VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Eragrostis curvula | Weeping Lovegrass 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Weeping lovegrass is used as a pasture grass [31,57].

Weeping lovegrass forage value is fair for livestock; it is relatively
poor for wildlife [50].

In central Arizona, Angora goats were introduced to the Tonto National
Forest in hopes that they would trample weeping lovegrass seeds into the
soil.  However, they pulled up and ate a high percentage of the
seedlings within 3 weeks after seeding [32].


PALATABILITY : 
Weeping lovegrass is most palatable in the spring, when it is actively
growing [29]; palatability to livestock is rated fair at that time [56].
Weeping lovegrass becomes unpalatable with maturity, and may be grazed
very little from flowering in early summer through dormancy in the fall
[50,54].

In Arizona, livestock frequently prefer weeping lovegrass to many native
grasses in the spring.  On some Arizona ranges, it is highly productive
and moderately palatable [30].  However, in northwestern Oklahoma,
weeping lovegrass was judged to be the least palatable of 57 species
tested.  It was relatively more palatable in the winter because it
greens up earlier in the spring and continues growth later in the fall
than native warm-season grasses [47].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
In Woodward County, Oklahoma, weeping lovegrass protein content declined
from April to January and showed a slight increase the following March [47].

In Lubbock County, Texas, the crude protein content of weeping lovegrass
aboveground phytomass was evaluated 1 year after establishment.  Protein
content dropped from 12.0 percent in May to 3.4 percent in September in
uncut plots.  During the same time period, crude protein of 30-day-old
regrowth in cut plots remained between 8.7 and 12.3 percent [35].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Weeping lovegrass has been planted for soil conservation.  It has been
used as ground cover on bare, disturbed, and burned areas, on areas
around airports and landing strips, and on steep slopes.  It has been
planted for siltation control on drainageways and for erosion control on
roadsides, drainage ditches, and dikes [27,49,56,57].  There are no
long-term studies evaluating the efficacy of weeping lovegrass for soil
conservation [63].

Weeping lovegrass has been used for grassland revegetation in the
southern United States [28], particularly after invasion by woody shrubs
[10].  It is used on sandy soils in the Southern Great Plains because of
excellent seed production and ease of establishment [55].  Garcia [20]
stated that weeping lovegrass provides excellent soil protection on the
High Plains of New Mexico [20].

Some severely degraded southwestern grasslands may never be able to
return to their original condition; in these areas weeping lovegrass can
help stabilize soils, prevent further erosion, and provide some wildlife
habitat.  However, weeping lovegrass plantations have much lower plant
and animal species richness than do undisturbed native grasslands [4].

Weeping lovegrass has been seeded in central Arizona chaparral after
brush removal in order to increase annual stream flow.  Heavily
transpiring, deep-rooted evergreen shrubs were replaced with weeping
lovegrass and other shallow-rooted vegetation.  Streamflow increased,
and the increase has lasted for 18 years with maintenance [26].

Weeping lovegrass is suitable for quick, temporary cover for erosion
control on minesoils while other more persistent perennials are
developing.  It is relatively short lived (2-4 years) on minesoils in
the eastern United States unless mowed, burned, or grazed to retard
senescence.  Even then, weeping lovegrass gradually gives way to other
perennial species.  It is tolerant of extremely acid minesoils, on which
it establishes easily and quickly.  It is best used in a mixture with
other perennial grasses and legumes, especially in mid- to late-spring
seedings [10,53,54].

Excellent stands of weeping lovegrass were established by no-till
planting in early June on sloping, eroded, acidic soils in the Piedmont
region of Virginia [58].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Weeping lovegrass is cultivated as an ornamental grass [22,27,28,31].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Information on weeping lovegrass culture and cultivars is available
[12,55,56].

Effective management for productivity in seeded stands of weeping
lovegrass in northwestern Oklahoma includes (1) removing old growth; (2)
fertilizing conservatively; (3) deferring grazing in spring until plants
are 6 inches high; (4) practicing rotation grazing; (5) mowing or
grazing to a 4-inch stubble throughout the summer; (6) resting from
September 1 to December 1, and then grazing in winter with supplements
for cattle.  Weeping lovegrass nutritional value can be optimized by
using it with other seasonal forages and native rangelands [56].

Cattle can be grazed productively on weeping lovegrass, even without
irrigation [12,16].  Cattle gain relatively well on weeping lovegrass
without rotation during spring but do poorly the remainder of the
growing season [12].  Fall grazing is detrimental because grazing
initiates plant growth, which reduces carbohydrate reserves and
predisposes weeping lovegrass to freeze damage.  Dormant winter
lovegrass leaves make excellent winter forage when supplemented with
protein [12].

In 1951, weeping lovegrass was aerially seeded after wildfire in the
Pinal Mountain area of east-central Arizona.  Annual use by cattle of 50
to 70 percent of current growth resulted in a decrease in weeping
lovegrass cover [41].

Weeping lovegrass can be successfully established on rangelands in
chaparral and some pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) types in
the Southwest.  However, stands in these areas may be short lived [55].
Long-term establishment is restricted to irrigated sites, moist sites
such as swales, and areas where annual rainfall exceeds about 15 inches
(381 mm) [12].

Establishment of weeping lovegrass depends on moisture availability and
winter temperatures.  In the southeastern part of the southern High
Plains of New Mexico, weeping lovegrass is favored for ease of
germination during the hot, dry summers.  However, in the extreme
temperatures of the Chihuahuan Desert, supplemental irrigation or
mulching is necessary for successful seedling establishment [20].
Stands of weeping lovegrass have been established in southern Arizona,
eastern New Mexico, and West Texas during atypically wet summers; they
have persisted for 10 or more years.  Weeping lovegrass will persist in
western Oklahoma and northwestern and north-central Texas if not
fertilized or defoliated prior to freezing winter temperatures.  It will
not persist in southern Kansas and southeastern Colorado [10].

Plant and animal populations were sampled between June 1984 and August
1985 in semidesert grasslands on mesas in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.
Some areas had been seeded to weeping lovegrass and Lehmann lovegrass
(Eragrostis lehmanniana); other areas had native grasses, forbs, and
shrubs.  The stands of exotic grasses differed consistently from native
grasslands in terms of indigenous plants and animals.  The exotic
African lovegrasses covered more than 50 percent of the ground where
they had been planted; they grew in tall, nearly monospecific stands.
At these sites the native grass cover was reduced by nearly 60 percent
compared to unseeded stands.  Total native herb canopy, herb species
richness, shrub density, and shrub canopy were significantly reduced on
plots dominated by weeping lovegrass and Lehmann lovegrass. The hispid
cotton rat was more abundant in stands of African lovegrasses than in
native grasslands.  Ten native plant species, five bird species, three
rodent species, and eight grasshopper species were significantly more
common in native grasslands [4].

Grasshoppers, leafhoppers, and other forage-eating insects, even in
light populations, are very destructive to weeping lovegrass seedlings.
Rabbits and rodents are sometimes damaging [56].

Related categories for Species: Eragrostis curvula | Weeping Lovegrass