Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Poa compressa
Introductory
SPECIES: Poa compressa
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Uchytil, Ronald J. 1993. Poa compressa. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [].
ABBREVIATION :
POACOM
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
POCO
COMMON NAMES :
Canada bluegrass
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of Canada bluegrass is Poa
compressa L. [10,33]. There are no recognized varieties or subspecies.
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Poa compressa
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
In North America, Canada bluegrass is distributed from Newfoundland to
Alaska, and south throughout most of the United States. Hitchcock [16]
lists Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and California
as the southern extent of its range.
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES42 Annual grasslands
STATES :
AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE GA HI ID
IL IN IA KS KY ME MD MA MI MN
MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND
OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN UT VT
VA WA WV WI WY AB BC MB NB NF
NT NS ON PE PQ SK YT
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K002 Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K013 Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K030 California oakwoods
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K047 Fescue - oatgrass
K048 California steppe
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass - bluestem - needlegrass
K074 Bluestem prairie
K075 Nebraska Sandhills prairie
K081 Oak savanna
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
15 Red pine
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
33 Red spruce - balsam fir
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
42 Bur oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
107 White spruce
110 Black oak
210 Interior Douglas-fir
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
227 Western redcedar - western hemlock
235 Cottonwood - willow
236 Bur oak
237 Interior ponderosa pine
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Poa compressa
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Canada bluegrass is good forage for cattle, horses, and sheep [3,25].
It has favorable curing properties; horses pastured on Canada bluegrass
in the autumn and early winter maintain their condition [12]. In South
Dakota it is seldom abundant enough to be a principal forage but is
important to livestock because of its wide distribution [18].
In the Rocky Mountains, Canada bluegrass may be a valuable winter,
spring, and fall forage for elk [20]. Mule deer consume it lightly in
the spring [21].
Bluegrass leaves and seeds are eaten by numerous species of small
mammals and songbirds, and may form an important part of the diet of the
cottontail rabbit and wild turkey [3,22]. Prairie chickens eat small
amounts of the seeds [3].
PALATABILITY :
Canada bluegrass is palatable to livestock from early spring until late
fall [12]. It is most palatable in spring and fall when it is green and
succulent. Because it matures later than Kentucky bluegrass (Poa
pratensis) and is drought tolerant, it remains relatively palatable
during the summer [27].
Livestock and wildlife use of Canada bluegrass in western states is
rated as follows [6]:
CO MT ND UT WY
Cattle good good good good good
Sheep good good good good good
Horses good good good good good
Pronghorn ---- ---- ---- good good
Elk ---- fair ---- good good
Mule deer ---- poor ---- good good
White-tailed deer ---- poor ---- ---- good
Small mammals ---- ---- ---- good good
Small nongame birds ---- ---- ---- good good
Upland game birds ---- ---- ---- fair good
Waterfowl ---- ---- ---- fair fair
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Early growth stages of Canada bluegrass are nutritious. The National
Academy of Sciences [23] reported the following nutritional information
for fresh aerial parts of immature (before inflorescence emergence)
Canada bluegrass (percentage of dry matter):
Ash 9.1
Crude fiber 25.5
Ether extract 3.7
N-free extract 43
Protein (N X 6.25) 18.7
COVER VALUE :
Canada bluegrass provides fair to good "environmental protection" for
upland game birds, waterfowl, nongame birds, and small mammals [6].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Canada bluegrass is often used for cover and erosion control on
roadsides, road cuts and fills, borrow pits, dam sites, and recreational
areas. It is often seeded with legume mixtures for revegetation of
mined areas. It is often slow to establish but once established
provides good cover and long-term growth. The performance of seeded
Canada bluegrass in mined-land reclamation has been summarized [12].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Canada bluegrass is classed as an invader of overgrazed rangelands [31].
It is generally not recommended for seeding as a pasture grass because
of its low productivity, but locally it may be useful as pasture on poor
soils [27,33]. It is resistant to grazing and trampling but may be slow
to recover from overgrazing [27].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Poa compressa
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Canada bluegrass is an introduced, perennial, cool-season, erect,
sod-forming grass. Culms are solitary or loosely tufted, flattened, and
10 to 24 inches (25-60 cm) tall. The inflorescence is a compressed
panicle [10,18,33]
Canada bluegrass has a "dense creeping root system" and "long rhizomes"
but does not form as dense a sod as Kentucky bluegrass (Poa
pratensis) [12,18,32].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Canada bluegrass reproduces by both seed and rhizomes [30]. There are
2.5 million cleaned seeds per pound (5.5 million/kg). Seeds require
light for germination, and germinate best at temperatures fluctuating
between 59 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit (15 and 30 deg C). Germinative
capacity is 75 to 80 percent [8].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Canada bluegrass is unable to compete with other grasses on good soils
and generally develops best on soils of low fertility or poor drainage
[12,25]. It has moderate drought and salinity tolerances but is not
shade tolerant [8,12,30]. It grows about anywhere Kentucky bluegrass
grows but only achieves dominance on soils that are too acid, droughty,
or nutrient-deficient for Kentucky bluegrass dominance [18]. It grows
on disturbed sites in innumerable habitats across North America. In the
Pacific Northwest, Canada bluegrass is commonly found in association
with wheatgrasses (Agropyron spp.) and hairgrasses (Deshampsia spp.),
and often grows in pure stands on poor soils [30].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Obligate Initial Community Species
Canada bluegrass is an early colonizer of disturbed soils [18].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Although a cool-season species, Canada bluegrass matures later than
Kentucky bluegrass, and has little fall regrowth [18].
Flowering time in western states is as follows [6]:
Colorado - June to August
Montana - June to August
North Dakota - June to July
Wyoming - June to August
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Poa compressa
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
During grassland fires, the fire front passes quickly and temperatures 1
inch (2.5 cm) below the soil surface rise very little [5]. Located a
couple of inches below the soil surface, Canada bluegrass rhizomes
survive and initiate new growth after aboveground plant portions are
consumed by fire. Although the plant survives because of soil-insulated
rhizomes, postfire plant vigor and density are greatly affected by
phenological stage at time of burning (see Fire Effects On Plant).
Information regarding the importance that seedling establishment plays
in Canada bluegrass immediate postfire recovery was not found in the
literature. Postfire growth is assumed to be primarily due to rhizome
survival.
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Poa compressa
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Plant phenological stage at time of burning greatly influences fire
damage to herbaceous plants. In general, as new foliage of perennial
grasses reaches full development major food reserves have been depleted,
so that plants are injured most from fires occurring at this time [5].
Late spring fires, after plants have been growing for about a month or
more, appear to be the most damaging to Canada bluegrass.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Season of burning and frequency of burning greatly influence Canada
bluegrass postfire recovery. Dormant-season fires favor Canada
bluegrass, and biomass and density may increase during postfire year 1.
Late spring burning, when plants are actively growing, reduces biomass
and density during postfire year 1, but biomass and density may return
to preburn levels within 1 or 2 years. Thus Canada bluegrass often
recovers within 1 or 2 years after a single late spring fire, but
density and biomass are progressively reduced if burned annually or
biennially in late spring.
In abandoned fields in southern Wisconsin, Canada bluegrass flowering
stem density was reduced 50 percent when burned annually in May for 5
years. Conversely, flowering stem density increased 170 and 440
percent following 5 years of annual burning in March or October,
respectively [4]. A similar study in southern Wisconsin found that 3
years of annual burning in mid-May reduced Canada and Kentucky bluegrass
flowering stem density by 70 percent, while late March or early April
burning had little affect on flowering [14].
In a reconstructed tallgrass prairie in Illinois, bluegrass (Poa
compressa and P. pratensis combined) percent relative biomass decreased
as fire frequency increased in two communities as follows [11]:
Burning Treatment*
not burned burned twice burned burned
3 times 4 times
Community type
big bluestem 23.4** 18.3 4.6 0
indiangrass 18.6 15.9 3.3 0
*not burned = unburned for 19 years
burned twice = burned Feb. 28, 1952 and April 16, 1959
burned three times = burned Feb. 28, 1952; April 16, 1959; and May 2, 1961
burned four times = burned Feb. 28, 1952; April 16, 1959; May 2, 1961; and
May 10, 1962
**sampled at the end of the 1962 growing season
In oak (Quercus spp.) woods and goldenrod (Solidago spp.) fields
accidently burned between April 6 and May 2 in south-central New York,
Canada bluegrass frequency increased from 6 to 17 percent and 56 to 81
percent, respectively, 10 to 26 months after burning [28].
After early May prescribed burning in seral brushfields in northern
Idaho, Canada bluegrass recovered rapidly on lightly burned plots.
During the first postfire growing season, it produced the bulk of grass
biomass on lightly burned plots, which was 135 pounds per acre (151
kg/ha). In comparison, grass production on heavily burned and control
plots averaged only 0.7 and 10.2 pounds per acre (0.8 and 11.4 kg/ha),
respectively [17].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
The Research Project Summary Vegetation response to restoration treatments
in ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir forests of western Montana provides information
on prescribed fire and postfire response of plant community species,
including Canada bluegrass, that was not available when this species
review was written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Annual or biennial late spring burning can be used to control Canada
bluegrass and promote the growth of warm-season grasses in the Midwest.
The timing of burning is critical and should take place just prior to
the resumption of warm-season grass growth. Such burning favors
warm-season grasses because they are dormant at the time of burning.
Conversely, cool-season species like Canada bluegrass are harmed by late
spring fire because they resume growth in the early spring and are thus
actively growing at the time of burning [15].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Poa compressa
REFERENCES :
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flowering responses of 7 grasses to seasonal timing of prescribed
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