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EFFECTS OF SAGEBRUSH REMOVAL AND LEGUME INTERSEEDING ON RANGELAND GRASSHOPPER POPULATIONS (ORTHOPTERA: ACRIDIDAE)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

George B. Hewitt  and
Jerome A. Onsager
George B. Hewitt
Affiliation:
Rangeland Insect Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bozeman, Montana, USA59717–0001
Jerome A. Onsager
Affiliation:
Rangeland Insect Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bozeman, Montana, USA59717–0001
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Abstract

Grasshopper density and species composition were determined from 1982 to 1985 in four 75-ha pastures in the northern mixed prairie region near Miles City, MT. Treatment in two pastures consisted of sagebrush removal and interseeding alfalfa and cicer milkvetch. Two pastures were not treated. The treated pastures were grazed only half as long as the untreated pastures but with twice the number of steers. Forage yield decreased in all pastures from 1983 to 1985 because of below-average precipitation and grasshopper density increases. In one pasture, 10% of the legume seedlings were destroyed by grasshoppers. The annual rates of increase in total grasshopper presence were similar in treated and untreated pastures. However, Melanoplus sanguinipes (F.), which eats forbs and is a strong flyer, increased more in treated than untreated pastures; six additional abundant species, all of which were grass feeders, did not increase more in treated pastures. Thus, treatments did not markedly affect total grasshopper population trends but did influence species composition and provided additional food plants for some species.

Résumé

On a déterminé la densité et la composition spécifique des populations de criquets entre 1982 et 1985 dans quatre pâturages de 75 ha d’un milieu du type prairie nordique mixte situé près de Miles City au Montana. Deux pâturages avaient été traités par l’enlèvement du "sagebrush" (Artemisia tridentata) ou le compagnonnage de la luzerne avec une astragale (Astragalus cicer). Deux pâturages n’avaient reçu aucun traitement. Les pâturages traités ont été broutés deux fois plus longtemps que les pâturages non traités mais par deux fois plus de bovins. Le rendement en fourrage a baissé dans tous les pâturages de 1983 à 1985, suite à des précipitations sous la moyenne et à un accroissement de la densité des criquets. Dans l’un des pâturages, 10% des plantules de légumineuses ont été détruites par les criquets. Les taux annuels d’accroissement de l’activité des criquets étaient semblables dans les pâturages traités et non traités. Cependant, Melanoplus sanguinipes (F.), un criquet non-graminivore avec un forte tendance au vol, a accru son activité plus fortement dans les pâturages traités que non-traités; l’activité de six autres espèces abondantes, toutes graminivores, n’a pas augmenté dans les pâturages traités. Ainsi, les traitements n’ont pas affecté la tendance des populations totales de criquets, mais plutôt leur composition spécifique, et ont fourni des plantes-hôtes additionnelles pour certaines espèces.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 120 , Issue 8-9 , September 1988 , pp. 753 - 758
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1988

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