Economic feasibility of redberry juniper control using individual tree treatments

Redberry juniper is one of the most common undesirable plants on Texas rangelands. Redberry juniper is an evergreen conifer found mainly in westem Texas. Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona (Smith, Wright, and Schuster, 1975). Redberry juniper grows to about 7.6 m tall with lower branches occurring close to the ground (Correll and Johnston, 1970). According to Scifres (1980), redberry juniper occurs most frequently on rough rangeland on shallow soils in the Rolling Plains and Edwards Plateau Region of Texas. Cedar (redberry juniper) is a resprouter, with its bud zone often located beneath the soil surface (Dye, Ueckert, and Whisenant, 1995).

Redberry juniper infestations have plagued rangelands since the early twentieth century because of overgrazing, periodic droughts, climatic conditions and atmospheric CO2 concentration more favorable for woody plants, and the absence of natural fires. In the last 50 years, however, infestations have increased. Redberry juniper infestations have increased from 2.5 million ha in 1948 to 4.1 million ha in 1982 in a 65-county area in northwestem Texas (Ansley, Pinchak, and Ueckert, 1995). The National Resources Inventory estimated in 1987 that moderate-to-dense infestations of cedar in northwest Texas had increased by 16% from 1982 to 1987 (USDA, 1990). This increase in redberry juniper poses threats to the economic potential of rangeland in the Rolling Plains and Edwards Plateau regions of Texas.

Although much research has been conducted on techniques and approaches to control redberry juniper, limited research has been done to evaluate the economic feasibility of the various control practices. This study evaluated the economic feasibility of individual tree hexazinone applications as an initial method of redberry juniper control and as a maintenance treatment following mechanical methods.