Investigating the effects of frequent grazing on the ecological traits of Juncus maritimus Lam.

The identification of rangeland species and getting more information about their ecological traits substantially help range management. The present study aims to investigate the impact of cutting on the ecological traits of juncus maritimus. The experiment was carried out during a 9-week period, following a completely randomized factorial design with four treatments and 10 replications. All of the aboveground organs in the plant under the study were cut 6 cm above pots’ soil surface in four cutting treatments, i.e. frequent cutting (once a week), moderate cutting (once every 2 weeks), limited cutting (once every 4 weeks), and control (cutting just at end of the experiment). The results indicated that repeating the cutting treatment reduced total and root dry matter weights of the plant. Changes in dry matter weight resulted in some changes in plant dry mater dedication. Accordingly, the least amount of dry matter dedication was obtained from the roots of cut plants compared to the control ones. The findings also indicated that the cutting stress resulting from the cuts in different treatments had a significant effect on the amount of total dry matter, shoot and roots organs, tillering, and the total rhizome length. These traits in the cutting treatments significantly differed from those of the control group. Generally speaking, the species under study was unable to regenerate its defoliated organs against cutting (i.e. livestock graze).