PLANT MORPHOGENESIS FOR SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT OF RANGE RESOURCES 



163 



Figube 2. — Blue grama range with 336 kg./ha. of ungrazed herbage remaining at the end of a May 1 to October 31 



grazing season 



amount of standing vegetation gives a good esti- 

 mate of the amount of leaf tissue present during 

 a given growth period. 



At Central Plains Experimental Range, the 

 amount of standing vegetation on a 130 hectare 

 pasture was determined by taking herbage- weight 

 measurements at approximately 2-week intervals. 

 For each period, the amount of forage eaten by 

 the cattle grazing on the pasture was determined 

 by the water intake method. 4 5 The difference in 

 the amount of standing vegetation at the begin- 



4 Hyder, I). N., R. E. Bement, and J. J. Norms, sam- 

 pling REQUIREMENTS OF THE WATER-INTAKE METHOD OF 

 ESTIMATING FORAGE INTAKE BY GRACING CATTLE. J. Range 



Mangt. 21: 392-397. 1968. 



5 Hyder, D. N., R. E. Bement, J. J. Norris, and M. J. 

 Morris, evaluating herbage species by grazing cattle, 

 part i, food intake. Internatl. Grassland Cong., Proa, 

 10: 970-974. 1966. 



ning and the end of a given period plus the 

 amount of herbage grazed by the cattle was con- 

 sidered as the amount of forage produced dur- 

 ing the period. Herbage growth rate in kg./ha./ 

 day was then calculated by dividing total herbage 

 produced during the period by the number of 

 days in the period. Herbage losses due to trans- 

 location, weathering, trampling, diseases, insects, 

 rodents, and other wild animals were not meas- 

 ured. 



Tables 3, 4, and 5 show herbage growth rate 

 for the 1965, 1966, and 1967 growing seasons, re- 

 spectively/' Growing season precipitation for 1965 

 was above average following the most severe 

 drought year on record at the Experimental 



Bement, R. E. herbage growth rate and forage 

 quality on shortgrass range. Ph.D. Thesis. Colorado 

 State Univ., 53 pp. 1968. 



