Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
Introductory
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Howard, Janet L. 1992. Elymus trachycaulus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/graminoid/elytra/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
ELYTRA
SYNONYMS :
Agropyron caninum (L.) Beauv.
Agropyron pauciforum (Schwcinitz) A. Hitchc.
Agropyron tenerum Vaset
Agropyron trachycaulum (Link) Malte ex H. F. Lewis
Agropyron subsecundum (Link) A. Hitchc.
Agropyron violaceum (Hornem.) Lange
SCS PLANT CODE :
AGTR
AGTRC
AGTRG
AGTRM
AGTRN
AGTRU
COMMON NAMES :
slender wheatgrass
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of slender wheatgrass is Elymus
trachycaulus (Link) Gould ex Shinners in the tribe Triticeae of
Poaceae [38,61,65]. There are at least three subspecies and six
varieties of this species, which differ in awn length, size and degree
of crowding of spikelets, and culm length. Generally, plants at lower
elevations are tall and slender, bearing long culms, narrow spikes, and
separated spikelets. Plants at higher elevations have short, thick
culms, dense, shortened spikes, and crowded spikelets. All possible
gradations between these two growth habits are known to occur [55].
Recognized subspecies and varieties are as follows [23,26,29,56,65]:
E. t. ssp. latiglumis (Scribn. & J. G. Smith) Barkw. & D. R. Dewey
E. t. ssp. trachycaulus Bark. & D. R. Dewey
E. t. ssp. subsecundus (Link) Gould
E. t. var. andinum (Scribn. & J. G. Smith) Beetle
E. t. var. ciliatum (Scribn. & J. G. Smith) Gleason
E. t. var. glaucum (Pease & A. H. Moore) Malte
E. t. var. majus (Vasey) Fernald
E. t. var. novae-angliae (Scribn.) Fernald
E. t. var. unilaterale (Vasey) Malle
Extensive hybridization and introgression occurs in Triticeae. Slender
wheatgrass produces natural hybrids, some of which are unnamed, with the
following species [26,35,61,65]:
x Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. (crested wheatgrass)
x Elymus canadensis L. (Canada wildrye)
x E. elymoides (Rafin) Swezey (bottlebrush squirreltail): E. X
saudersii Vasey (Saunders wheatgrass)
x E. glaucus Buckley (blue wildrye)
x E. lanceolatus (Scribner & J. G. Smith) Gould (thickspike
wheatgrass: E. X pseudorepens (Scribn. & J. G. Smith) Bark.& D. R.
Dewey (false quackgrass)
x E. scribneri (Vasey) M. E. Jones (Scribner wheatgrass): E. X
brevifolium (Scribn.) Bark. & D. R. Dewey
x Pseudelymus saxicola Bark. & D. R. Dewey (foxtail wheatgrass)
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
Elymus t. var. unilaterale is listed as endangered by the Illinois
Endangered Species Protection Board [52].
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Slender wheatgrass is widely distributed across North America. Its
range extends from Alaska to Newfoundland and south to North Carolina,
Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas, and western Mexico [23,33,51].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES22 Western white pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES24 Hemlock - Sitka spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES27 Redwood
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE HI ID
IL IN IA KS KY ME MD MA MI MN
MS MO MT NE NH NJ NM NY NC ND
OH OK OR PA RI SD TN TX UT VT
VA WA WV WI WY AB BC LB MB NB
NF NT NS ON PE PQ SK YT MEXICO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K001 Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K003 Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
K004 Fir - hemlock forest
K005 Mixed conifer forest
K006 Redwood forest
K007 Red fir forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K009 Pine - cypress forest
K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K022 Great Basin pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K025 Alder - ash forest
K026 Oregon oakwoods
K027 Mesquite bosque
K028 Mosaic of K002 and K026
K029 California mixed evergreen forest
K030 California oakwoods
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K033 Chaparral
K034 Montane chaparral
K035 Coastal sagebrush
K036 Mosaic of K030 and K035
K037 Mountain mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbrush - greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush - bursage
K043 Paloverde - cactus shrub
K044 Creosotebush - tarbush
K045 Ceniza shrub
K047 Fescue - oatgrass
K048 California steppe
K050 Fescue - bluegrass
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K053 Grama - galleta steppe
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K057 Galleta - threeawn shrubsteppe
K058 Grama - tobosa shrubsteppe
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
K060 Mesquite savanna
K061 Mesquite - acacia savanna
K062 Mesquite - live oak savanna
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K065 Grama - buffalograss
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K068 Wheatgrass - grama - buffalograss
K069 Bluestem - grama prairie
K070 Sandsage - bluestem prairie
K071 Shinnery
K073 Northern cordgrass prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K075 Nebraska sandhills prairie
K076 Blackland prairie
K077 Bluestem - sacahuista prairie
K078 Southern cordgrass prairie
K081 Oak savanna
K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100
K083 Cedar glades
K084 Cross Timbers
K085 Mesquite - buffalograss
K086 Juniper - oak savanna
K087 Mesquite - oak savanna
K088 Fayette prairie
K089 Black Belt
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K094 Conifer bog
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
K109 Transition between K104 and K106
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K114 Pocosin
SAF COVER TYPES :
1 Jackpine
5 Balsam fir
12 Black spruce
13 Black spruce - tamarack
15 Red pine
16 Aspen
17 Pin cherry
18 Paper birch
19 Gray birch - red maple
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
23 Eastern hemlock
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
28 Black cherry - maple
30 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
32 Red spruce
33 Red spruce - balsam fir
34 Red spruce - Fraser fir
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
37 Northern white cedar
38 Tamarack
39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
40 Post oak - blackjack oak
42 Bur oak
43 Bear oak
44 Chestnut oak
45 Pitch pine
46 Eastern redcedar
50 Black locust
51 White pine - chestnut oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
57 Yellow poplar
58 Yellow poplar - eastern hemlock
59 Yellow poplar - white oak - northern red oak
60 Beech - sugar maple
62 Silver maple - American elm
63 Cottonwood
64 Sassafras - persimmon
67 Mohrs ("shin") oak
68 Mesquite
70 Longleaf pine
71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
72 Southern scrub oak
73 Southern redcedar
75 Shortleaf pine
76 Shortleaf pine - oak
79 Virginia pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
94 Sycamore - sweet gum - American elm
95 Black willow
107 White spruce
108 Red maple
109 Hawthorn
110 Black oak
201 White spruce
202 White spruce - paper birch
203 Balsam poplar
204 Black spruce
205 Mountain hemlock
206 Engelman spruce - subalpine fir
207 Red fir
208 Whitebark pine
209 Bristlecone pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
215 Western white pine
216 Blue spruce
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
219 Limber pine
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
221 Red alder
222 Black cottonwood - willow
223 Sitka spruce
224 Western hemlock
225 Western hemlock - Sitka spruce
226 Coastal true fir - hemlock
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
228 Western redcedar
229 Pacific Douglas-fir
230 Douglas-fir western hemlock
231 Port-Orford-cedar
232 Redwood
234 Douglas-fir - tanoak - Pacific madrone
235 Cottonwoood - willow
236 Bur oak
237 Interior ponderosa pine
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
240 Arizona cypress
241 Western live oak
242 Mesquite
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
245 Pacific ponderosa pine
246 California black oak
247 Jeffrey pine
248 Knobcone pine
249 Canyon live oak
250 Blue oak - gray pine
251 White spruce - aspen
252 Paper birch
253 Black spruce - white spruce
254 Black spruce - paper birch
255 California coast live oak
256 California mixed subalpine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Slender wheatgrass is generally subdominant. When dominant in alpine
meadows it indicates overgrazing [62]. Published classifications
listing slender wheatgrass as a dominant, codominant, or dominant
understory species in community types (cts), habitat types (hts), plant
associations (pas), or vegetation types (vts) are as follows:
Area Classification Authority
c UT: Wasatch Plateau subalpine grassland cts Ellison 1954
sc ID; ne UT sagebrush vts Mickelsen & others 1990
ne NE sagebrush-snowberry pas Tueller & Eckert 1987
WI: Florence Co. bracken-grassland vts Vogl 1964
IL: Lake Co. prairie cts Taft & Solecki 1990
nc NM sagebrush-grassland cts Stahlecker & others 1989
c NV subalpine meadow vts Eckert 1975
e ND grassland hts Whitman & Wali 1975
Associated species: Slender wheatgrass associates are too numerous to
list due to its wide geographical distribution and occurrence in
disparate ecosystems.
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Slender wheatgrass is grazed by sage grouse, deer, elk, moose, bighorn
sheep, mountain goat, pronghorn, various rodents, and all classes of
livestock. The seeds are eaten by various seed predators [15,16,47].
PALATABILITY :
Slender wheatgrass is among the preferred foods of elk and bighorn sheep
[23,50], and is palatable to all classes of livestock [25,47,55]. The
palatability of slender wheatgrass in several western states is rated as
follows [15,17]:
CA MT ND UT
cattle good good good good
sheep good fair fair good
horses good good fair good
pronghorn ---- ---- ---- poor
elk ---- ---- ---- good
mule deer good ---- ---- fair
small mammals ---- ---- ---- fair
small nongame birds ---- fair ---- fair
upland game birds ---- poor ---- fair
waterfowl ---- fair ---- poor
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Slender wheatgrass is rated as good in energy value and poor in protein
value [15]. The nutritional composition of flowering slender wheatgrass
in the United States is as follows [39]:
Percent Composition Percent Digestible Protein
ash 9.70 cattle 2.1
crude fiber 36.40 goats 1.1
protein 4.90 horses 1.7
calcium 0.31 rabbits 2.5
magnesium 0.36 sheep 1.6
phosphorus 0.08
sulfur 0.12
COVER VALUE :
Slender wheatgrass provides hiding and thermal cover for songbirds,
upland game birds, waterfowl, and small mammals. It is used as nesting
cover by mallard, Northern pintail, and blue-winged teal ducks [19].
The degree to which it provides environmental protection for wildlife in
several western states is rated as follows [15]:
MT UT WY
small mammals fair good ----
small nongame birds fair ---- ----
upland game birds good fair good
waterfowl good poor ----
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Slender wheatgrass is widely used for revegetating disturbed lands. It
has been used for rehabilitating mine spoils, oil-drilling sites,
livestock ranges, wildlife habitat, and watershed areas [10,12,48].
There are three commercially-available slender cultivars commonly used
for rehabilitation: 'Primar', 'Revenue', and 'San Luis'. 'Primar' and
'Revenue' are recommended for use in the Great Plains [14]. 'Revenue'
is greatly used for rangeland revegetation. It has high seed and forage
yields, and is tolerant of saline and alkaline soils [34]. 'Primar' is
also used for rangeland revegetation and has been used in subalpine
range improvement. It was successfully established in a severely
overgrazed subalpine meadow (elev: 7,400 ft. [2,256] m) in central
Nevada [16]. 'San Luis' is recommended for use in Colorado, and is
noted for good seedling vigor, robustness, tall growth, and long life
[34]. Slender wheatgrass will establish in moist or dryland sites.
Allison [1] has detailed seeding methods.
Slender wheatgrass is used for rehabilitating alpine meadows and
other high elevation habitats [9]. Cultivars are not recommended for
this use; seed must be collected from alpine sites in late summer or
early fall. Fall plantings yield higher rate of germination at high
elevation than do spring plantings. Surface mulching is recommended
[8].
Slender wheatgrass has been used in a variety of watershed projects,
including reclaiming logged-over watershed areas, improvement of
subalpine watershed, and streambank and streambottom improvement
[30,48,60]. A watershed rehabilitation project in New Mexico increased
available water run-off by 40 percent following seeding with slender
wheatgrass and other grasses [13].
Slender wheatgrass is planted using a seed mix selected for the
particular rehabilitative purpose. The mix consists of other grasses,
and may contain forb seed as well. Possible companion seeds are too
numerous to list. A selected few which have been used successfully
include western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), intermediate wheatgrass
(Thinopyrum intermedium), blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus spp. glaucus),
tall oatgrass (Arrhenatherum elatius), and Parry clover (Trifolium
parryi). Slender wheatgrass seedlings have also been successfully
transplanted onto disturbed sites [11].
Heavy metal and hydrocarbon tolerances: Slender wheatgrass does well
in soils containing high levels of boron (10-20 p/m). Some research
suggests that this species tolerates heavy and lead bitumen-contaminated
soils. It did not establish well, however, on alkaline tailings in
Quebec that were contaminated by unidentified heavy metals [23].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Slender wheatgrass is cultivated on haylands of the northern Great Plains [55].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Range: Slender wheatgrass will maintain vigor indefinitely under
moderate grazing [47]. It is a decreaser on overgrazed cattle ranges
because its short rootstocks cannot withstand heavy grazing as well as
species with well-developed rhizomes [25,59]. Ellison [17] reported
slender wheatgrass as scarce on overgrazed cattle ranges of the Wasatch
Plateau, Utah, but plentiful in areas inaccessible to livestock.
Slender wheatgrass has increased on some mountain ranges following heavy
use by sheep, however, because sheep will only lightly graze the leaves
of coarser ecotypes [7]. Slender wheatgrass cover at five different
levels of livestock grazing in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba
was as follows [53]:
Mean Foliage Cover (%)
slight use 11.0
light use 8.7
moderate use 16.9
heavy use 28.5
severe use 2.0
Slender wheatgrass populations decrease when livestock are allowed to
graze during flowering and seed set [42].
Slender wheatgrass has been used to inhibit the highly unpalatable Rocky
Mountain iris (Iris missouriensis) on ranges overtaken by the iris [16].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Slender wheatgrass is a perennial, cool-season, short-lived, coarse,
tufted bunchgrass. Leaves are from 3 to 13 inches (8-33 cm) long and
0.25 to 0.5 inch (0.6-1.3 cm) wide, with basal leaves longer than upper
leaves. The culms are erect, ranging from 6 to 48 inches (8-120 cm) in
height, and bear terminal, erect spikes [37,55]. The root system is
dense, consisting of coarse and fine fibrous roots which extend beyond
12 inches (30 cm) in depth. One author has reported this species as
having short rhizomes [23]. The dense root system makes this species
moderately drought tolerant [44].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Chamaephyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Sexual: Slender wheatgrass is a self-pollinated or wind-pollinated
species with heavy seed production [5,20,23]. Seed is disseminated by
transport on animal hides. The seed, stored in seed banks, remains
viable for 3 to 6 years, with a germination capacity of 80 to 90
percent. This species requires 1- to 2-month short night/long day
stratification prior to germination. The temperature and light regime
required for optimal germination fluctuates from a daily minimum of 59
degrees Fahrenheit (15 deg C) for 16 hours without light to a maximum of
77 degrees (25 deg C) for 8 hours with light [20,42]. Slender
wheatgrass requires a moderately moist bare mineral or lightly mulched
seedbed. It is a good competitor on disturbed sites for the first 2 to
3 years. Seedling establishment is often poor in older communities
because seedlings to not grow well in thatch or other heavy litter [40].
Generally, seed dispersal and seedling establishment is the primary
method of reproduction in this species [23]. Considerable variation,
however, has been noted among northern ecotypes in both seed production
and vegetative reproduction.
Vegetative: Slender wheatgrass reproduces asexually by tillering [23].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Widely distributed, slender wheatgrass has numerous ecotypes that occur
in widely differing climates. Slender wheatgrass is found on semiarid
ranges, in temperate and boreal forests, and in subalpine, alpine, and
subarctic habitats [8,23]. More detailed site characteristics are as
follows:
Soil: Slender wheatgrass grows in dry to moist, medium-textured soil.
It tolerates silt and clay but does best on sandy loam. This species
has a high salt tolerance. Soil pH usually ranges from moderately acid
to moderately alkaline, although it has been reported growing in soils
with a pH as high as 8.8 [20,23].
Precipitation: Slender wheatgrass requires from 10 to 20 inches (25 -
50 cm) of annual precipitation [20].
Elevation: The following ranges in elevation have been reported for
slender wheatgrass in several western states [24,25,38]:
AZ: 5,000-12,000 ft (1,370-3,660 m)
CA: below 11,000 ft (3,330 m)
CO: 4,500-12,000 ft (1,370-3,600 m)
UT: 4,500-12,200 ft (1,370-3,660 m)
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Slender wheatgrass is a pioneer in primary and secondary succession. It
is among the first grasses to establish in gravelly pockets of soil on
talus slopes of the Wasatch Plateau, Utah, and has colonized abandoned
coal mine spoils in Alberta, Canada [17,46]. Slender wheatgrass is
often dominant in early seral grassland communities due to its high seed
production, and is also a dominant or codominant understory species in
early seral forest and woodland communities [10,23]. Populations
decrease in all three community types at later stages. Slender
wheatgrass planted with crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) on a
disturbed grassland range in Alberta declined from 69.5 percent of total
herbage production in the first year to 2.6 percent after 4 years [23].
Litter buildup in older communities reduces flowering and seedling
establishment in this species [41,43]. It is somewhat shade tolerant
and persists in the community as a minor plant associate through the
climax stage [23].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Development varies depending upon latitude, elevation, and time of
snowmelt. Generally, slender wheatgrass develops as follows [17,20,55]:
Northern Range Southern Range
growth starts following snowmelt early spring
flowers July-Aug May-Oct
seeds ripe Aug-Sept June-Nov
seeds disseminated Sept-Oct Sept-Nov
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Slender wheatgrass is a short-lived species that is favored by summer or
fall fires [3,41]. The dense roots survive, and plants establishes from
tillers and soil-stored seed in the seed bank.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Caudex, growing points in soil
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Moderate-severity fire will top-kill slender wheatgrass and kill some
tillers [59]. Fire effects upon this species differ according to the
growth habit of the variety. Elymus trachycaulus spp. trachycaulus,
for example, has moderately to densely clustered long leaves and stems.
Studies show that bunchgrasses of this form generate high temperatures
at the soil surface because fire burns down into the clump, resulting in
tiller and root damage [64]. Tall, decadent plants with many dead basal
leaves sustain the most fire damage. E. trachycaulus spp. latiglumis,
having a short, sparse growth form, is least likely to sustain damage to
the root system during fire [22,64].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Plant response varies with season and fire severity. Slender wheatgrass
is most sensitive to spring fire that coincides with its active growing
period [27,64]. Three months following spring fire in a bracken
fern-grassland community in northeastern Wisconsin, slender wheatgrass
frequency was reduced by 19.6 percent [57]. Moderate-severity summer
and fall fires usually do not affect the frequency of slender wheatgrass
[31]. Postfire recovery of this species is rapid. Biomass production
is lowered the first year, but original biomass is equaled or exceeded by
postfire year 2. Biomass production is usually highest at postfire year
3. By postfire year 4 production has usually returned to prefire
levels. Moderate-severity fire causes the greatest increase in biomass.
Variations in biomass production according to fire severity were noted
in western Wyoming at postfire year 3 [4]:
Biomass Production (air-dry kg/ha)
before light moderate severe
burning burn burn burn
49 57 139 60
Flower production usually increases following fire, especially on
sites already disturbed prior to fire [43].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
These Research Project Summaries:
provide information on postfire response of plant communities including slender
wheatgrass, that was not available when this species review was originally written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Frequent spring fire coinciding with the active growing period can be
used to control slender wheatgrass [2]. In mixed stands, summer or fall
burning favors slender wheatgrass by removing the thatch or litter layer
that inhibits seedling establishment [41].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Elymus trachycaulus
REFERENCES :
1. Allison, Chris. 1988. Seeding New Mexico rangeland. Circular 525. Las
Cruces, NM: New Mexico State University, College of Agriculture and Home
Economics, Cooperative Extension Service. 15 p. [11830]
2. Bailey, Arthur W. 1978. Use of fire to manage grasslands of the Great
Plains: Northern Great Plains and adjacent forests. In: Hyder, Donald
N., ed. Proceedings, 1st international rangeland congress; 1978 August
14-18; Denver, CO. Denver, CO: Society for Range Management: 691-693.
[372]
3. Bailey, Arthur W.; Anderson, Murray L. 1978. Prescribed burning of a
Festuca-Stipa grassland. Journal of Range Management. 31: 446-449.
[373]
4. Bartos, D. L.; Mueggler, W. F. 1982. Early succession following
clearcutting of aspen communities in northern Utah. Journal of Range
Management. 35(6): 764-768. [3279]
5. Bender, Marty. 1983. Perennial grain crop research. In: Kucera, Clair
L., ed. Proceedings of the 7th North American prairie conference; 1980
August 4-6; Springfield, MO. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri:
307-310. [3231]
6. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
7. Bowns, James E.; Bagley, Calvin F. 1986. Vegetation responses to
long-term sheep grazing on mountain ranges. Journal of Range Management.
39(5): 431-434. [15584]
8. Brown, Ray W.; Chambers, Jeanne C. 1990. Reclamation practices in
high-mountain ecosystems. In: Schmidt, Wyman C.; McDonald, Kathy J.,
compilers. Proceedings--symposium on whitebark pine ecosystems: ecology
and management of a high-mountain resource; 1989 March 29-31; Bozeman,
MT. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-270. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 329-334. [11704]
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