Yellow Bluestem: An Encroaching Invasive Grass Webinar

Dear friends: Please join us on November 19, 11am in Arizona, to learn about the spread of the nonnative yellow bluestem grass in Arizona’s rangelands. Ashley Hall, Rangeland Management and Animal Science Extension Agent, will discuss identification, impacts and management implications of this relatively new invasive species. Sincerely, Chris

Yellow Bluestem: An Encroaching Invasive Grass Webinar

Event Date: November 19, 2020 11:00am to 12:00pm

Online event link: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/89689070806

University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Gila County presents: Garden and Country Extension Webinar Series. A Zoom webinar (60-minutes or less) featuring a variety of horticultural and natural resource topics relevant to the environmental conditions and residential concerns of Gila County, Arizona.

Featured Topic: Yellow Bluestem: An Encroaching Invasive Grass

Speaker Biography: Ashley Hall received her B.Sc. in Rangeland Ecology and Management with a minor in Geographic Information Systems from the University of Arizona (UA) in 2009 and a M.Sc. 2011. Her thesis focused on researching nurse plant-protégé interactions between two species of Bursage and Creosote, as well as creating a vegetation map of the Mohawk Mountains and San Cristobal Valley on the Barry M. Goldwater Range. After finishing her M.S., Ashley began working for UA Cooperative Extension as a team member of the Cooperative Rangeland Monitoring Program assisting the Bureau of Land Management in establishing a vegetation monitoring protocol.  Ashley worked for US Fish and Wildlife Service as the Invasive Species Coordinator for Arizona Refuges. She currently works for Gila County Cooperative Extension, focusing on Rangeland Management and Animal Science.

Presentation Description: Non-native species, like Yellow Bluestem (Bothriochloa ischaemum) negatively affect the habitats they invade in many ways including economically, environmentally, and/or ecologically. Yellow Bluestem is a perennial grass introduced to the United States from Europe and Asia in the early 1900s as a way to control erosion and as a forage species. In the past several years, this species has become an emerging invasive in Arizona. Yellow Bluestem has been shown to alter soil function and biota, suppressing the growth of native vegetation.. It out-competes native species because it can grow much taller than most native grasses, and creates a sod thick formation by reproducing through underground stems.  While this species was introduced in some parts of the U.S. to provide additional forage for grazing species, Yellow Bluestem is less palatable than natives and is not preferred by cattle, equine, or wildlife. Eradication of this species may require intense management efforts if a new population is not eliminated quickly.

Webinar Facilitator: Chris Jones, Extension Agent, University of Arizona Gila County Cooperative

Extension Zoom Link: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/89689070806 Please log in up to 10 minutes prior to the webinar.

Cost: Free

Registration: Not required

Christopher Jones, Extension Agent

Agriculture & Natural Resources Programs

University of Arizona

Gila County Cooperative Extension

5515 S Apache Avenue, Suite 600

Globe, AZ  85501

U.S.A.

Phone: (928) 402-8586