Cheatgrass Lifestyle

Cheatgrass Lifestyle

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
Dr. Ann Kennedy is a Soil Scientist/Soil Microbiologist who has analyzed the lifestyles of various rangeland plants including cheatgrass. “Cheat grass is an invasive exotic. It can do a lot of harm to a lot of areas. It can affect cereal production by reducing the growth of the wheat, especially winter wheat because winter wheat and cheat grass grow through the winter and if cheap grass can put on more roots in the late fall and early spring, it can actually choke out the wheat roots and not let the wheat pick up enough water. But it is actually not just wheat, it is every single plant that is growing during the early spring because they cheat grass put on these nice, dense, fibrous roots that take up all the water. Then they mature and flour way before everybody else can. Cheatgrass’s competitive advantage is that it can grow further into the winter and start up earlier in the spring than most other plants, especially crops. What has been happening in rangeland systems is that we have had this cheat grass, Medusa head come in and they aren’t like the bunch grasses that are in native rangeland. These bunch grasses are very clever as to how they grow as a community because they will give each other space. That space allows each plant to take up the water that is right they are underneath the soil and so bunch grasses and rangeland plants do a good job of coexisting, whereas cheat grass just takes over all that space.
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