Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T17:24:38.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

First-Year Establishment, Biomass and Seed Production of Early vs. Late Seral Natives in Two Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) Invaded Soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Shauna M. Uselman ,
Keirith A. Snyder ,
Elizabeth A. Leger  and
Sara E. Duke
Shauna M. Uselman*
Affiliation:
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Great Basin Rangeland Research Unit, Reno, NV 89512
Keirith A. Snyder
Affiliation:
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Great Basin Rangeland Research Unit, Reno, NV 89512
Elizabeth A. Leger
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV 89557
Sara E. Duke
Affiliation:
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Southern Plains Area Office, College Station, Texas 77845
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Re-seeding efforts to restore or rehabilitate Great Basin rangelands invaded by exotic annual grasses are expensive and have generally achieved limited success. There is a need to identify new strategies to improve restoration outcomes. We tested the performance of a native early seral seed mix (annual forbs, early seral grasses and shrubs) with that of a native late seral mix representative of species commonly used in restoration when growing with medusahead in soils of contrasting texture (sandy loam and clay loam) through the first growing season after seeding. Natives were also seeded without medusahead. We found that the grasses and forbs in the early seral mix established significantly better than those in the late seral mix, and the early seral mix significantly reduced aboveground biomass and seed production of medusahead by 16 and 17% respectively, likely because of competition with the early seral native forb, bristly fiddleneck. Medusahead performance was reduced in both soil types, suggesting utility of bristly fiddleneck in restoration is not limited to only one soil type. In contrast, the late seral mix did not suppress medusahead establishment, aboveground biomass or seed production. Although the native perennial grasses, particularly early seral species, were able to establish with medusahead, these grasses did not appear to have a suppressive effect on medusahead during the first growing season. Medusahead was able to establish and produce seeds on both soil types, demonstrating an ability to expand its current range in the Intermountain West, though aboveground biomass and seed production was higher in the clay loam. Our results suggest that certain species may play a key role in restoration, and that targeting early seral species in particular to find additional native species with the ability to suppress exotic annual grasses is an important next step in improving restoration outcomes in desert ecosystems.

Keywords

Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski)bristly fiddleneck (Amsinckia tessellata A. Gray)Exotic annual grassfirst-year establishmentfunctional traitsnative plantsrestorationplant-soil relationships
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 291 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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.)

Footnotes

Current address: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada-Reno, Reno, NV 89557

References

Literature Cited

Abella, SR, Craig, DJ, Smith, SD, Newton, AC (2012) Identifying native vegetation for reducing exotic species during the restoration of desert ecosystems. Restor Ecol 20:781–787 Google Scholar
Aguirre, L, Johnson, DA (1991) Influence of temperature and cheatgrass competition on seedling development of two bunchgrasses. J Range Manage 44:347–354 Google Scholar
Association of Official Seed Analysts (1988) Rules for testing seeds. J Seed Technol 12:1–186 Google Scholar
Blaisdell, JP (1958) Seasonal development and yield of native plants on the upper Snake River Plains and their relation to certain climatic factors. TB1190. Washington, DC USDA Google Scholar
Blank, RR, Morgan, T (2012) Suppression of Bromus tectorum L. by established perennial grasses: potential mechanisms—part one. Appl Environ Soil Sci. DOI: 10.1155/2012/632172Google Scholar
Booth, MS, Caldwell, MM, Stark, JM (2003) Overlapping resource use in three Great Basin species: implications for community invasibility and vegetation dynamics. J Ecol 91:36–48 Google Scholar
Borman, MM, Krueger, WC, Johnson, DE (1991) Effects of established perennial grasses on yields of associated annual weeds. J Range Manage 44:318–322 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
Brown, CS, Anderson, VJ, Claassen, VP, Stannard, ME, Wilson, LM, Atkinson, SY, Bromberg, JE, Grant, TA III, Munis, MD (2008) Restoration ecology and invasive plants in the semiarid West. Inv Plant Sci Manage 1:399–413 Google Scholar
Brown, CS, Rice, KJ (2010) Effects of belowground resource use complementarity on invasion of constructed grassland plant communities. Biol Invasions 12:1319–1334 Google Scholar
Chambers, JC, Roundy, BA, Blank, RR, Meyer, SE, Whittaker, A (2007) What makes Great Basin sagebrush ecosystems invasible by Bromus tectorum? Ecol Monogr 77:117–145 Google Scholar
D'Antonio, CM, Vitousek, PM (1992) Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 23:63–87 Google Scholar
Dahl, BE, Tisdale, EW (1975) Environmental factors related to medusahead distribution. J Range Manage 28:463–468 Google Scholar
Davies, KW (2008) Medusahead dispersal and establishment in sagebrush steppe plant communities. Rangeland Ecol Manage 61:110–115 Google Scholar
Davies, KW, Svejcar, TJ (2008) Comparison of medusahead-invaded and noninvaded Wyoming big sagebrush steppe in southeastern Oregon. Rangeland Ecol Manage 61:623–629 Google Scholar
Eiswerth, ME, Shonkwiler, JS (2006) Examining post-wildfire reseeding on arid rangeland: A multivariate tobit modelling approach. Ecol Model 192:286–298 Google Scholar
Epanchin-Niell, R, Englin, J, Nalle, D (2009) Investing in rangeland restoration in the Arid West, USA: Countering the effects of an invasive weed on the long-term fire cycle. J Environ Manage 91:370–379 Google Scholar
Fargione, J, Brown, CS, Tilman, D (2003) Community assembly and invasion: an experimental test of neutral versus niche processes. P Natl Acad Sci USA 100:8916–8920 Google Scholar
Ferguson, SD (2012) Investigations of physiological and competitive relationships of Elymus species related to establishment in the Great Basin, USA. M.S. thesis. Reno, NV University of Nevada-Reno. 76 pGoogle Scholar
Forbis, TA (2010) Germination phenology of some Great Basin native annual forb species. Plant Spec Biol 25:221–230 Google Scholar
Funk, JL, Cleland, EE, Suding, KN, Zavaleta, ES (2008) Restoration through reassembly: plant traits and invasion resistance. Trends Ecol Evol 23:695–703 Google Scholar
Goodrich, S, McArthur, ED, Winward, AH (1999) Sagebrush ecotones and average annual precipitation. Pages 88–94 in McArthur, ED, Osterler, WK, Wambolt, CL, compilers. Proceedings: Shrubland Ecotones. RMRS-P-11. Ogden, UT USDA, U.S. Forest Service Google Scholar
Hardegree, SP, Jones, TA, Roundy, BA, Shaw, NL, Monaco, TA (2011) Assessment of range planting as a conservation practice. Pages 171–212 in Briske, DD, ed. Conservation Benefits of Rangeland Practices: Assessment, Recommendations, and Knowledge Gaps. Lawrence, KS USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service Google Scholar
Hardegree, SP, Moffet, CA, Roundy, BA, Jones, TA, Novak, SJ, Clark, PE, Pierson, FB, Flerchinger, GN (2010) A comparison of cumulative-germination response of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) and five perennial bunchgrass species to simulated field-temperature regimes. Environ Exp Bot 69:320–327 Google Scholar
Harris, GA (1977) Root phenology as a factor of competition among grass seedlings. J Range Manage 30:172–177 Google Scholar
Hironaka, M (1961) The relative rate of root development of cheatgrass and medusahead. J Range Manage 14:263–267 Google Scholar
Hironaka, M, Sindelar, BW (1973) Reproductive success of squirreltail in medusahead infested ranges. J Range Manage 26:219–221 Google Scholar
Hironaka, M, Tisdale, EW (1963) Secondary succession in annual vegetation in southern Idaho. Ecology 44:810–812 Google Scholar
Hironaka, M, Tisdale, EW (1972) Growth and development of Sitanion hystrix and Poa sandbergii. RM 72-24. Logan, UT U.S. International Biological Program, Desert Biome 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
James, JJ, Svejcar, TJ, Rinella, MJ (2011) Demographic processes limiting seedling recruitment in arid grassland restoration. J Appl Ecol 48:961–969 Google Scholar
Johnson, DD, Davies, KW (2012) Medusahead management in sagebrush-steppe rangelands: prevention, control, and revegetation. Rangelands 34:32–38 Google Scholar
Jones, TA (2009) Dynamics of dormancy-status subpopulations of Indian ricegrass seed held in dry storage. Rangeland Ecol Manage 62:284–289 Google Scholar
Jorgensen, KR, Stevens, R (2004) Seed collection, cleaning, and storage. Pages 699–716 in Monsen, SB, Stevens, R, Shaw, NL,compilers. Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands, vol. 3. RMRS-GTR-136-vol-3. Fort Collins, CO USDA, U.S. Forest Service Google Scholar
Kyser, GB, Wilson, RG, Zhang, J, DiTomaso, JM (2013) Herbicide-assisted restoration of Great Basin sagebrush steppe infested with medusahead and downy brome. Rangeland Ecol Manage 66:588–596 Google Scholar
Leger, EA (2013) Annual plants change in size over a century of observations. Global Change Biol 19:2229–2239 Google Scholar
Leger, EA, Goergen, EM, Forbis de Queiroz, T (2014) Can native annual forbs reduce Bromus tectorum biomass and indirectly facilitate establishment of a native perennial grass? J Arid Environ 102:9–16 Google Scholar
Mazzola, MB, Chambers, JC, Blank, RR, Pyke, DA, Schupp, EW, Allcock, KG, Doescher, PS, Nowak, RS (2011) Effects of resource availability and propagule supply on native species recruitment in sagebrush ecosystems invaded by Bromus tectorum . Biol Invasions 13:513–526 Google Scholar
Meyer, SE, Kitchen, SG (1992) Cyclic seed dormancy in the short-lived perennial Penstemon palmeri . J Ecol 80:115–122 Google Scholar
Meyer, SE, McArthur, ED, Jorgensen, GL (1989) Variation in germination response to temperature in rubber rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus: Asteraceae) and its ecological implications. Am J Bot 76:981–991 Google Scholar
Meyer, SE, Monsen, SB, McArthur, ED (1990) Germination response of Artemisia tridentata (Asteraceae) to light and chill: patterns of between-population variation. Bot Gaz 151:176–183 Google Scholar
Monsen, SB, Stevens, R (2004) Seedbed preparation and seeding practices. Pages 121–154 in Monsen, SB, Stevens, R, Shaw, NL, compilers. Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands, vol. 1. RMRS-GTR-136-vol-1. Fort Collins, CO USDA, U.S. Forest Service Google Scholar
Parkinson, H, Zabinski, C, Shaw, N (2013) Impact of native grasses and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) on Great Basin forb seedling growth. Rangeland Ecol Manage 66:174–180 Google Scholar
Pellant, M, Hall, C (1994) Distribution of two exotic grasses on Intermountain rangelands: Status in 1992. Pages 109–112 in Monsen, SB, Kitchen, SG, compilers. Proceedings-Ecology and Management of Annual Rangelands. INT-GTR-313. Ogden, UT USDA, U.S. Forest Service Google Scholar
Perry, LG, Cronin, SA, Paschke, MW (2009) Native cover crops suppress exotic annuals and favor native perennials in a greenhouse competition experiment. Plant Ecol 204:247–259 Google Scholar
Pyke, DA (1990) Comparative demography of co-occurring introduced and native tussock grasses: persistence and potential expansion. Oecologia 82:537–543 Google Scholar
Ray-Mukherjee, J, Jones, TA, Adler, PB, Monaco, TA (2011) Immature seedling growth of two North American native perennial bunchgrasses and the invasive grass Bromus tectorum . Rangeland Ecol Manage 64:358–365 Google Scholar
Seabloom, EW (2011) Spatial and temporal variability in propagule limitation of California native grasses. Oikos 120:291–301 Google Scholar
Snaydon, RW (1991) Replacement of additive designs for competitive studies? J Appl Ecol 28:930–946 Google Scholar
Soil Survey Staff, [NRCS] Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA. Web Soil Survey. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov. Accessed May 12, 2010.Google Scholar
Stevens, R, Monsen, SB (2004) Mechanical plant control. Pages 65–88 in Monsen, SB, Stevens, R, Shaw, NL, compilers. Restoring Western Ranges and Wildlands, vol. 1. RMRS-GTR-136-vol-1. Fort Collins, CO USDA, U.S. Forest Service Google Scholar
Thomsen, MA, D'Antonio, CM (2007) Mechanisms of resistance to invasion in a California grassland: the roles of competitor identity, resource availability, and environmental gradients. Oikos 116:17–30 Google Scholar
West, NE, Young, JA (2000) Intermountain valleys and lower mountain slopes. Pages 256–284 in Barbour, MB, Billings, WD, eds. North American Terrestrial Vegetation. Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press Google Scholar
Young, JA (1992) Ecology and management of medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae ssp. asperum [SIMK.] Melderis). Great Basin Nat 52:245–252 Google Scholar
Young, JA, Evans, RA (1970) Invasion of medusahead into the Great Basin. Weed Sci 18:89–97 Google Scholar
Young, K, Mangold, J (2008) Meadusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) outperforms squirreltail (Elymus elymoides) through interference and growth rate. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 1:73–81 Google Scholar
Young, SL, Barney, JN, Kyser, GB, Jones, TS, DiTomaso, JM (2009) Functionally similar species confer greater resistance to invasion: implications for grassland restoration. Restor Ecol 17:884–892 Google Scholar
Zar, JH (1996) Biostatistical Analysis. 3rd edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice-Hall Google Scholar