• IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE
• PALATABILITY
• NUTRITIONAL VALUE
• COVER VALUE
• VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES
• OTHER USES AND VALUES
• MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:

Although hairy grama is considered good quality forage [53], it is not of primary importance for livestock. In the Nebraska sandhills area, although it comprised 12.1% of vegetative cover, it was only 6.4% of the available forage. Its scattered growth pattern and short morphology make it less useful to cattle than other grass species [25]. It is not a high biomass producer [54].

PALATABILITY:

Hairy grama has low palatability for livestock [67], in part due to the awn ("stinger") on the spike comb [52]. Use of hairy grama by pronghorn is low [14].

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:

Hairy grama is a moderately nutritionally valuable forage [36].

In the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas, nutritional composition (%) of hairy grama in August was as follows [37]:

                                             digestible 
water   ash   cell wall   P      protein     organic matter
28      8     70          0.07   5           48

COVER VALUE:

Native grass habitats including hairy grama are crucial for the survival of the lesser prairie-chicken in Kansas. These habitats are essential both for cover and foraging [3].

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:

Establishing hairy grama from seed is difficult and rarely successful [11,64,67].

OTHER USES AND VALUES:

No entry

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Hairy grama is generally considered to be an increaser under grazing pressure [2,6,7,25,45,67,78], although study results are mixed. Tomanek and Albertson [72] studied 3 different grazing intensities on 3 different types of sites in Kansas with similar soils and vegetation types-ridgeline, hillside, and rocky break. On all three sites, hairy grama was absent on the ungrazed site and had the highest percentage composition and basal cover on the heavily grazed site.

However, Canfield [17] in Arizona found seedling production, seedling survival, and plant survival of hairy grama all to be higher on ungrazed than grazed lands. The longevity of hairy grama on ungrazed range was 7 years, while few grazed plants survived as long as 4 years [17]. Canfield [16] also considered the presence of hairy grama in mesa rangelands in Arizona to be an indicator of good range quality. Reynolds and Martin [59] claim grazing hairy grama in the Southwest results in fewer seedlings. Fuhlendorf and Smeins [26] evaluated the impacts of grazing pressure on several grass species near Sonora, Texas. They concluded that hairy grama responds positively to reduced grazing pressure. Johnston [38] studied sand prairie community types in southern Texas. Hairy grama occurred in 67% of undisturbed sites evaluated, but in only 4% of grazed sites.

Hairy grama is less resistant to cattle grazing than blue grama [8].

On southern Arizona rangelands, mesquite (Prosopis spp.) is invading historical grassland sites of which hairy grama has been an important component. Proposed reasons for this invasion include the negative effects of grazing on perennial grass species, and the ability of mesquite seed to survive fire and to persist in the seedbank [53].

Related categories for SPECIES: Bouteloua hirsuta | Hairy Grama