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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
ABBREVIATION :
VULOCT
SYNONYMS :
Festuca octoflora
Festuca reflexa
Festuca tenella
Festuca tenella var. glauca
Festuca pusilla
Festuca octoflora ssp. hirtella
SCS PLANT CODE :
VUOC
VUOCG
VUOCH
COMMON NAMES :
sixweeks fescue
slender fescue
eight-flowered fescue
sixweeksgrass
TAXONOMY :
The fully documented scientific species name of sixweeks fescue is
Vulpia octoflora (Walter) Rydb. The annual fescues, only "weakly
distinguished" from perennial fescues, were previously placed in the
subgenus Vulpia within the genus Festuca [4]. According to Cronquist
and others [4], most American researchers now follow European workers in
giving the annual fescues generic status. Vulpia octoflora was formerly
known as Festuca octoflora.
Three varieties, which differ slightly in morphological characteristics,
are widely recognized [4]:
Vulpia octoflora var. glauca (Nutt.) Fern.
Vulpia octoflora var. hirtella (Piper) Henr.
Vulpia octoflora var. octoflora
Two additional varieties were recognized by Fernald [8]:
Vulpia octoflora var. tennella
Vulpia octoflora var. aristulata L.H. Dewey
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
D. Tirmenstein, February 1987
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
D. Tirmenstein, January 1988
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Tirmenstein, D. A. 1987. Vulpia octoflora. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Sixweeks fescue occurs from British Columbia and Ontario southward
throughout the United States [4,11]. Vulpia octoflora var. glauca grows
mainly in the eastern and central United States and is occasionally
found in the southern portion of the western states [4]. Vulpia
octoflora var. hirtella occurs mostly in the southwestern United States
and in Mexico but occasionally reaches as far north as Washington and
Montana [4,14,18]. Vulpia octoflora var. octoflora is distributed from
southern Canada to Mexico [4,14] but occurs primarily in the
southeastern United States [18]. Vulpia octoflora var. tenella, a more
northerly variety, grows from British Columbia to Maine and southward to
Georgia and Colorado [8]. Fernald [8] reported that Vulpis octoflora
var. aristulata grows mainly in the South, from Florida and Texas
northward to southern New Jersey.
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands
STATES :
AL AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI
ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA
MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM
NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD
TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY AB
BC LB MB SK ON PQ NB NS PE MEXICO
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
ARCH BADL BISO BITH BICA BUFF
CANY CALO CARE CHCU CHIS CHIR
COLM CODA CUIS DEVA DEWA DETO
DINO FIIS FOBO FODO GATE GWCA
GWMP GLCA GRCA GRSM GUMO HAVO
HOSP JOTR LAME LAMR LABE MEVE
NATR NOCA ORPI PEFO PORE PRWI
RICH ROCR SAGU SAMO SHEN THRO
WICA ZION
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K037 Mountain mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K039 Blackbrush
K041 Saltbush - greasewood
K046 Desert - vegetation largely lacking
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K057 Galleta - threeawn shrubsteppe
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K065 Grama - buffalograss
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K070 Sandsage - bluestem prairie
K074 Bluestem prairie
K081 Oak savanna
K098 Northern floodplain forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
210 Interior Douglas-fir
237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon - juniper
244 Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
245 Pacific ponderosa pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Sixweeks fescue is locally common in sagebrush deserts and
pinyon-juniper woodlands [4]. This weedy annual is at least a minor
constituent of many native and introduced bunchgrass associations.
Plants commonly associated with sixweeks fescue in plains grassland
communities include blue grama, plains pricklypear (Opuntia
polyacantha), scarlet globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea), red threeawn
(Aristida longiseta), sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus), woody
buckwheat (Eriogonum effusum), and sun sedge (Carex heliophylla) [14].
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Sixweeks fescue provides little forage for most livestock and wildlife
species except for a short time during the early spring [25]. In some
areas, this plant can also provide a minimal amount of green forage
during the winter [18]. Sixweeks fescue is relatively unpalatable to
most species and its presence often indicates overgrazing [22].
PALATABILITY :
Sixweeks fescue is relatively unpalatable to most species of wildlife
and livestock [13]. This species is unpalatable to cattle throughout
the year in Colorado plains grassland communities. Cattle were observed
actively avoiding the plants and generally dropped sixweeks fescue which
was bitten off by mistake [14]. In some areas, the seeds of sixweeks
fescue are collected in caches and eaten by mice [5]. Palatability of
sixweeks fescue is rated as follows [6,21]:
CO MT ND UT WY
Cattle Poor Fair-Good Poor Poor Fair
Sheep Poor Fair-Good Poor Fair Fair
Horses Poor Fair Poor Poor Fair
Pronghorn ---- ---- ---- Poor ----
Elk ---- Fair-Good ---- Poor ----
Mule deer ---- Good ---- Poor ----
Small mammals ---- ---- ---- Fair ----
Small nongame birds ---- ---- ---- Poor ----
Upland game birds ---- ---- ---- Poor ----
Waterfowl ---- ---- ---- Poor ----
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Sixweeks fescue is rated poor in energy and protein value [6]. Mineral
content of plants grown in eastern Washington was as follows:
Macronutrients Micronutrients
N 0.93 Mn 0.006
P 0.14 Zn 0.002
K 0.65 B 0.002
Ca 0.40 Cu 0.0002
Mg 0.13 Zn 0.002
Na 0.02
S 0.14
Fe 0.002
COVER VALUE :
Sixweeks fescue provides little cover for wildlife. The cover value of
sixweeks fescue for various wildlife species in Utah has been rated as
follows [6]:
Pronghorn Poor
Elk Poor
Mule deer Poor
Small mammals Poor
Small nongame birds Poor
Upland game birds Poor
Waterfowl Poor
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Sixweeks fescue is rated low in long-term revegetation potential and
erosion control, and low to moderate in short-term revegetation
potential [6].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
In big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)-bluebunch wheatgrass
(Pseudoroegneria spicata) communities of central Washington, sixweeks
fescue typically makes up less than 2 percent of the herbaceous
aboveground biomass [24]. At one representative Washington site,
aboveground live biomass ranged from 3.0 to 10 grams per square meter,
with a mean of 6.6 grams per square meter [3].
Sixweeks fescue generally increases in abundance on overgrazed sites,
while perennial grasses decrease [5,14]. When abundant, sixweeks fescue
can reportedly interfere with cattle utilization of more palatable
species such as blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis). Where this species
grows intermixed with other grasses, the more palatable species may be
used unevenly, leading to overgrazing on some sites. Sixweeks fescue
can be controlled with simazine or atrazine applied at 1.2 pounds per
acre (1.1 kg/ha) during the spring or fall [14].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Sixweeks fescue is a small, loosely tufted or solitary, cool-season,
native annual [17,25]. Culms grow from 2 to 8 inches (0.5-2 cm) in
height and are often geniculate at the lower nodes, although otherwise
erect [4]. Blades are narrow, involute, and sparingly pubescent [25].
Branches are short, appressed, or spreading [11]. Laterally compressed,
glabrous, scabrous, or pubescent spikelets are densely flowered (5-17
flowers) [4,25]. Unequal, lanceolate to subulate linear glumes taper
into short awns [4].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Therophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Sixweeks fescue reproduces by seed which drops to the ground at
maturity. This winter annual germinates and begins growth during the
fall [14].
Seasonal variations in the density of germinable seeds in a big
sagebrush community have been recorded. At a Nevada site, sixweeks
fescue was the only native annual to have abundant reproductive reserves
in the litter and soil. Germinable seed density by microsite was as
follows [27]:
Under Shrubs Between Shrubs
Sept. Nov. Feb. Sept. Nov. Feb.
(seeds/m2) (seeds/m2)
Litter 5,350 900 --- 4,350 900 200
Soil 250 50 200 1,200 300 ---
Total for Whole Community
Sept. Nov. Feb.
(seeds/m2)
7,130 1,130 200
Germinable seed was most abundant during September and November; no
germinable seed was found in May. Maximum seedling establishment
occurred in December; establishment decreased by the spring. All
establishment on this Nevada site was between shrubs rather than beneath
them [27].
The abundance of sixweeks fescue is largely determined by the amount of
precipitation received during the preceding spring. Ample spring
precipitation favors good growth and seed production [14]. Adequate
fall moisture is also required for good fall germination and stand
establishment [14]. Because of the early phenological development of
sixweeks fescue, summer rainfall is relatively unimportant for good
germination and growth [16].
Light, abundant seed is often dispersed by high winds [26]. Small
mammals could also conceivably aid in seed dispersal. In Washington
steppe communities, dense, even-aged and short-lived tufts of sixweeks
fescue seedlings approximately 0.8 inch (2 cm) in diameter are sometimes
found in the spring and are presumed to have developed from mouse caches
[5].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Sixweeks fescue grows well on a variety of open, disturbed areas but is
generally most common on upland range sites [14,25]. It grows best on
sandy or loamy soails [6]. Annual abundance fluctuates greatly
according to the amount of precipitation received [14].
Elevational ranges of sixweeks fescue are as follows [6,14]:
from: 3,600 to 8,500 feet (1,098-2,600 m) in CO
5,000 to 5,000 feet (1,525-1,525 m) in MT
2,000 to 5,000 feet (610-1,525 m) in UT
4,000 to 6,100 feet (1,220-1,861 m) in WY
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Sixweeks fescue is abundant in disturbed areas but is much less common
or even absent in climax communities. On disturbed Washington steppe
sites, sixweeks fescue and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) increased as
perennial grasses declined [5]. In an Arizona study, sixweeks fescue
increased dramatically following disturbance in the Upper Sonoran Desert
but began to decline within the next several years [2]. Sixweeks fescue
was reported to be a seral dominant during a severe drought period in
the Southwest [26].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Seeds germinate during the fall [14]. Plants emerge in the fall but
growth usually begins in the early spring [14,25]. Sixweeks fescue
grows very rapidly and can mature as early as 6 weeks after the onset of
spring growth [25]. The leaves turn brown rapidly [17]. Generalized
flowering dates are as follows [6]:
State Beginning of Flowering End of Flowering
CO May June
MT March June
WY May June
Seed generally ripens in July [26] and remains abundant in the litter
and soil during much of the year. In Nevada, germinable seeds of
sixweeks fescue were abundant from September through November, but no
reserves were found in May [27]. Maximum seedling establishment
occurred in December, with a reduction in populations by spring [27].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Sixweeks fescue reoccupies a burned site through seed. Wildfires often
occur after annual grasses such as sixweeks fescue have matured and
dropped their seeds [28].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Little is known about the specific effects of fire on sixweeks fescue.
Dry annual grasses are typically consumed by fire, although seeds may
persist in the soil or litter. The short-lived sixweeks fescue usually
cures very early in the season.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Sixweeds fescue generally increases in abundance after fire. Increases
were observed after fire in a Sonoran Desert community of Arizona and
after fire in a sagebrush-wheatgrass community in the Columbia Basin of
Washington [2,20].
Wildfires often occur after the seeds of fast-growing annual grasses
such as sixweeks fescue have dropped to the ground ]28]. Seeds buried
in the soil or litter generally survive fire, emerge, and grow to
maturity during the year after burning [2]. Fire can create conditions
which promote the growth of this rapidly growing, weedy annual.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
One year after a controlled fire in an Arizona Sonoran Desert community,
sixweeks fescue exhibited a 547 percent increase in biomass [2]. Two
years after a wildfire in the same study area, sixweeks fescue coverage
began to decline [2]. Biomass in grams per square meter and density
expressed as the number of plants per square meter are as follows [2]:
No Fire Wildlife Controlled Burn
1981 1982 1981 1982 1981 1982
Microhabitat:
open shrub-density 121 123 20 34 88 153
open shrub-biomass 0.5 1.5 1.2 0.7 0.6 9.7
shade-density 84 8 40 35 99 23
shade-biomass 0.3 0.3 0.5 1.0 0.3 1.5
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Vulpia octoflora | Sixweeks Fescue
REFERENCES :
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2. Cave, George H.; Patten, Duncan T. 1984. Short-term vegetation responses
to fire in the upper Sonoran Desert. Journal of Range Management. 37(6):
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Index
Related categories for Species: Vulpia octoflora
| Sixweeks Fescue
|
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