Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Effects of defoliating leafy spurge on condensed tannin concentrations, sheep rumen microorganisms, and migratory grasshoppers(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1996) Roberts, Joanna L.Item Leafy spurge (Euphorbia Esula L.) as a forage component for ewes and lambs(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1984) Bartz, Susan JeanItem Image analysis of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) cover(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1995) Birdsall, Jennifer LeeItem Preferential grazing of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) by sheep(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1982) Landgraf, Barbara KayItem Forage response to simulated sheep grazing of leafy spurge(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2008) Hileman, Benjamin John; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Brett E. Olson; Mathew Rinella (co-chair)Sheep grazing can lower leafy spurge biomass production; however, forage available for other domestic livestock or wildlife after sheep grazing is unknown. Our objective was to determine how forage biomass was affected by different sheep grazing patterns to answer the following questions: 1) will forage consumed by sheep while grazing leafy spurge be mitigated by higher forage biomass production resulting from lowering leafy spurge biomass production, 2) what timing and intensity of grazing maximizes forage biomass production and minimizes leafy spurge biomass production, 3) will defoliating leafy spurge result in higher forage biomass production by the end of the first grazing season, and 4) does the density of leafy spurge affect the response of forage biomass production. Three leafy spurge-infested sites in southeastern Montana were mechanically defoliated each summer for two or three years in a manner which mimicked sheep grazing. Plots were defoliated once or twice per growing season at pre-flowering, flowering, seed production, or pre-flowering and seed producing phenological stages of leafy spurge. Grasses, forbs, and leafy spurge were defoliated at two different intensities in irrigated and non-irrigated plots.