Fire in North American Wetland Ecosystems and Fire-Wildlife Relations: An Annotated Bibliography

51. Cox, J. R., and H. L. Morton. 1986. Big sacaton (Sporobolus wrightii) 
         riparian grassland management: annual winter burning, annual winter 
         mowing, and spring-summer grazing. Appl. Agric. Res. 1:105-111.

Both burning and mowing reduced green biomass available for livestock consumption in spring-summer. Stocking rates for cattle were only one-third as high as on untreated range. Mean daily gains in 1981 and 1982 averaged 0.41 and 0.67 kg/day on untreated and treated pastures, respectively, but total gains per pasture were 512 kg and 235 kg on the untreated and treated pastures, respectively. Burning and mowing can enhance immediate livestock gains, but annual burning may destroy these riparian grasslands. [From authors' abstract]

Back to Author Index
Back to Subject Index