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Effects of two mechanical brush manipulation treatments (rootplowing and front-end stacking) with and without grass seeding and with and without nitrogen fertilization on herbaceous forage production were investigated in the Rio Grande Plain of Texas. Total herbaceous production @-year average) was 5,981 for rootplowing and 4,789 kg/ha for front-end stacking as compared with 1,178 kg/ha for the undisturbed control. The 4-year average yield of buffelgrass (Cenchrus ciliuris L. (L.) Link) seeded alone contributed 53% of total herbaceous production on plots with rootplowing, 73% on plots with front-end stacking, and 38% on control plots. The combined yield of three native species, pink pappusgrass (Puppophorum bicolor Fourn.), four-flower trichloris (Trichforis pluriflora Fourn. ), and Arizona cottontop (Digitaria culifornica (Benth) Henr.), seeded as a mixture contributed 41% of the total herbaceous production on plots with rootplowing, 28% on plots with front-end stacking, and 11% on control plots. The application of 45 kg/ha nitrogen significantly increased total herbaceous production the season after application. Population increases have caused concern about increasing needs for red meat as food source throughout the world. The key for increasing beef and wild game production is increasing native and introduced herbaceous plant production, thus making more food available to grazing animals and ultimately to man. On the Rio Grande Plain in Texas, the invasion of woody plants and cacti has reduced available grass forage. About 85% (5.5 million ha) of the Rio Grande Plain rangeland supports at least a 20% brush canopy cover (U.S. Dep. of Agr. 1964). Conceivably, many range sites of the Rio Grande Plain are producing at only 25% of their forage potential, and much of the native rangeland of Texas is producing far below potential (Texas Conservation Needs Committee 1970). Rootplowing, a mechanical manipulation practice that cuts off the brush below ground by means of a horizontal blade pulled behind a tractor, generally at a depth of 35 to 40 cm, has been highly effective in combatting dense stands of mixed brush. However, in low rainfall areas, the practice could destroy a large percentage of the desirable perennial grasses and cause the invasion of annual grasses and weeds (Fisher et al. 1959). Mathis et al. (1971) reported that in Throckmorton County, Authors are range scientist, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weslaco, Texas, and professor, Range Science Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. This study is a contribution from Soil and Water Conservation Research, Southern Region, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Dep. Agr. Weslaco, Texas, and Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of Starr County Soil and Water Conservation District. Rio Grande City, Texas, and W. Walton and L. Garza, Land cooperators. We also thank J.H. Everitt, Weslaco, Texas. for help in plant identificatton and G.V. Latigo, Weslaco, Texas, for data analysis, Manuscript received June 19. 1978. JOURNAL OF RANGE MANAGEMENT32(4), July 1979 Texas, rootplowing decreased grass production for the next six (Trowing seasons, In west Texas, Hughes (1966) reported more 2 total production after rootplowing, but forbs and annual grasses constituted the major vegetation. In the coastal prairie of Texas, Powell and Box (1967) concluded that controlling brush with a minimum soil disturbance was the most reliable method for improving vegetative composition and increasing forage production. They also concluded that N fertilizer increased forage production, but also caused an increase in the amount of undesirable forage species. Dodd ( 1968) reported that in the Rio Grande Plain, dragging followed by rootplowing resulted in the establishment of a relatively brush-free grassland with an increase in forage production. Fisher et al. ( 195’3) reported that seeding of grasses produced (rood stands of native and introduced grass species after rootilowing and diskin g in northwest Texas. However, on the Rolling and Southern High Plains, Jaynes et al. ( 1968) reported that seeding native grasses after rootplowing often resulted in unsatisfactory stands. Front-end stacking, a recently introduced mechanical practice, has not been thoroughly evaluated. A front-end stacker is a modified dozer blade using a toothed, rake-like “stacker” with teeth 14 to 36 cm apart. The teeth pull up the plants by the roots. In the Coastal Prairie of Texas, Powell and Box ( 1967) found that scalping, a manipulation similar to front-end stacking, decreased herbage production. In view of these inconsistent results of brush manipulation on forage production, we conducted this study to further evaluate the effects of rootplowin, (7 and front-end stacking with and uithout grass seeding and with and without N fertilization on hcrbaceous forage production on the Rio Grande Plains of Texas. Materials and Methods Study Area The study area is on the southern edge of the Rio Grande Plain, about 38 km north of Rio Grande City, Starr County, Texas. Long-term average annual precipitation is 13 cm and is exceeded by potential evaporation four times (U.S. Dep. Commerce 1970). Most precipitation occurs as thunderstorms that are unevenly distributed both geographically and seasonally. Occasionally, tropical disturbances produce heavy fall rains; thus, September has the highest long term monthly rainfall average, with another rainfall peak in late May or early June from squall-line thunderstorms. Summer temperatures are high, and daily maximum temperatures in July and August are usually 38°C or higher (U.S. Dep. Commerce 1970). Fall freezes occur 7 out of IO years, and spring freezes occur 9

Production Response of Native and Introduced Grasses to Mechanical Brush Manipulation, Seeding, and Fertilization