{"id":2648,"date":"2025-10-01T09:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648"},"modified":"2025-09-30T19:06:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T19:06:08","slug":"native-perennial-grasses-powerhouses-belowground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/native-perennial-grasses-powerhouses-belowground\/","title":{"rendered":"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When we think of rangelands, it\u2019s easy to focus on the grasses we see aboveground, the leaves, stems, and seedheads obvious in the West Texas wind. But the real powerhouse of grass growth and survival lies beneath the soil. Our publication, <\/span>Understanding Native Perennial Grass Growth<\/span><\/i><\/a>, highlights how native perennial grasses rely on underground bud banks to regrow after grazing, fire, or drought.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

More than 99% of new tiller growth comes not from seed but from these buds, making them the foundation of rangeland grass growth. Active and dormant buds act as a reserve, ready to respond when conditions are right, while dead buds signal a decline in the plant\u2019s ability to regenerate. For landowners and managers, keeping these bud banks healthy and functioning is key to long-term productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Native perennial grasses depend heavily on their belowground bud banks for survival and regrowth. These reserves allow grasses to recover quickly from disturbances such as grazing, drought, or fire. Timing plays a critical role in this process. When grazing or prescribed fire is managed carefully, it can stimulate new growth and strengthen grasses simultaneously below and aboveground. However, if these practices are infrequently managed, or overmanaged, they can weaken plants by exhausting their reserves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all grasses are created equal. Some species, such as bluestems and warm season grasses, maintain larger bud banks than others, meaning management should be adapted to the grasses present in a pasture. Warm-season grasses, which dominate much of West Texas, often carry large, multi-aged bud banks that provide resilience, but only if they are managed properly. If too many buds die and too few remain active, plants enter a state of \u201cmeristem limitation,\u201d losing their ability to regenerate and leading to long-term decline in rangeland health.<\/span><\/p>\n

By understanding and protecting bud banks, rangeland managers can better plan grazing rotations, prescribed fire, and recovery periods to keep rangelands resilient and productive. More importantly, the competitive advantage to the grass and not the trees and brush.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcd6 For a deeper dive into the science of grass growth and management strategies, explore the full publication here:<\/span> Understanding Native Perennial Grass Growth<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Treadwell, Morgan, & Burson, R. (2021). <\/span>Understanding Native Perennial Grass Growth<\/span><\/i>. West Texas Rangelands. https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2023\/03\/understanding-native-perennial-grass-growth-1.pdf<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we think of rangelands, it\u2019s easy to focus on the grasses we see aboveground, the leaves, stems, and seedheads obvious in the West Texas wind. But the real powerhouse of grass growth and survival lies beneath the soil. Our publication, Understanding Native Perennial Grass Growth, highlights how native perennial grasses rely on underground bud… Read More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2037,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-grazing-management","category-plant-id","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNative Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground - West Texas Rangelands<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground - West Texas Rangelands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When we think of rangelands, it\u2019s easy to focus on the grasses we see aboveground, the leaves, stems, and seedheads obvious in the West Texas wind. But the real powerhouse of grass growth and survival lies beneath the soil. Our publication, Understanding Native Perennial Grass Growth, highlights how native perennial grasses rely on underground bud... Read More →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"West Texas Rangelands\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-01T09:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/09\/publication.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1204\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"406\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jaime.sanford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jaime.sanford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jaime.sanford\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c2816ab63232983ab3314452202a0a3\"},\"headline\":\"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-01T09:00:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/publication.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Grazing Management\",\"Plant ID\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648\",\"name\":\"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground - West Texas Rangelands\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/publication.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-01T09:00:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c2816ab63232983ab3314452202a0a3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/publication.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/files\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/publication.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?p=2648#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/\",\"name\":\"West Texas Rangelands\",\"description\":\"We hope to provide a variety of science-based rangeland information and current research on prescribed fire, wildfires, brush management, and grazing management!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c2816ab63232983ab3314452202a0a3\",\"name\":\"jaime.sanford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/458c5cfc0c19399fb22cb23797dc9739884b4f7a38b18ec43626a84895175194?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/458c5cfc0c19399fb22cb23797dc9739884b4f7a38b18ec43626a84895175194?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/458c5cfc0c19399fb22cb23797dc9739884b4f7a38b18ec43626a84895175194?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jaime.sanford\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/westtexasrangelands\\\/author\\\/jaime-sanford\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground - West Texas Rangelands","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground - West Texas Rangelands","og_description":"When we think of rangelands, it\u2019s easy to focus on the grasses we see aboveground, the leaves, stems, and seedheads obvious in the West Texas wind. But the real powerhouse of grass growth and survival lies beneath the soil. Our publication, Understanding Native Perennial Grass Growth, highlights how native perennial grasses rely on underground bud... Read More →","og_url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648","og_site_name":"West Texas Rangelands","article_published_time":"2025-10-01T09:00:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1204,"height":406,"url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/09\/publication.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"jaime.sanford","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jaime.sanford","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648"},"author":{"name":"jaime.sanford","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/#\/schema\/person\/9c2816ab63232983ab3314452202a0a3"},"headline":"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground","datePublished":"2025-10-01T09:00:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648"},"wordCount":378,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/09\/publication.png","articleSection":["Grazing Management","Plant ID"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648","name":"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground - West Texas Rangelands","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/09\/publication.png","datePublished":"2025-10-01T09:00:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/#\/schema\/person\/9c2816ab63232983ab3314452202a0a3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/09\/publication.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/files\/2025\/09\/publication.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?p=2648#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Native Perennial Grasses: Powerhouses Belowground"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/#website","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/","name":"West Texas Rangelands","description":"We hope to provide a variety of science-based rangeland information and current research on prescribed fire, wildfires, brush management, and grazing management!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/#\/schema\/person\/9c2816ab63232983ab3314452202a0a3","name":"jaime.sanford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/458c5cfc0c19399fb22cb23797dc9739884b4f7a38b18ec43626a84895175194?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/458c5cfc0c19399fb22cb23797dc9739884b4f7a38b18ec43626a84895175194?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/458c5cfc0c19399fb22cb23797dc9739884b4f7a38b18ec43626a84895175194?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jaime.sanford"},"url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/author\/jaime-sanford\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2037"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/westtexasrangelands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}