Effects of burning and clipping on five bunchgrasses in eastern Oregon

Response of five perennial bunchgrasses following clipping and burning was evaluated in eastern Oregon. Burned plants were compared with clipped plants on several dates from spring to fall with respect to mortality and change in basal area. Basal area was generally reduced for one year but did not change the second year after defoliation. Treatments rarely affected yield. Burning in May was most detrimental, reducing basal area of all species. Fall clipping was least harmful, producing little or no change in basal area. Plant mortality was significant only for burned Thurber needlegrass ( Stipa thurberiana ).