Climatic Effects on Buffelgrass Productivity in the Sonoran Desert

Martha H. Martin-R, Jerry R. Cox, Fernando Ibarra-F
1995 Journal of range management  
Buffelgrass (Cenchrus cilaris L.), a perennial bunchgrass from northcentral Kenya has been successfully seeded on 400,000 ha in northwest Mexico. To determine if carrying capacity increased after buffelgrass introduction we measured live, recent-dead standing, old-dead standing and litter at 2-week intervals for three years. Live biomass was produced throughout the year but peak production, over the 3 years was in August. Peak live bio mass production varied from 465 kg/ha in a summer of
more » ... erage precipitation to 3,045 kg/ha in a summer of above-aver age precipitation. Recent-and old-dead standing quantities were highly variable among years and transfers among components were dependent on temperature and precipitation. Buftelgrass annually produces about 3 times more green forage than native grasses.
doi:10.2307/4002505 fatcat:23r3a5ot4jd6jpeg66dznbuiei