Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T11:00:12.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Barriers to Establishment of Invading, Non-forest Plants in Deciduous Forest Nature Reserves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Bradlay D. Bricker
Affiliation:
Department of Botany, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.

Extract

A field experiment was conducted to define minimum values of irradiance (i.e. light reaching the forest floor) and exposed mineral soil required for non-forest species to become established in deciduous forest in Southern Canada. Three logging intensities (0%, 33%, and 66%, of tree basal-area removed) were combined with three plot sizes (0.01, 0.05, and 0.20 ha) to create a range of values of irradiance and exposed mineral soil. The total number of non-forest species that became established during the first three years after logging was recorded.

Non-forest species invaded experimental plots only when irradiance was at least 8% of incident light. There was no single minimum area of exposed mineral soil required for invasion. A few non-forest species became established even in the absence of exposed mineral soil where penetrating irradiance was 8% or greater. More non-forest species became established as irradiance and the amount of exposed mineral soil increased.

Logging increased both irradiance and the amount of exposed mineral soil. Only a small amount of logging (e.g. 33% removal of tree basal-area from a 0.01 ha plot) would be compatible with the conservation objective of preventing invasion by undesirable non-forest species.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ashton, P.J. & Mitchell, D.S. (1989). Aquatic plants: patterns and modes of invasion, attributes of invading species and assessment of control programmes. Pp. 111–54 in Drake et al. (q. v.).Google Scholar
Bossard, C.C. (1991). The role of habitat disturbance, seed predation and ant dispersal on establishment of the exotic shrub Cytisus scoparius in California. American Midland Naturalist, 126, pp. 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cid-Benevento, C.R. & Werner, P.A. (1986). Local distributions of old-field and woodland annual plan species: demography, physiological tolerances and allocation of biomass of five species grown in experimental light and soil-moisture gradients. Journal of Ecology, 74, pp. 857–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, J.A., Mooney, H.A., Castri, F. Di, Groves, R.H., Kruger, F.J., Rejmanek, M. & Williamson, M. (Eds) (1989). Biological Invasions: A Global Perspective. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, England, UK: xi + 525 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Forcella, F. & Harvey, S.J. (1983). Eurasian weed infestation in western Montana in relation to vegetation and disturbance. Madrońo, 30, pp. 102–9.Google Scholar
Geldenhuys, C.J., Roux, P.J. Le & Cooper, K.J. (1986). Alien invasions in indigenous evergreen forest. Pp. 119–31 in The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions in Southern Africa (Eds MacDonald, I.A.W., Kruger, F.J. & Ferrar, F.J.). Oxford University Press, Cape Town, South Africa:Google Scholar
Gleason, H.A. & Cronquist, A. (1963). Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Van Nostrand, Toronto, Canada: li + 810 pp.Google Scholar
Groves, R.H. (1989). Ecological control of invasive terrestrial plants. Pp. 437–61 in Drake et al. (q. v.).Google Scholar
Hobbs, R.J. (1989). The nature and effects of disturbance relative to invasions. Pp. 389405 in Drake et al. (q. v.).Google Scholar
Hobbs, R.J. & Atkins, L. (1988). Effect of disturbance and nutrient addition on native and introduced annuals in plant communities in the Western Australian wheatbelt. Australian Journal of Ecology, 13, pp. 171–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, R.J. & Atkins, L. (1991). Interactions between annuals and woody perennials in a Western Australian nature reserve. Journal of Vegetation Science, 2, pp. 643–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huenneke, L.F., Hamburg, S.P., Koide, R., Mooney, H.A. & Vitousek, P.M. (1990). Effects of soil resources on plant invasion and community structure in Californian serpentine grassland. Ecology, 71, pp. 478–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnstone, I.M. (1986). Plant invasion windows: a time-based classification of invasion potential. Biological Reviews, 61, pp. 369–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, W.G., Wilson, J.B., Meurk, C.D. & Kennedy, P.C. (1991). Invasion of the subantarctic Aukland Islands, New Zealand, by the asterad tree Olearia lyalli and its interaction with a resident myrtaceous tree Metrosideros umbellata. Journal of Biogeography, 18, pp. 493508.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacDonald, I.A.W., Loope, L.L., Usher, M.B. & Hamann, O. (1989). Wildlife conservation and the invasion of nature reserves by introduced species: a global perspective. Pp. 215–55 in Drake et al. (q. v.).Google Scholar
Myers, R.L. (1983). Site susceptibility to invasion by the exotic tree Melaleuca quinquenervia in southern Florida. Journal of Applied Ecology, 20, pp. 645–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierson, E.A. & Mack, R.N. (1990). The population biology of Bromus tectorum in forests: effects of disturbance, grazing, and litter on seedling establishment and reproduction. Oecologia (Berlin), 84, pp. 526–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rejmanek, M. (1989). Invasibility of plant communities. Pp. 369–88 in Drake et al. (q. v.).Google Scholar
Richardson, D.M. & Bond, W.J. (1991). Determinants of plant distribution: evidence from pine invasions. American Naturalist, 137, pp. 639–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sydes, C. & Grime, J.P. (1981). Effects of tree leaf litter on herbaceous vegetation in deciduous woodland: I, Field investigations. Journal of Ecology, 69, pp. 237–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Usher, M.B. (1986). Invasibility and wildlife conservation: invasive species on nature reserves. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 314, pp. 695710.Google Scholar
Usher, M.B., Kruger, F.J., MacDonald, I.A.W., Loope, L.L. & Brockie, R.E. (1988). The ecology of biological invasions into Nature Reserves: an introduction. Biological Conservation, 44, pp. 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zar, J.H. (1984). Biostatistical Analysis. Prentice-Hall, Newark, New Jersey, USA: xiv + 718 pp.Google Scholar