Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T12:56:30.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of Forage Kochia on Seedling Growth of Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and Perennial Grasses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2019

Parmeshwor Aryal  and
M. Anowarul Islam Open the ORCID record for M. Anowarul Islam [Opens in a new window]
Parmeshwor Aryal
Affiliation:
Graduate Student, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
M. Anowarul Islam*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: M. Anowarul Islam, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Forage kochia [Bassia prostrata (L.) A. J. Scott] is competitive with annual weeds and has potential for use in reclamation of disturbed land. However, land managers are reluctant to use forage kochia in revegetation programs due to lack of understanding of its compatibility with or invasiveness in the native plant community. We conducted two greenhouse experiments, one to compare the competitive effect of forage kochia versus perennial grasses on growth of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) and one to study the effect of forage kochia on growth of native perennial grasses. In the first experiment, a single seedling of B. tectorum was grown with increasing neighbor densities (0 to 5 seedlings pot−1) of either forage kochia, crested wheatgrass [Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertner × A. desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schultes; nonnative perennial grass], or thickspike wheatgrass [Elymus lanceolatus (Scribn. & J. G. Sm.) Gould; native perennial grass]. Bromus tectorum growth was reduced moderately by all three perennial neighbors, but A. cristatum and E. lanceolatus had more effect on B. tectorum when compared with forage kochia. This experiment was repeated and similar results were observed. In the second experiment, forage kochia was grown with each of four native cool-season grass species: basin wildrye [Leymus cinereus (Scribn. & Merr.) Á. Löve], bluebunch wheatgrass [Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh) Á. Löve], E. lanceolatus, and western wheatgrass [Pascopyrum smithii (Rydb.) Á. Löve]. Forage kochia had no effect on height, tiller number, and aboveground biomass of native grasses. Similarly, native grasses did not show a significant effect on forage kochia seedlings. This experiment was also repeated, and forage kochia somewhat reduced the aboveground biomass of L. cinereus and P. spicata. However, all native grasses significantly reduced change in height, branching, and aboveground biomass of forage kochia. These results suggest that forage kochia interfered with B. tectorum seedling growth, but it showed little competitive effect on native grass seedlings.

Keywords

John Cardina, Ohio State UniversityCompetitive abilitynative perennial communityrevegetation
Type
Note
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 2018 , pp. 201 - 207
Copyright
© Weed Science Society of America, 2018 

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

Aerts, R, Boot, RGA, van der Aart, PJM (1991) The relation between above- and belowground biomass allocation patterns and competitive ability. Oecologia 87:551–559 Google Scholar
Aguirre, L, Johnson, DA (1991) Influence of temperature and cheatgrass competition on seedling development of two bunchgrasses. J Range Manag 44:347–354 Google Scholar
Asay, KH, Horton, WH, Jensen, KB, Palazzo, AJ (2001) Merits of native and introduced Triticeae grasses on semiarid rangelands. Can J Plant Sci 81:45–52 Google Scholar
Belnap, J, Phillips, SL (2001) Soil biota in an ungrazed grassland: response to annual grass (Bromus tectorum) invasion. Ecol Appl 11:1261–1275 Google Scholar
Blank, R, Morgan, T (2011) Evidence that invasion by cheatgrass alters soil nitrogen availability. Natural Resources and Environmental Issues 17:1–4 Google Scholar
Blauer, AC, McArthur, ED, Stevens, R, Nelson, SD (1993) Evaluation of Roadside Stabilization and Beautification Plantings in South-Central Utah. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station Res. Paper INT-462Google Scholar
Bolton, H, Smith, JL, Link, SO (1993) Soil microbial biomass and activity of a disturbed and undisturbed shrub-steppe ecosystem. Soil Biol Biochem 25:545–552 Google Scholar
Bradley, BA, Mustard, JF (2005) Identifying land cover variability distinct from land cover change: cheatgrass in the Great Basin. Remote Sens Environ 94:204–213 Google Scholar
Brandt, CA, Rickard, WH (1994) Alien taxa in the North American shrub-steppe four decades after cessation of livestock grazing and cultivation agriculture. Biol Conserv 68:95–105 Google Scholar
Brooks, ML, D’Antonio, CM, Richardson, DM, Grace, JB, Keeley, JE, Ditomaso, JM, Hobbs, RJ, Pellant, M, Pyke, D (2004) Effects of invasive alien plants on fire regimes. BioScience 54:677–688 Google Scholar
Brooks, ML, Pyke, DA (2001) Invasive plants and fire in the deserts of North America. Pages 1–14 in Galley KEM, Wilson TP, eds. Proceedings of the Invasive Species Workshop: The Role of Fire in the Control and Spread of Invasive Species. First National Congress on Fire Ecology, Prevention, and Management. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL: Miscellaneous Publication No. 11 Google Scholar
Buman, RA, Monsen, SB, Abernethy, RH (1988) Seedling competition between mountain rye, “Hycrest” crested wheatgrass, and downy brome. J Range Manag 41:30–34 Google Scholar
Casper, BB, Jackson, RB (1997) Plant competition underground. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 28:545–570 Google Scholar
Clements, CD, Gray, KJ, Young, JA (1997) Forage kochia: to seed or not to seed. Rangelands 19:29–31 Google Scholar
Cline, FJ, Uresk, DW, Rickard, WH (1977) Comparison of soil water used by a sagebrush-bunchgrass and a cheatgrass community. J Range Manag 30:199–201 Google Scholar
Copeland, HE, Pocewicz, A, Kiesecker, JM (2011) Geography of energy development in Western North America: potential impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Pages 7–22 in Naugle DE, ed. Energy Development and Wildlife Conservation in Western North America. Washington, DC: Island Press Google Scholar
Cronin, EH, Williams, MC (1966) Principles for managing ranges infested with halogeton. J Range Manag 19:226–227 Google Scholar
Davies, KW, Johnson, DD (2017) Established perennial vegetation provides high resistance to reinvasion by exotic annual grasses. Rangeland Ecol Manag 70:748–754 Google Scholar
Evans, RA (1961) Effects of different densities of downy brome (Bromus tectorum) on growth and survival of crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum) in the greenhouse. Weeds 9:216–223 Google Scholar
Gibson, DJ, Connolly, J, Hartnett, DC, Weidenhamer, JD (1999) Designs for greenhouse studies of interactions between plants. J Ecol 87:1–16 Google Scholar
Goldberg, DE, Fleetwood, L (1987) Competitive effect and response in four annual plants. J Ecol 75:1131–1143 Google Scholar
Gray, EC, Muir, PS (2013) Does Kochia prostrata spread from seeded sites? An evaluation from southwestern Idaho, USA. Rangeland Ecol Manag 66:191–203 Google Scholar
Harris, GA (1977) Root phenology as a factor of competition among grass seedlings. J Range Manage 30:172–176 Google Scholar
Harrison, RD, Chatterton, NJ, Waldron, BL, Davenport, BW, Palazzo, AJ, Horton, WH, Asay, KH (2000) Forage kochia: its compatibility and potential aggressiveness on intermountain rangelands. Logan, UT: Utah State University, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Res Rep 162. 66 pGoogle Scholar
Harrison, RD, Waldron, BL, Jensen, KB, Page, R, Monaco, TA, Horton, WH, Palazzo, AJ (2002) Forage kochia helps fight range fires. Rangelands 24:3–7 Google Scholar
Henderson, DC, Naeth, MA (2005) Multi-scale impacts of crested wheatgrass invasion in mixed-grass prairie. Biol Invasions 7:639–650 Google Scholar
Hulbert, LC (1955) Ecological studies of Bromus tectorum and other annual bromegrasses. Ecol Monogr 25:181–213 Google Scholar
Hull, AC, Klomp, GJ (1967) Thickening and spread of crested wheatgrass stands on southern Idaho ranges. J Range Manage 20:222–227 Google Scholar
Humphrey, LD, Schupp, EW (2004) Competition as a barrier to establishment of a native perennial grass (Elymus elymoides) in alien annual grass (Bromus tectorum) communities. J Arid Environ 58:405–422 Google Scholar
Keller, W, Bleak, AT (1974) Kochia prostrata: a shrub for western ranges? Utah Sci 35:24–25 Google Scholar
Knapp, PA (1996) Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) dominance in the Great Basin desert: history, persistence, and influences to human activities. Glob Environ Chang 6:37–52 Google Scholar
Koch, DW, Asay, W (2001) Forage Kochia: A Forage with Fall and Winter Grazing Potential. University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service B-1122.5 Google Scholar
Levine, JM, Vila, M, D’Antonio, C, Dukes, JS, Grigulis, K, Lavorel, S (2003) Mechanisms underlying the impact of exotic plant invasions. Proc R Soc Lond B 270:775–781 Google Scholar
Li, L, Sun, JH, Zhang, FS, Guo, TW, Bao, XG, Smith, FA, Smith, SE (2006) Root distribution and interactions between intercropped species. Oecologia 147:280–290 Google Scholar
Lowe, PN, Lauenroth, WK, Burke, IC (2003) Effects of nitrogen availability on competition between Bromus tectorum and Bouteloua gracilis . Plant Ecol 167:247–254 Google Scholar
Mack, RN (2011) Fifty years of “waging war on cheatgrass,” research advances, while meaningful control languishes. Pages 253–265 in Richardson DM, ed. Fifty Years of Invasion Ecology: The Legacy of Charles Elton. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell Google Scholar
McArthur, ED, Blauer, AC, Stevens, R (1990) Forage kochia competition with cheatgrass in central Utah. Pages 56–65 in McArthur ED, Romney EM, Smith SD, Tueller PT, eds. Proceedings of Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-Off, and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report INT-276Google Scholar
McArthur, ED, Guinta, BC, Plummer, AP (1974) Shrubs for restoration of depleted ranges and disturbed areas. Utah Sci 35:28–33 Google Scholar
McGlone, C, Sieg, C, Kolb, T (2011) Invasion resistance and persistence: established plants win, even with disturbance and high propagule pressure. Biol Invasions 13:291–304 Google Scholar
Menalled, F, Mangold, J, Davis, E (2008) Cheatgrass: Identification, Biology and Integrated Management. Montana State University Extension. http://ipm.montana.edu/documents/Cheatgrass.pdf. Accessed: July 10, 2018Google Scholar
Monaco, TA (2004) Photosynthesis and water relations of the salt desert shrub Kochia prostrata. Pages 19–21 in Proceedings—Forage Kochia Workshop and Tour. Logan, UT, November 9–10, 2004Google Scholar
Monaco, TA, Waldron, BL, Newhall, RL, Horton, WH (2003) Re-establishing perennial vegetation in cheatgrass monocultures. Rangelands 25: 26–29 Google Scholar
Monsen, SB (1994) Selection of plants for fire suppression on semiarid sites. Pages 363–373 in Monsen SB, Kitchen SG, compilers, Proceedings: Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report INT-GTR-313Google Scholar
Monsen, SB, Turnipseed, D (1990) Seeding forage kochia onto cheatgrass-infested rangelands. Pages 66–71 in McArthur ED, Romney EM, Smith SD, Tueller PT, eds. Proceedings of Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-Off, and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report INT-276Google Scholar
Nafus, AM, Svejcar, TJ, Ganskopp, DC, Davies, KW (2015) Abundances of coplanted native bunchgrasses and crested wheatgrass after 13 Years. Rangeland Ecol Manage 68: 211–214 Google Scholar
O’Connor, TG (1991) Local extinction in perennial grasslands: a life-history approach. Am Nat 137:753–773 Google Scholar
Pellant, M (1990) The cheatgrass–wildfire cycle–are there any solutions? Pages 11–18 in McArthur ED, Romney EM, Smith SD, Tueller PT, eds. Proceedings of Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-Off, and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report INT-276Google Scholar
Pendleton, RL, Frischknecht, NC, McArthur, ED (1992) Long-Term Survival of 20 Selected Plant Accessions in a Rush Valley, Utah, Planting. Ogden, UT: USDA, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station Research Note INT-403. 7 pGoogle Scholar
Pyke, DA (1999) Invasive exotic plants in sagebrush ecosystems of the Intermountain West. Pages 43–54 in Entwistle PG, Debolt AM, Kaltenecker JH, Steenhof K, eds. Proceedings: Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium, June 21–23, 1999. Boise, ID: Boise State University Google Scholar
Rees, M, Condit, R, Crawley, M, Pacala, S, Tilman, D (2001) Long-term studies of vegetation dynamics. Science 293:650–655 Google Scholar
Rose, KK, Hild, AL, Whitson, TD, Koch, DW, Tassell, LV (2001) Competitive effects of cool-season grasses on re-establishment of three weed species. Weed Technol 15:885–891 Google Scholar
SAS Institute (2014) SAS for Windows. Release Version 9.4. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Google Scholar
Stevens, R, Jorgensen, KR, McArthur, ED, Davis, JN (1985) ‘Immigrant’ forage kochia. Rangelands 7:22–23 Google Scholar
Stevens, R, McArthur, ED (1990) ‘Immigrant’ forage kochia competition with halogeton following various seeding techniques. Pp 175–180 in McArthur ED, Romney EM, Smith SD, Tueller PT, eds. Proceedings of Symposium on Cheatgrass Invasion, Shrub Die-Off, and Other Aspects of Shrub Biology and Management. Ogden, UT: USDA Forest Service, General Technical Report INT-276Google Scholar
Stewart, G, Hull, AC (1949) Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.): an ecological intruder in southern Idaho. Ecology 30:58–74 Google Scholar
Sullivan, TA, Anderson, VJ, Fugal, AR (2013) Kochia prostrata establishment with pre-seeding disturbance in three plant communities. Int Res J Agric Sci Soil Sci 3:353–361 Google Scholar
Thompson, TW, Roundy, BA, McArthur, ED, Jessop, BD, Waldron, B, Davis, JN (2006) Fire rehabilitation using native and introduced species: A landscape trial. Rangeland Ecol Manag 59:237–248 Google Scholar
Waldron, BL, Eun, JS, ZoBell, DR, Olson, KC (2010) Forage kochia (Kochia prostrata) for fall and winter grazing. Small Ruminant Res 91:47–55 Google Scholar
Whitson, TD, Koch, DW (1998) Control of downy brome (Bromus tectorum) with herbicides and perennial grass competition. Weed Technol 12:391–396 Google Scholar
Young, JA, Clements, CD (2004) The place of forage kochia in rangeland environments. Pages 14–15 in Proceedings—Forage Kochia Workshop and Tour. Logan, UT, November 9–10, 2004Google Scholar
Young, JA, Evans, RA (1978) Population dynamics after wildfires in sagebrush grasslands. J Range Manage 31:283–289 Google Scholar
Young, JA, Evans, RA, Eckert, RE (1969) Population dynamics of downy brome. Weed Sci 17:20–26 Google Scholar
Young, JA, Evans, RA, Eckert, RE, Kay, BL (1987) Cheatgrass. Rangelands 9:266–270 Google Scholar