There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson; 3rd President of the United States, primary author of the Declaration

of Independence, diplomat, statesman, inventor … range nerd. Who knew? Actually

that should not be a big revelation. At least not to Rimrock Regulars. Y’all are pretty

sharp, as opposed to being in the half of the class that makes the top half possible. Most

of you will remember that Jefferson lived on a plantation called Monticello in Virginia

and that he instructed Lewis and Clark to document the flora and fauna they

encountered in their search for a northwest passage. But I still find it interesting that

Thomas Jefferson found grass interesting. Maybe range folks are not that “out there”

after all. Maybe we are in good company. At this point I will resist the temptation to

say something about him not being the only US president that was interested in grass

and just stick to the subject. Grass. As we have discussed in this space before, most of

us in this country if we think about grass at all, probably take it for granted. It is

something to play sports on, or a good place for a

picnic (as long as there are no ticks, chiggers,

ants, or other little critters in it). We mow it,

water it, fertilize it, and mow it again. The

average person is probably vaguely aware that

cows eat grass. Some could answer correctly that

grass is a plant and a few might know that plants

use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Fewer

still could tell you what photosynthesis is unless

that is an “app” that I am not aware of. Grass, just

plain old everyday grass. What’s the big deal?

Ranchers know what the big deal is; range cons

know, soil scientists know, hydrologists know.

But if I were a natural resources grad student and

some pinheaded professor on the final exam

asked me to write a “tweet” that would

communicate the essence of grass to a 30-

something urban professional in Boston or a

congressional staffer in DC… how would I

say that in 140 characters ? Well how about…

Inside this issue:

July 2014

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F A R I Z O N A , S C H O O L O F N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S A N D T H E E N V I R O N M E N T

Grass 2-3

Chris’ Hot Topic of Range

4-6

Plant of the “Week” 7-9

Open Range

Coordinator Position

10

Better Rangeland

Photos Workshop

11-14

View from the Rim 15

Just Me Talking 15

The Rimrock Report

“grass…the

original

green

technology

…”

Volume 7, Issue 3

Grass

Sideoats Grama, V Bar V Ranch

The Rimrock Report

Grass...continued

Page 2

Grass, the original green technology. Solar powered renewable resource. Catches rain, occupies wind, holds

soil. Food, fuel, fiber, and fun.

Derived in the early 15th century from the Old English word “graes” it comes from the same root word as

“grow”. Grasses are a diverse family, ranging from wheat and corn to bamboo. Table 1 illustrates the

taxonomic classification of grass.

According to the NRCS Plant

Database website, the family

Poaceae has 324 genera. Some

genera have only one species. For

instance, Blepharoneuron contains

only B. tricolepsis (Pine

Dropseed), Western Wheatgrass is

the only example of Pascopyrum

(P. smithii). Others such as

Bouteloua, named for two Spanish

botanists, contain many different

species (25). Notable among these

would be my favorite, B.

curtipendula (Sideoats Grama), as

well as Blue Grama (B. gracillis),

Black Grama (B. eriopida) and Santa Rita Mountain Grama (B. eludens). Santa Rita Mountain Grama is

found in southeast Arizona and the bootheel of New Mexico (Figure 1) and is considered a threatened

species. Festuca is another highly populated genus (85). Our own Arizona Fescue (F. arizonicus) is among 6

species named for states, i.e. F. californicus, idahoensis, hawaiiensis, and the not so obvious versuta (Texas)

and brevissima (Alaska). How would you like to find F. aloha in your quadrat?

As alluded to above, providing food for herbivores is one of

the most important functions of grass, but there are many

others. Did you know for instance that there are medicinal

uses for grass? Don’t get ahead of me. Seriously, several

Native American cultures used Vanilla Grass (Hierochloe

odorata) as a cold remedy. Ashes from Little Bluestem

(Schizachyrium scoparium) were used to relieve

indigestion… Roots of Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)

were chewed and then used to treat the wound in castrated

colts.. (... and I am not recommending you use these, this is

just for information purposes...). Did you know that Bamboo

is a grass and is one of the most popular building materials

in Asia. You can even make clothes and bedding out of it.

And if you recycle it through a Giant Panda, or elephant,

etc... you can get paper. Don’t believe me? Check out this

website.

Table 1. Taxonomic classification hierarchy for a grass species.

Kingdom Plantae

Sub-kingdom Tracheobionta

Superdivision Spermatophyta

Division Magnoliaphyta

Class Liliopsida

Subclass Commelinidae

Order Cyperales

Family Poaceae

Genus Aristida

Species arizonica

Common Arizona Three-awn

Volume 7, Issue 3

Grass...continued

Page 3

Need more Jeopardy study material? Crammin’ for Cash Cab? Here we go:

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is one of the primary feedstock sources of cellulosic ethanol production.

Here are a couple different viewpoints on that:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/grass-makes-better-ethanol-than-corn/

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/debunking-myths-about-nuclear-fuel-coal-wind-solar-2

One school of thought on the origin of the term

“grass roots” is that it originated in 1876 in a book

about the Black Hills: “gold is found almost

everywhere, in the bars, in the gravel and sand of

the beds, even in the 'grass roots’ ”. It has of course

been used most often since then as a reference to

political movements which start at local levels.

There are approximately 24,000 lbs/acre of roots in

typical tallgrass prairie.

Pioneers made sod houses by cutting bricks of soil

held together by grass roots.

In general, Bamboo is the world’s fastest growing

grass, sometimes as much as 4 feet per day.

Marsh is grassland under water.

Albedo is the % of light reflected rather than absorbed. Green grass (0.25) has a higher albedo than bare

soil (0.17). Fresh asphalt has an albedo value of 0.04 compared to fresh snow which has a value of 0.80-

0.90.

Curly Mesquite (Hilaria belangeri) and Vine Mesquite (Panicum obtusum) are not trees, they are grasses.

It is a myth that grass seeds found in the Egyptian Pyramids have been planted and germinated.

In 2012, Americans produced approximately 251 million tons of municipal solid waste. Of this amount,

13.5 % was from yard trimmings. This is enough dry matter to feed all the mature beef cows in the US for

a month.

Sedges have edges, rushes are round, grasses are hollow

from the top to the ground. There are several interesting

versions of this little rhyme, I will let you look them up

if you are interested...

Had enough yet? Yeah, I think we have made the point.

Grass is pretty important. So here is just one more shot. A

few weeks ago I was out looking at forest/range restoration

sites with Steve Campbell, Navajo County Extension

Director, and we were standing in a former dog-hair pine

thicket/soon to be savannah, talking about ecosystem health

in general when he said “Trees get the glory, but grass holds

the world together”. Ranks right up there with Jefferson.

Indian Ricegrass, House Rock Valley

Foxtail Barley, Mingus Mountain

Page 4

Chris’ Hot Topic of Range

One of the most exciting things about

Rangeland Ecology is how dynamic it is.

There is no simple answer to any

question, and land management is a

practice of balancing art with science.

Vegetation dynamics are influenced by

variables such as soil type, precipitation,

invasive species, and fire. One variable

that is often ignored is atmospheric

Carbon Dioxide (CO2).

When atmospheric CO2 is mentioned, it

is most often in association with

influences on temperature and

potentially resulting global issues such

as melting glaciers and rising oceans.

What is typically not mentioned is the

direct impact CO2 has on plant growth.

It is all about photosynthesis, the process

in which a plant converts CO2 and light

into energy. Photosynthesis was covered

in detail by Doug’s January Rimrock

article titled, “The effects of global

warming and rotational grazing on wolf

predation of feral horses.” Don’t let that

title fool you, that article really was all

about photosynthesis.

In short, there are three main pathways

of photosynthesis; C3, C4, and CAM.

C3 is the primitive ancestral form of

photosynthesis, developed some 2500

million years ago (MYA) in

cyanobacteria and ruled the world when

plants first took to land 450 MYA. At

the time the atmospheric concentration

of CO2 was high enough that simple

diffusion was plenty to keep the engine

of photosynthesis running smoothly and

efficiently. C3 is a decent system, as far

as primitive systems go, and the

majority of today’s plants still use it.

The Rimrock Report

Carbon Dioxide (Wikipedia)

C3 dominated forest circa 400 MYA (Edward Riou)

Volume 7, Issue 3

Chris’ Hot Topic of Range...continued

Page 5

Well time continued ticking by; pine

trees evolved in the Carboniferous age,

Pangea came and went, flowering plants

evolved during the Triassic, the K-T

meteor caused a mass extinction, etc.

Throughout this time CO2 fluctuated, but

stayed relatively high (Figure 1). Then

around 30 MYA CO2 levels started

falling dramatically; decreasing to a low

of 200 Parts Per Million (PPM) some 10

MYA (Figure 2). When CO2 drops

below 500 PPM some C3 plants start to

become carbon stressed since CO2

diffusion is slower at lower CO2

concentrations. The plant compensates

by keeping leaf pores open longer, but

that increases water loss. Higher oxygen

(O2) concentrations relative to CO2 is also

problematic since O2 interferes with

photosynthesis. Thus as CO2 decreased,

strong selective pressure was created to

find a more efficient form of

photosynthesis. This was the introduction

of C4 photosynthesis, a shiny new and

improved photosynthetic pathway that

independently evolved over 60 times

across dozens of flowering plant taxa.

Today our rangelands tend to be a mix of

C3 (cool season) and C4 (warm season)

plants. The competitive dynamics

between the two vary, but basically

revolve around efficiency and the water

loss with less efficient photosynthesis.

C3 dominated rangelands tend to be in

areas with more reliable rainfall, cooler

temperatures, and higher relative

humidity while C4 dominated grasslands

tend to be in areas that experience

frequent drought conditions and higher

temperatures (Figure 3).

At least that’s how these plant

Figure 2: Estimated atmospheric CO2 for the past 65 million years (Geoff

Zeiss ; IIPC AR5)

Figure 1: Estimated atmospheric CO2 for the past 600 million Years (Figure by Robert A. Rohde; Global Warming Art project )

Page 6

Chris’ Hot Topic of Range...continued

associations have been recorded in the past. The future is less certain. In 1900 atmospheric CO2 was at 300

PPM; last year we hit a record 400 PPM (Figure 4). What does a 40% increase in atmospheric CO2 mean?

That’s a difficult question to answer. Typically it means faster plant growth with C3 becoming more efficient.

However, less predictable precipitation and increased temperatures will still favor C4 photosynthesis. So

exactly how C3 vs C4

dynamics play out will

depend on local conditions,

but it may not mirror the past

nearly as much as we would

like. Also, the increased

vegetation growth does sound

nice, but nitrogen and other

essential minerals are not

increasing. An increased

carbon to nitrogen ratio

means more abundant but

less nutritious forage. For

livestock operations this may

possibly increase the need for

protein supplementation.

So the future is still relatively

unknown and hard to predict, but it is fascinating seeing it all play out. As atmospheric CO2 continues to

exponentially increase, we can expect more pronounced changes in vegetation dynamics and a greater

departure from historic plant communities. Will C4 plants still hold their own as we move away from the

conditions that evoked its evolution? Will C3 plants retake land lost in the last few million years, or will the

changing climate and increased climatic variability make C4 the most important plant type of the future? Hard

to say, but as land managers we are on the front lines of this brave new world. Exciting times!

The Rimrock Report

Figure 3: Left: C3 Bluebunch Wheatgrass dominated rangeland in Oregon. Right: C4 Blue Grama dominated rangeland in Arizona.

Figure 4: Atmospheric CO2 for the past 1000 years (Etheridge et al. 1998)

Page 7

Plant of the “week” by Guest Writer Doug Tolleson

Three-awns

You might be a range nerd if you don’t lump three-awns. But I have to admit that I do most of the time. Three-

awns often fall into that type of plant that just end up as one big group. Like annuals, prickly pear, cholla…. I

started wondering why. I know some of them look a lot alike. Kind of like tobosa/galleta or one-seed vs. Utah

juniper. But a lot of them don’t really look alike and we still tend to lump them. We tend not to go to the effort

of learning the species name. It could be that most are not considered good livestock or wildlife feed. Many

have stringy leaves and those famous awns, not very palatable. They are not always found on the most

productive sites. So, they become “ARIST” or “Aristida” or “3-

awns” on our monitoring forms. But really, what could be that

hard about it?

Let’s take a couple of species found here in Arizona and

compare them. Figure 1 contains examples of Purple Three-Awn

(Aristida purpurea) and Arizona Three-Awn (Aristida

arizonica). They don’t look anything alike, right? Let’s consult a

plant key and see how different they are.

Ok, I am looking at Arizona Flora (Kearney and Peebles) ... are

they annual? no, perennial... so far - so good. Next... column of

the awn distinctly twisted, 3-5 mm long, panicle narrow, the

branches appressed, floriferous nearly to the base... arizonica.

Or, panicle branches very slender, more or less flexuous, lemma

conspicuously scabrous in lines, awns terete at base... purpurea.

No sweat. Well maybe we should consult our glossary of

botanical terms.

Appressed: Pressed closely, but not fused; e.g. leaves

against a stem.

Awn: Fine bristle-like appendage; e.g. terminating or on

the back of glumes and/or lemmas of some grass

spikelets.

Bract: Modified leaf associated with flower or

inflorescence, differing in shape, size or color from other

leaves.

Flexuous: Zig-zagging, bent alternately in different directions, often referring to a stem.

Floriferous: Having or producing many flowers.

Figure 1. Aristida purpurea (top), courtesy of

Matt Lavin – Wikipedia Commons, and Aristida

arizonica (bottom), courtesy of Western New

Mexico University.

Volume 7, Issue 3

The Rimrock Report

Plant of the “week” ...continued

Page 8

Glume: Bracts subtending the floret(s) of a sedge, or similar plant; in grasses forming the lowermost

organs of a spikelet.

Lemma: The lower of 2 bracts enclosing a grass flower.

Panicle: A compound raceme; an indeterminate inflorescence in which the flowers are borne on

branches of the main axis or on further branches of these.

Raceme: An indeterminate inflorescence in which the main axis produces a series of flowers on lateral

stalks, the oldest at the base and the youngest at the top; cf. spike.

Scabrous: Rough to the touch with short hard emergences or hairs.

Spikelet: A unit of the inflorescence especially in grasses, sedges and some other monocotyledons,

consisting of one to many flowers and associated bracts (glumes).

Terete: Circular in cross-section; more or less cylindrical.

Did that help? In Blue Collar Plant language that would be basically: arizonica has a narrow seedhead with

branches on the main stem axis that are flattened against the stem and with flowers all along the stem... and

purpurea has slender sort of zig-zag branches in the seed head and the outside of the flowers feel rough. Got

it?

I am sure you have caught on by now that three –awns do have distinguishing characteristics, but they may

not be that obvious to a lot of us and if multiple species fall within a similar functional group, we will likely

continue lumping them in the field. But three-awns still perform a lot of the important functions that grass is

famous for. They produce oxygen, intercept precipitation, hold soil in place, make good quail nests, burn well,

etc… and there are a lot of them. Aristida has 120 records

on the NRCS plants database. Distribution of the genus

includes the 48 contiguous states plus HI, USVI, and PR.

I’ll bet Thomas Jefferson would find three-awns

interesting. So, I decided to give three-awns some respect

and talk more about some of the individual species. Here

are a few interesting facts:

Arizona three-awn (A. arizonica) has mature leaf

blades that are flat and curling. Often found in piñon-

juniper sites. Note; it is sometimes mistaken for (A.

purpurea).

California three-awn (A. californica) is also known as

Mohave three-awn and it likes dry sandy habitats.

Aristida purpurea, Courtesy of Yavapai County Native and

Naturalized Plants.

Page 9

Plant of the “week” …..continued

Purple three-awn (A. purpurea) is a

widespread species and has several integrating

varieties. e.g. Fendlers (A. fendleriana) and

Wrights (A. wrightii) three-awns.

Santa Rita three-awn is a variety of California

three-awn, i.e. var. glabrata Vasey.

Other common names include: wiregrass,

speargrass, and needlegrass.

Mainly found in semi-arid to arid regions and

abundance can indicate disturbed or

deteriorated range, sometimes due to heavy

grazing.

The awns can get into wool and eyes and cause

damage to livestock.

So next time you are out monitoring and come

across a three-awn, maybe you could take a little

time to find out which one it is. Or if it is 100o or it

is cold and the wind is blowing straight sideways;

you could just call it ARIST and keep going... and

figure it out next time.

Aristida purpurea, seeds with 3 awns. Courtesy of University of

Arizona Health Sciences Center.

Aristida purpurea-dominated roadside in Yavapai County.

Courtesy of one University of Arizona Extension Specialist who

really needs to go to a photography workshop.

Volume 7, Issue 3

The Rimrock Report

Position Announcement: Program Coordinator

Page 10

V Bar V Ranch Experiment Station, University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the

Environment.

Salary Range $29,443-$35,552 annually

Available ~ Sept 2014, application period will open soon

The successful candidate will work closely with the Rangeland Management Specialist at the V Bar V Ranch

Experiment Station to develop and deliver extension programming. This person will assume responsibility for

Range Rocks!, an outdoor-oriented youth education program primarily focused on rangeland ecology and

management. Subject matter may include grazing animal nutrition, ecological monitoring, or application of

technology in agriculture and natural resources. Educational activities coordinated by the incumbent will take

place in both indoor and outdoor “classrooms”. Students in this extension program learn hands-on “real life”

skills; in the field as much as possible. The Program Coordinator will be expected to work both independently

and within a team setting including collaboration with University of Arizona extension personnel and other

area educators. Familiarity with rangeland ecology and management and outdoor experiential learning is

required. The ability to work outdoors in a variety of weather conditions is a necessity. This person will be

responsible for developing and delivering lesson plans, maintaining project documentation, and should be

competent in basic word processing, graphic presentation, and spreadsheet software as well as social media

applications. Experience with distance education including video production is desired. Other activities will

include contributing to a quarterly range-oriented newsletter, The Rimrock Report, as well as helping to

organize and evaluate workshops, field days, and other University of Arizona outreach activities. B.S. degree

in rangeland/natural resources or environmental science, and two years experience is required, an M.S. is

preferred. The Camp Verde/Cottonwood/Sedona area is approximately 1.5 hrs north of Phoenix, 1 hr south of

Flagstaff and 1 hr east of Prescott. The area has a small town atmosphere with good shopping, educational,

medical, cultural, and recreational opportunities.

Interested individuals should contact:

Doug Tolleson Rangeland Management Specialist, V Bar V Ranch

2830 N. Commonwealth Drive Suite 103

Camp Verde, AZ 86322

928-554-8999

dougt@cals.arizona.edu

http://cals.arizona.edu/vbarv/rangeprogram/

Volume 7, Issue 3

Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop

Page 11

Page 12

Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop...continued

The Rimrock Report

Volume 7, Issue 3

Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop...continued

Page 13

Page 14

Better Photos-Better Rangelands Workshop...continued

The Rimrock Report

Just me talking...

The University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment V Bar V Ranch 2830 N. Commonwealth Drive Suite 103 Camp Verde, AZ 86322

Phone: 928-554-8991 Fax: 928-554-8996 Cell: 928-821-3222 E-mail: dougt@cals.arizona.edu Web: http://cals.arizona.edu/aes/vbarv/ Note: Please email me if you would like to be added to the “mailing” list for this newsletter.

The view from the Rim

Page 15

Till next time,,

Doug

I think July 4th is a great time to hear more from Thomas Jefferson.

No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture

comparable to that of the garden.

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a

rock.

He who knows best knows how little he knows.

One man with courage is a majority.

Where to start? As I write, I am sitting under the ramada by Lemke Lake at Mingus Springs, now known as James 4-H

Camp. Another NRCWAY is in the books, everybody is heading down the mountain and I am taking advantage of a

little peace and quiet and cool weather. This year’s theme was range and forestry. Several students are talking about

careers in range, most want to come back next year, nobody went to the ER. We have three great candidates for SRM

high school youth forum. Overall, a great camp. Good job Kim, Susan, Mary, Jeff, John, Andrew, Chris and all the

others who made it so. Things are happening around the V Bar V Range Program too. We have been getting papers

published (see June issues of Rangelands, and Stewardship) and others submitted (keep an eye out in Rangelands). We

are working on more. We have received another grant from Western Center for Risk Management Education to continue

our drought scenario workshops. We will be part of a collaborative group doing a drought/adaptive grazing management

education project on the Tonto NF. And we are working on proposals to keep the Arizona Cooperative Rangeland

Monitoring Program going with BLM. Chris and I have been monitoring cow body condition and diet quality on the

ranch, along with utilization and production. We are working with Mike Crimmins to do a pilot study comparing

precipitation monitoring with old and new technology on a few area ranches. The Extension Centennial celebration for

northern Arizona will be at the ranch (Mahan Park) later this month (24th). That will be a great opportunity to look back

at what Extension has accomplished here in Arizona. The Arizona Section SRM is meeting with Navajo County

Extension to talk about and tour range/forest restoration efforts in the Show Low area on August 14-15. Then on

Saturday the 16th we will have our photography workshop. Ranch Explorers will be at Mahan Park on August 22nd. Last

but not least, we are looking for someone to join our team and work with the Range Rocks! program as well as plug into

our other extension range education activities (see job announcement in this issue). We should be hiring several new

extension folks in Arizona this coming year, so keep an eye on the UA Human Resources website as well as our

facebook page. Well that is probably about enough. I am trying to stay focused. I plan to shift gears now and get back to

working on the literature review for a journal paper… but the breeze is blowing and bass are jumping like crazy in the

pond. Dang, that was a big one…

Picture courtesy of www.whitehouse.gov/about/

presidents/thomasjefferson