Inevitability of forbs

[dgallow]

Forb seeds can be extremely long lived....which is great news for small ruminants (deer, goat and sheep) because their diet is rich in such plants when available. Why is that an ecological advantage? When catastrophic events weaken or destroy above ground vegetation or the soil upper surface, there will always be a forb seed available to restore soil function and start plant succession anew. Note, that many annual grass seeds are fairly short lived....thus, we have plants which are capable of restoring soil function and starting plant success given repeated annual catastrophic events. Attempting to control the inevitable 'weed'....is a mere exercise in futility....given the longevity of seed and myriad of seed dispersion avenues! The best we can hope to achieve is to keep forb density in line with management goals.


Weed Seeds and Their Longevity
https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/6290-weed-seeds-and-their-longevity-dnt

 

[Native Hunter]

Good topic Doug.

I've posted two examples before but will mention them again.

First was when vegetation was killed on an old tobacco patch and vetch came back where vetch hadn't been seen for 30 years. It was introduced there originally for a cover crop.

Second example was where vegetation was killed to drill NWSGs and a shocking number of purple passion flower came out from the seed bank. Other weeds did as well, but the PPF was extra notable because of large blocks of a field where it formed a thick monoculture. This field had been in fescue over 50 years with no sign of PPF during that time.

I will also mention how quickly that blackberry can come back in this area when timber is cut. This, however, I suspect is from roots rather than seed based on my observations. I've seen them be able to form an impenetrable thicket in one year at places where the canopy prevented their growth for decades.

 

[OkieKubota]

Where I cut the area between our house and the road that was solid trees and leaves with no understory the entire area exploded with weeds and forbs this past summer. The regen in there is amazing and I am sure if it weren't for being right next to the county road would be a preferred browse area for the deer and may still be after dark. It is still so thick even with everything being killed off in the cold that a deer could be standing in it 30 yards from the driveway and I wouldn't see them unless they were running or something...

More of this to come this year with cutting, hinging, and hack and squirt!

 

[dgallow]

Seeing an increase in native or common vetch here due to change in grazing management. Leaf architecture is a bit different than hairy vetch and it is an early maturing plant. Pretty sure the pic I posted earlier this year is that plant.

When rainfall is above 40" and sunshine available in the south, blackberry flourishes.

 

[Triple C]

Great topic. I'v posted updates of our 1st thinning of a 105 acre stand of loblolly. Prior to thinning, it was like walking thru the black forest. Aesthetically, it was beautiful. A nice layer of pine straw under a completely canopied young pine forest. After completing a 5th row thinning, the seed bank released her bounty. Every 5th row that was removed has seen an explosion of all manner of forbs. Interesting enough, the most common is dog fennel...not the most preferred weed as I've never seen any browsing of it. In our older stand of pines that have been thinned 3 times and burned 3 times, we have a much more diverse flora. We're burning the young stand this winter. It will be interesting to see what is released in the seed bank from the burning and hopefully set back the dog fennel quite a bit.

 

[dgallow]

Creating diversity and complexity in the forage base upon the landscape benefits many creatures and the soil properties underneath! Each year of planned grazing seems to bring in 1 or 2 plant species which I notice (likely many more which I haven't seen)...and it's the second year I've seen gray squirrel out of the last 50 years.

 

[OkieKubota]

Creating diversity and complexity in the forage base upon the landscape benefits many creatures and the soil properties underneath! Each year of planned grazing seems to bring in 1 or 2 plant species which I notice (likely many more which I haven't seen)...and it's the second year I've seen gray squirrel out of the last 50 years.

Wow...what happened to your gray squirrels?

We have tons of both Fox and Gray and I see them intermingle all of the time with the smaller grays bullying the big old red squirrels

 

[dgallow]

Don't know...we just never had them on the ranch...always had reds and an occasional black....grays are more common further east and south in the true eastern hardwood forest ecosystems. I think the spring flooding of 2015 moved some in....they are staying in the bottom where we have remnant shumard and red oak approaching late succession.

 

[j-bird]

Funny you mention the squirrels - my place only has fox squirrels and that is it. My folks place which is in a neighboring county has a healthy population of both grey and fox squirrels. I do know their place has a different hardwood mix than mine as well, and that I contribute to the soils as they have lots of clay and I have virtually none and their area has more "woods" in general than mine.

I like "weeds" as long as they don;t detract from the general purpose of the area. I allow them to do their thing in my NWSG stands, but limit them in my plots. This is more because of the types of "weeds" I get. If it's ragweeds and the like I try to leave them be as the deer will forage on them, but unfortunately my plots tend to wrestle with smartweed as well! Pic below is a perfect example.

 

[Native Hunter]

Improved or more aggressive strains of certain forbs which may be introduced can cause a shift in patterns in the local plant community. Before I introduced an improved cultivar of partridge pea, the local variety was literally relegated to extremely small areas - generally road sides, etc. The local species is limited by height and possibly other factors that are less obvious. I've never seen it get over knee high.

However, the PP we introduced grows close to 6 feet tall and carves out a significant niche - even in fields with high densities of perennial forbs and grasses.