Arthur W. Bailey

Aspen invasion in a portion of the Alberta parklands.

Highlight: Brush areas on ranges in the parkland region of southcentral Alberta have increased from 4.8 to 8.0% of the land area between 1907 and 1966. The invasion was not consfanf each year, but was concentrated in two major periods between 1937 and 1970. Annual herbage production under aspen and willow was reduced by 80 to 90% when compared wifh the production of adjacent rough fescue grassland. The invasion of aspen info grasslands was correlated with high remperorures, particularly during the monrh of June, I and 2 years before tree establishment and with low precipitation 2 years prior fo esrablishment.

Prescribed burning of a Festuca -Stipa grassland.

Highlight: The Festucu-Stipu grassland community was found to be well adapted to surviving a single prescribed burn. Coverage of rough fescue was reduced from one to three growing seasons atier fire depending upon season burned and stage of growth. Spring burning benefited the production of seed heads in western porcupine grass but fall burning reduced its cover and production of seed heads. Annual herbage production was neither increased nor decreased if burning occurred when plants were dormant. Species composition shifted in favour of perennial forbs for at least 3 years after a burn.

Nitrogen fixation in honey mesquite seedlings.

Blydenstein, John. 1957. The survival of velvet mesquite (Prosopis juliflora var. velutina) after fire. MS Thesis, Univ. Arizona, Tucson. 21 p. Cable, D. R. 1961. Small velvet mesquite seedlings survive burnings. J. Range Manage. 14:160-161. Canfield, R. H. 1941. Application of the line interception method for sampling vegetation. J. Forest. 39:388-394. Dyksterhuis, E. J. 1949. Condition and management of range land based on quantitative ecology. J. Range Manage. 2:104-115. Glendening, G. E., and H. A. Paulsen. 1955. Reproduction and establishment of velvet mesquite as related to invasion of semidesert grasslands. U.S. Dep. Agr. Tech. Bull. 127. 50 p. Haskell, H. S. 1945. Successional trends on a conservatively grazed desert grassland range. J. Amer. Soc. Agron. 37:978-990. Humphrey, R. R. 1937. Ecology of the burroweed. Ecology 18:1-9. Humphrey, R. R. 1949. Fire as a means of controlling velvet mesquite, burroweed, and cholla on southern Arizona ranges. J. Range Manage. 2:175-182. Martin, S. C., and D. R. Cable. 1974. Managing semidesert grass-shrub ranges: vegetation responses to precipitation, grazing, soil texture, and mesquite control. U.S. Dep. Agr. Tech. Bull. 1480. 45 p. Parker, K. W., and S. C. Martin. 1952. The mesquite problem on southern Arizona ranges. U.S. Dep. Agr. Circ. 908. 70 p. Range Term Glossary Committee. 1974. A glossary of terms used in range management. 2nd ed. Soc. for Range Manage., Denver, Colo. 36 p. Reynolds, H. G., and J. M. Bohning. 1956. Effects of burning on a desert grassland shrub range in southern Arizona. Ecology 37:769777. Smith, David A. 1970. Successional trends on protected versus grazed desert grassland ranges in Arizona. MS Thesis, Univ. Arizona, Tucson. 62 p. Smith, David A., and E. M. Schmutz. 1975. Vegetative changes on protected versus grazed desert grassland ranges in Arizona. J. Range Manage. 28:453-458. Tschirley, F. H., and S. C. Martin. 1961. Burroweed on southern Arizona ranges. Arizona Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bull. 146. 34 p.

Forage production and utilization in a sprayed aspen forest in Alberta.

Highlight: In aspen forest in Alberta, Canada, receiving as little as 3 lb/acre of 2,4-D in a single application achieved an annual herbage production of 874 lb/acre 2 years after treatment compared to only 188 lb/acre in the control. Sprayed forest border areas (small aspen) showed a four-fold increase in herbage production. Grasses, sedges, and forbs increased in herbage production in sprayed forests. Only two forbs were detrimentally affected by the herbicides. In the sprayed forest area, even though there wasa considerable amount of obstruction, cattle were able to consume 48% of the total herbage and as much as 58% of the green herbage. However, even with the inclusion of 2,4,5-T in the second herbicide application, there were many woody species in the treatment areas with as high or higher densities than in the control.

Barrier effect of the shrub Elaeagnus commutata on grazing cattle and forage production in central Alberta.

Excellent condition range occurred under silverberry shrubs while fair to good condition range occurred between shrubs. The herbaceous layer dominants, rough fescue and western porcupine grass, produced nearly twice as much under shrubs. Forb increasers had a lower frequency and produced less herbage under shrubs. Silverberry is an increaser but the barrier effect it has on grazing cattle permitted a small patch of grassland directly beneath each shrub to return to near-climax condition.

Forage and woody sprout establishment on cleared, unbroken land in central Alberta

Five cultivated forages and rough fescue, a native bunchgrass, were successfully established on cleared but unbroken land in central Alberta that was either untilled or lightly tilled with a tandem disc. Woody suckers caused considerable competition for the forages and susceptible species were only partially controlled by one application of an herbicide. The sucker density of four shrub species increased greatly between the second and third year after clearing and seeding whereas the density of suckers of the only tree, aspen, declined. There was a one-third reduction in land-clearing costs using this method of forage establishment rather than using a crawler-tractor-drawn serrated disc or moldboard plow to break the land.

Brush control on sandy rangelands in Central Alberta.

Balsam poplar, aspen, and willows that had invaded subirrigated sandy rangeland were treated with (1) prescribed spring burning, (2) the herbicide 2,4-D ester, and (3) prescribed burning followed by 2,4-D ester. After 5 years, burning and spraying had reduced brush the most. Brush reinvasion was occurring rapidly on all treated areas. Stand openings of about one quarter hectare in an 8 meter high poplar forest resulting from these treatments did persist for at least 5 years. Treatments were effective enough to lower the forest cover and in some cases increase forage production. Repeated burning and spraying substantially reduced the density of reinvading woody suckers. The presence of woody plants on rangeland has long been of concern to the land managers interested in increasing forage production. Woody species encroachment has been attributed to fire control, overgrazing, and farm abandonment (Friesen et al. 1965) although climatic cycles have also been influential (Bailey and Wroe 1974). Forage production could be increased if woody vegetation was reduced. The depressing effect of woody plants on grasses has been demonstrated (Bailey and Wroe 1974; Whysong and Bailey 1975). Methods of brush control have focused upon mechanical means, prescribed burning and herbicides, or some combination of these. Mechanical removal of aspen forest and replacement by forages has not been always successful in arresting aspen suckering (Pringle et al. 1973). Burning of aspen --cover is not always successful because of the discontinuous coverage of fuels and the difficulty in obtaining suitable burning conditions (Perala 1974). A single fire also fails to control aspen suckering (Horton and Hopkins 1966). However under appropriate conditions, and in conjunction with spraying, prescribed burning may be an effective range improvement tool. Foliar applications of herbicides have been used Authors are professor and research associate, Department of Plant Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. This research was supported by an Alberta Agricultural Research Trust grant and a National Research Council of Canada grant to the senior author. Manuscript received July 19, 1977. with some success on aspen in western Canada (Bailey 1972; Bowes 1976) indicating the usefulness of continued research in this area. The experiments reported here were designed to determine the magnitude and duration of the effects of prescribed burning, herbicide treatment, and a combination of the two on species composition, density of woody stems, and herbage production of a mix poplarwillo,w (Populus-Salix) forest which had encroached on subirrigated sandy ranges dominated by a baltic rushKentucky bluegrass (Juncus balticus1Poa pratensis) grassland.