Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
1995
Disciplines
Biology
Advisor
Steve Saupe
Abstract
In one year, the Proposed 100-Acres Quarry Park, Stearns County, Minnesota, USA, will be undergoing development. One aspect of the development is the management (i.e. burning, seeding, clipping) of an old grassland within the park. I studied clipping as a management scheme and expected the species richness (number of species) to increase after clipping and the prostrate species to respond better than the erect species. I used the Daubenmire Canopy-Coverage Method to measure my results. The species richness showed no significant change in response to clipping mainly due to the timing of the clipping. However, individual species responded differently to clipping. As expected, the data suggest that erect species suffered a coverage loss due to clipping as compared to prostrate species. A possibility is that the resources (i.e. space and light) previously exhausted by erect species were made available to the prostrate species, allowing the prostrate species to increase their coverage.
Copyright Statement
Available by permission of the author. Reproduction or retransmission of this material in any form is prohibited without expressed written permission of the author.
Recommended Citation
Matuska, Bradley J., "The Effects of an Early Season Clipping on Several Grassland Species" (1995). Honors Theses, 1963-2015. 535.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses/535