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Wildlife Trends - Practical Wildlife Management Information

7Volume 7, Issue 4

I visit a lot of properties across the Southeach year. Without exception, there is one rec-ommendation I have given everyone—get rid ofthe tall fescue and/or bermudagrass. I havenever made an initial property visit in the South(or Midwest or Northeast, for that matter) whereI didn’t find one of these grasses.

Few landowners realize that just by eradi-cating these grasses, they can enhance habitatfor white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, wildturkeys, bobwhite quail, mourning doves, fieldsparrows, indigo buntings, dickcissels, bluegrosbeaks, yellow-breasted chats, Americangoldfinch, loggerhead shrikes, and many otherspecies. And tall fescue and bermudagrassaren’t the only culprits. In my opinion (and inthat of a whole lot of other biologists), you canadd orchardgrass, timothy, bluegrass, john-songrass, crabgrass, goosegrass, bahiagrass,vaseygrass, velvetgrass, japangrass, and, cer-tainly, cogongrass. Why? None of these grass-es provide quality cover, forage, or seed forwildlife, none are native to North America,some are extremely invasive, and they all dis-place more desirable plants. Yes, I know deermay eat some of them at various times of theyear, turkeys may eat bahiagrass seed, andquail and several other birds may eat crabgrassor johnsongrass seed. But why have a plant(s)that provides marginal cover, forage, or seedtake up space where more desirable plantscould grow?!? Make no mistake, you canincrease the carrying capacity of your propertyfor many wildlife species just by eradicatingthese grasses.

Now, before you think I’m a native plantpurist, let me explain. I do encourage people topromote native plants when possible and prac-tical, but I think foremost about landownerobjectives and what would benefit wildlife.Thus, I’m also a proponent of food plots, forexample, if they fit in with the landowner’sobjectives. Of all the food plot plantings I might

recommend, only a couple are native to NorthAmerica. Therefore, I don’t have a problem withsomeone using a non-native plant to meet aspecific objective, as long as that plant is not

Converting Tall Fescue and BermudagrassFields into Quality Early Successional HabitatBy Craig A. Harper

Fig. 1a; Tall fescue typically forms a dense structure atground level. This makes it difficult for young bobwhitesand turkeys to travel through the field, limits seed andinvertebrate availability, and precludes the seedbank

from germinating.

Fig 1b; When sod-forming grasses, such as tall fescueand bermudagrass, are eradicated, an open structure iscreated at ground level and the seedbank is able to ger-minate. Forbs provide a protective umbrella canopy of

cover, protecting quail or turkey broods feeding and loaf-ing underneath.

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invasive and there is not a more valuable nativeplant that would meet the same objective.Please be aware, however, that food plots areonly a very small component of habitat man-agement and often are not necessary forlandowners to meet their objectives. Also, it isimportant to remember food attracts wildlife,but cover holds them. If you want to hold morewildlife on your property, you should be mostconcerned about enhancing cover, and thatincludes cover within your woods and yourfields. For those wildlife species listed above, ifyou want to see more of them on your proper-ty, one of your top priorities should be renovat-ing your fields and eradicating undesirableplant species (whether native or not).

What do you want?

Aside from food plots and other agricultur-al areas, you need to manage your fields to pro-vide quality “early successional” habitatrequired by the wildlife species listed above.Quality early successional habitat includes cer-tain grasses, forbs, and scattered shrubs that

represent distinct resources for food and cover.Many native grasses, such as broomsedgebluestem and little bluestem, provide qualitynesting cover for bobwhites and enable you touse prescribed fire to maintain an early seralstage. Forbs, such as pokeweed, ragweed,partridge pea, native lespedezas, and beg-gar’s-lice, provide forage for deer, broodingcover for young quail and turkeys, and seed fora variety of birds. Scattered shrubs, such asblackberry, wild plum, and sumac, provide softmast and seed for many wildlife species, aswell as loafing cover for quail and rabbits, nest-ing structure for several songbirds, and one ofthe most important factors for quail and rab-bits—winter cover. Before you think of wintercover as thermal cover, please realize winterweather is not a limiting factor for quail or rab-bit populations in the South. A place to hidefrom predators, however, is often a limiting fac-tor during winter.

Underneath this cover of early succession-al plants (at ground level) should be an openenvironment. This is provided when thatch-forming grasses (such as tall fescue and

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Wildlife Trends - Practical Wildlife Management Information

Volume 7, Issue 4

bermudagrass) are removed. The forbs presentshould provide what I have called an “umbrellacanopy,” with cover overhead, yet open below.This enables small wildlife to travel throughoutthe field and not just along the edge of the field.This open ground structure also enables youngquail and turkeys to easily pick up seed andsearch for invertebrates. It is not desirable forquail to expend more energy trying to navigatethrough a field than they obtain from the foodthey find! As they feed, they should be protect-ed from overhead predators, not exposed andforced to use the woods where they are ham-mered by Cooper’s hawks.

Be aware, properly managed early succes-sional habitat does not look “pretty” to mostfolks. Many landowners, especially farmers,absolutely cringe when they see a field of“weeds” and “wild grasses.” Think of it thisway—when you walk into a field, you shouldfeel just as likely to jump a rabbit or covey ofbirds in the middle of the field as you are alongthe edge. “Edge” species are looking for desir-able structure. That type of structure is oftenfound along the edge of the field because theinterior of the field is not managed accordinglyto suit their needs. Your objective should be tocreate a field of edge. Without question, this isjust as attractive to deer and turkeys as it is toquail and rabbits.

How to get there

Your first step in removing tall fescue andbermudagrass is to prepare the field. A verycommon mistake is for landowners to sprayproblem plants with a herbicide before the fieldis ready. It is absolutely critical to get the siteready and spray at the correct time. If you try tospray a field of tall fescue or bermudagrasswith plant debris from the previous growingseason over the field, you are not going to behappy with the results. “Clean” the field byburning, haying, or grazing. You want to sprayfresh growing grass, not senescent stems andleaves from last year.

Tall fescue

Tall fescue is a perennial cool-seasongrass. It makes most of its growth during thecool months of the year, not in summer or win-

Fig 2; Just a few years ago, this was a tall fescue field—void of wildlife. Now, the perfect composition and struc-ture has been created to benefit a wide variety of wildlife.

Native grasses for nesting structure; forbs for umbrellacover, forage, and seed; and an open structure at ground

level that provides dusting opportunities and enablesseed and invertebrates to be picked up by broods that

are able to travel throughout the field, not just along theedge. Now, wildlife abounds in the field.

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ter. In spring, tall fescue grows rapidly usingcarbohydrates stored in the root system prior towinter. If you spray tall fescue in the spring, youwill typically not get as good of a kill as you willin the fall because in the fall, tall fescue is send-ing carbohydrates down into the root system,preparing for winter senescence. When youspray in the fall, you don’t have to use as muchherbicide and you will get a better kill.

Prepare tall fescue fields for spraying byburning, haying, or grazing in September. Thisis critical. If you simply mow (bushhog) thefield, there will be considerable material left onthe field and much of your herbicide applicationwill not contact growing grass later when youspray. If you have no other option than mowing,then do so fairly frequently through the summerto keep vegetation height relatively low andprevent thatch build-up. Next, allow the grassto grow through October and spray with 1.5quarts per acre of a glyphosate herbicide(with surfactant) when the tall fescue is 6 – 10inches high in early November.

The field should appear brown and deadthrough winter. Winter annuals (such as henbit,purple deadnettle) may germinate through win-ter. If so, spray with 1 quart per acre of aglyphosate herbicide. If quality early succes-sional habitat is your object, an imazapic herbi-cide (such as Plateau or Journey) may be usedat this time, but I prefer to wait until spring, justbefore green-up. This provides better residualcontrol of undesirable warm-season plants(such as johnsongrass, crabgrass, broadleafsignalgrass, curly dock, sicklepod, jimson-weed, wild mustard, wild onion, and cocklebur)that are about to germinate. If you intend toplant a food plot, do not use Plateau or Journeybecause they are not labeled for agronomiccrops and the residual imazapic may kill yourcrop as it germinates (depending on what youare planting). There are other preemergenceherbicides you can use prior to planting a foodplot (such as Pursuit or Prowl H2O).

Bermudagrass

The same process should be taken withbermudagrass, except the timing and herbi-cides are different. Bermudagrass is a perenni-al warm-season grass. Therefore, it should be

Wildlife Trends - Practical Wildlife Management Information

July/August 2007

Fig 3; Tall fescue should be sprayed in the fall to achievethe best kill. This field was hayed in September to pre-pare it for spraying in October. Preparing a field prior tospraying is critical for maximum herbicide effectiveness.

Photo courtesy John Gruchy

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sprayed in summer when it is actively growing.Prepare the field for spraying the previous win-ter or spring. Burning in March is recommend-ed. Just before or during flowering (about mid-to late June, depending on your location) is theperfect time to spray, but don’t let it produceseed before spraying! Bermudagrass is tough.There is no single herbicide application thatwill completely eradicate all the bermuda-grass. There will always be a few areas thatneed spot spraying the following year.Nonetheless, the best herbicide applicationthat research has identified is 48 ounces ofChopper or 24 ounces of Arsenal AC (bothwith surfactant) per acre. These herbicides doa fantastic job of eradicating bermudagrass,but expect to do some “mop up” next summer.

What’s next?

Your next step is to be patient and evaluatewhat germinates from the seedbank. The seed-bank is that collection of seed occurring natu-rally in the top few inches of soil. Usually, tallfescue and bermudagrass form a carpet overthe ground, precluding the vast majority ofseed in the seedbank from germinating. Whenyou remove this carpet, you stimulate the seed-bank to germinate. Often, a most desirablecomposition of early successional plants awaitrelease. Sometimes, however, another layer ofundesirable plants must be eradicated. Forexample, you might remove the carpet of tallfescue only to find bermudagrass, john-songrass, and/or crabgrass awaiting release.Don’t be discouraged! The only way to get ridof these non-native scourges and enhance yourfield is to treat them methodically with theappropriate herbicides. Spraying is not a one-time deal. Don’t be surprised if you have tospray a field 3 or 4 times with selective herbi-cides over a 2- to 3-year period to get rid ofproblem plants. And you may still spot-spraysome later, such as sericea lespedeza, whosehard seed continues to germinate from theseedbank for several years after spraying theexisting cover. But, by that time, you will befine-tuning the plant composition in the fieldand enjoying a positive response by wildlife.

Seedbanks vary dramatically from area toarea and site to site. Most often, on sites that

Fig. 4; Doesn’t this bermudagrass look great? It is dead!24 ounces of Arsenal AC does a fantastic job of eradi-cating bermudagrass, provided the field has been pre-pared and sprayed at the correct time. Don’t be fooled,

however, some spot spraying will be necessary next year.Photo courtesy John Gruchy

Fig. 5; This was a tall fescue hayfield from about 1970 –1999. The field was then cropped in Roundup Ready

corn and soybeans for 6 years (2000 – 2005). This elimi-nated the tall fescue. The seedbank germinated the fol-lowing growing season (2006). This picture was taken inJuly 2007. Eastern gamagrass, broomsedge bluestem,

pokeweed, blackberry, native lespedezas—this is qualityearly successional habitat, and none of it was planted!

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were recently cleared of woods, a desirableseedbank is intact. However, in some fields, theseedbank has been depleted of desirablespecies and planting is necessary to developquality early successional cover. This is easilyaccomplished by planting a variety of nativegrasses and forbs readily available throughseed dealers. Various shrubs (such as wildplum, staghorn sumac, American crabapple,elderberry, and hawthorn) are also available forplanting if needed.

How to keep it

Early successional habitat becomes latesuccessional habitat if the site is not managed(disturbed) periodically. Over the course of 3 –5 years, fields often become rank with senes-cent vegetation and the attractiveness forwildlife lessens as the structure and composi-tion changes. Fields are best managed byburning and/or disking. Mowing (bushhogging)is not recommended, as it only piles debris ontop of the ground, reduces seed availability,makes travel by small wildlife more difficult, andsuppresses the seedbank.

Burning

Burning consumes the old vegetation, cre-ates an open structure at ground level, andrecycles nutrients, which stimulates additionalfresh growth. Fields are normally burned inearly spring, just before spring green-up. Thisretains cover in the field through winter anddoes not disrupt any nesting season. Woodyencroachment can be problematic, especiallysweetgum, winged elm, red maple, boxelder,and green ash. To control undesirable woodygrowth, burn late in the growing season(September). Burning at this time reduceswoody stem density as effectively as herbicideapplications. If you see undesirable woodystems becoming numerous, hold off burning inspring and simply wait until September to burn.If undesirable woody species are sparse, youcan simply spot spray them using Arsenal ACor Garlon 3-A (depending upon species). Fieldsusually need burning every 2 – 4 years, but thefire return interval is entirely dependent uponthe responding vegetation composition andstructure.

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Fig. 6a; Burning is by far the best way to set back suc-cession and maintain quality early successional habitat.Not only is it ecologically sound, it is cheap, easy, and

safe, provided the appropriate precautions are taken andimplemented by experienced personnel.

Fig. 6b; It is irresponsible and dangerous to burn fieldswithout a firebreak. By disking a strip one or two tractor-widths wide around the field, a sufficient barrier is put in

place to contain prescribed fire when used sensibly.

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Burning fields requires firebreaks. A diskedstrip 1 to 2 tractor-widths wide around the fieldhelps preclude fire from escaping the field.Firebreaks can be left fallow to encourageplants from the seedbank, or firebreaks can beplanted to warm or cool-season forages orgrains to provide an additional food source.The arrangement of a block of cover and a stripof food, as opposed to a block of food and astrip of cover, is very important in terms of hold-ing wildlife on your property.

Disking

Many folks are reluctant to burn, or are inareas where they cannot burn. In these situa-tions, disking may be used to set back succes-sion and influence plant composition. Disking,like burning, improves the structure at groundlevel, facilitates decomposition of senescentvegetation, and stimulates the seedbank.Disking old-field habitats, however, usuallyrequires a fairly heavy off-set disk.

Disking can also be completed followingburning to influence vegetation composition. Ifgrasses dominate the site, disk areas inNovember through February to stimulate addi-tional forb growth. If you are in the Mid-South,you can disk into March. Disking later than thiswill stimulate undesirable warm-season grasses(such as johnsongrass, crabgrass, and broadleafsignalgrass) if they are still present in the seed-bank. I like the vegetation composition to beapproximately 50 percent native warm-seasongrasses and 50 percent forbs, with an openstructure at ground level and scattered shrubsnot more than 100 yards apart. If grass coverageexceeds 70 percent, I will disk in late winter orburn in September to encourage more forbs.

Frequency of disking is similar to that forburning; however, if you want to stimulate moreannual forbs, disk more frequently. If mourningdoves are a primary interest, for example,annual disking will promote seed producers,such as ragweed, tropic croton, 3-seeded mer-cury, redroot amaranth, fall panicum, and foxtailgrasses. Without a perennial grass component,heavy disking is not necessary. You can evenretain several perennial forbs with light disking,such as pokeweed, native lespedezas, beg-gar’s-lice, trailing wild bean, and perennial sun-

Fig. 7; An offset disk is the perfect implement to set backsuccession and stimulate additional forb growth wherenative grasses have become too dense and there is not

enough forb cover, such as this field of switchgrass.

Fig 8; This is what an old-field managed for wildlifeshould look like—native grasses and forbs with clumps

of scattered shrubs, not more than 100 yards apart. Two15-bird coveys can be found regularly in this 20-acre

field during fall and winter. Quail and turkey broods arecommonly seen during summer. The forbs present pro-

vide a virtual smorgasbord for deer and several fawns arealways hidden throughout the field during June and July.Rabbits are everywhere and early successional songbirds

buzz around like bees. Photo courtesy John Gruchy

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flowers. These plants produce seed eaten bybobwhites and many other birds, and provideexcellent brooding cover for quail and turkeys.An increase in forbs also improves forage forwhite-tailed deer. Across the South, diet stud-ies have consistently shown forbs represent 50– 80 percent of a deer’s diet during spring andsummer. Perennial grasses are ranked last.Regardless, wildlife habitat is improved by sim-ply getting rid of the tall fescue and/orbermudagrass cover and working with the nat-ural seedbank.

Perspectives

It is difficult for most people to appreciatethe beauty of “weeds.” It is not difficult, howev-er, for a bobwhite, a cottontail, an indigobunting, a wild turkey poult, a field sparrow, ora white-tailed deer to appreciate them. If youwant to see more of these species on yourproperty, you must learn to view broomsedge,beggar’s-lice, and brambles differently. Youmust realize “clean, green, and even” is not agood thing for wildlife. Eradicating tall fescue,

bermudagrass, and other species of non-nativeperennial grasses will promote native grassesand forbs and enhance habitat for wildlife, oftenwithout planting anything.

References

Barnes, T.G., A.L. Madison, J.D. Sole, and M.J. Lacki.1995. An assessment of habitat quality for northern bobwhite in tall fescue dominated fields.Wildlife Society Bulletin 23:231-237.Bond, B.T., C.D. Baumann, M.W. Lane II, R.E.Thackston, and J.L. Bowman. 2005. Efficacy of herbicides to control bermudagrass for enhancementof northern bobwhite habitat. Proceedings of the Southeastern Association of Fishand Wildlife Agencies 59:191-199.Gruchy J.P. and C.A. Harper. 2006. When is the besttime to disk native warm-season grasses for wildlife? In, M.A. Sanderson (editor). ProceedingsEastern Native Grass Symposium 5:296-302.Gruchy, J.P., C.A. Harper, and M.J. Gray. 2007.Methods for controlling woody invasion into CRP fields in Tennessee. Proceedings of the SixthNational Quail Symposium.Harper, C.A., G.E. Bates, M.J. Gudlin, and M.P.Hansbrough. 2004. A landownerʼs guide to native warm-season grasses in the Mid-South. UTExtension PB 1746.Washburn, B.F., T.G. Barnes, and J.D. Sole. 2000.Improving northern bobwhite habitat by converting tall fescue fields to native warm-seasongrasses. Wildlife Society Bulletin 28:97-104.

Wildlife Trends - Practical Wildlife Management Information

July/August 2007

Craig A. Harper is an Associate Professorand the Extension Wildlife Specialist at theUniversity of Tennessee. Dr. Harper special-izes in applied habitat management for uplandgame species and maintains an extension andresearch program dedicated to this effort. Heand his co-authors recently published NativeWarm-Season Grasses: Identification,Establishment, and Management for Wildlifeand Forage Production in the Mid-South. This200-page full-color manual contains hun-dreds of pictures and is replete with data,tables, figures, and graphs, detailing how toestablish and manage native warm-seasongrasses and associated old-field habitats. Itcan be purchased through UT Extension athttp://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/wildlife/default.asp.

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