Jt. Romo, WOLF PLANT EFFECTS ON WATER RELATIONS, GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY IN CRESTED WHEATGRASS, Canadian Journal of Plant Science, 74(4), 1994, pp. 767-771
When improperly managed in pastures, crested wheatgrass (Agropyron des
ertorum (Fischer ex Link) Schultes) develops wolf plants because of th
e long-term persistence of inflorescences. The objective of this study
was to test the hypothesis that the wolf plants have no effect on the
growth and water relations of grazed or subordinate plants in crested
wheatgrass. Treatments applied to wolf plants included killing with g
lyphosate, mowing to a 10-cm stubble, killing with glyphosate + mowing
to a 10-cm stubble, and a control. Rates of vegetative and reproducti
ve development, tiller and whole plant weights, tiller replacement and
xylem water potentials of leaves were determined for subordinate plan
ts for 2-3 yr following treatment. The presence of wolf plants had no
consistent effect on the water relations or on growth of subordinate p
lants of crested wheatgrass. Because they play no apparent beneficial
role in the water status and productivity of crested wheatgrass, manag
ement techniques should be implemented to exploit the forage produced
by wolf plants. Accessing this forage can substantially increase the g
razing capacity of crested wheatgrass pastures.