Recent content by elkfromabove

Except for reducing carbon sequestration which is long term and not easily attached to habitat and some on-going studies to determine how this plant may effect soils, ground bacteria, mosses, lichens and enzymes, I think the class is over! I've tried to cover everything* I know about it, but If...

SO, here we are! There are MANY things that should have happened but didn't. So, what are we to do next? As I look around at all the situations that exist in the western states, I can only make a few common connections that humans can control and controlling cheatgrass to me is the most obvious...

It's green and I said they'll eat what's available when it's available.

"I saw more rigorous scientific analysis and common sense in the middle skool science fairs I used to help judge. There is just a TREMENDOUS amount of hyperbole and sensationalism in this thread. Yup, and I'm part of it." -"What is cheatgrass & how is it harmful"- USGS -"Why Is Cheatgrass Bad"-...

No! What we learned is that cheatgrass is using so much of the water on top that less and less of it is getting down far enough to keep the water table at a steady level. I'm simply passing along information that the many government agencies, universities, study groups and scholars have...

See post #19.

Anything for a good laugh, I see! Of course, none of the deer you show have any idea what cheatgrass is or does! That's just become a part of their life and they eat what's available when it's available. And after a winter diet of bark, twigs, hard-to-get-to-food under the snow and ice, anything...

If you are familiar with wells, you know that sometimes it takes years for the rainwater to reach the ground water level. Not ALL of the rainwater is used for culinary, secondary, or irrigation. Some of it seeps down through the soil, sand, gravel and rocks to become underground lakes and large...

Another cheat: Cheatgrass can be almost anywhere or everywhere we have mule deer (and some places we don't have deer). There's only two areas it doesn't do well and that's not much of a surprise. It doesn't do well on soils that are too salty/alkali and/or compacted. Otherwise, it grows...

Another little tidbit about the moisture pulled out of the soil: It's been estimated that an abundance of only 50 cheatgrass plants per square foot can remove soil water to the PERMANENT wilting point to a depth of 126 inches (10.6 feet). It's no wonder we're losing sagebrush in this draught!

Another lesson: The matted root system. Since Cheatgrass is an annual, when it dies, everything (except the seeds) dies as well. and that includes the roots. And since the roots only go down about 12 inches, it isn't long before the roots are matted to a near carpet consistency that absorbs most...

I think it's a long-term battle, but it should get easier to maintain as we restore more of the habitat. And, at least, it's more on the radar of those who make decisions and spend the money.

And cheatgrass has found several ways. That's another way it cheats. Its seeds are easily dislodged and spread by animals (birds, insects and large and small mammals, (and by people) walking through it, by water/rain as it flows downhill and they are also spread by a slight wind, much like an...

I simply said the seeds implanted in those places hinder their senses. They also hinder the movement of the animals. Anyone with livestock or pets knows when something is wrong. Even people know when something is poking into their skin.

Perhaps it's time for another biology lesson. This one answers a lot of the issues at hand. Cheatgrass is one of the few plant species that does not depend on mycorrhiza, the symbiotic relationship between 90%+ of the of the world's terrain plants and their species-specific mycorrhizal fungi! In...