation plants of the Great Plains. An attempt was made to find as many growth habits of the species as possible, and a comparison was made in the growth, development, and forage production