Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T10:54:43.626Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Burning Controls Barb Goatgrass (Aegilops triuncialis) in California Grasslands for at Least 7 Years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jaymee T. Marty*
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Galt, CA 95632
Sara B. Sweet
Affiliation:
The Nature Conservancy, Galt, CA 95632
Jennifer J. Buck-Diaz
Affiliation:
California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA 95816
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Barb goatgrass is an invasive annual grass from the Mediterranean region that negatively affects both native plant biodiversity and the forage quality of grasslands. Prescribed burning may be the best landscape-level tool available to manage invasive species like barb goatgrass while also enhancing biodiversity, but few studies have quantified the long-term effects of fire on goatgrass and the rest of the plant community. We assessed the effects of fire on an invading front of barb goatgrass on a private ranch in Sacramento County, CA. We established burned and unburned treatment plots within the goatgrass-infested area and used prescribed fire to burn the treatment plots in June 2005. We monitored plant-community composition before burning and for 7 consecutive yr following the burn. Additionally, we tested the viability of goatgrass seeds in both burned and unburned plots. One year after the burn, goatgrass cover in burned plots was 3% compared with 21% in unburned plots. This reduction in goatgrass cover was still strong 2 yr after the burn (burned, 6%; unburned, 27%) and weaker but still statistically significant for 4 of the next 5 yr. The burn also reduced germination of goatgrass seed by 99% as indicated by seed-viability tests conducted in the laboratory. The native plant community responded positively to the burn treatment in the first year following the burn with an increase in native diversity in burned plots vs. unburned plots, but the effect was not detectable in subsequent years. Nonnative annual forb species cover also increased in the first year following the burn. Our study shows that a single springtime burn can result in a short-term boost in native species diversity, reduced seed germination of barb goatgrass to near zero, and reduced cover of barb goatgrass for at least 7 yr after the burn.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

References

Literature Cited

Aigner, PA, Woerly, RJ (2011) Herbicides and mowing to control barb goatgrass (Aegilops triuncialis) and restore native plants in serpentine grasslands. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 4:448457 Google Scholar
Baldwin, BG, Goldman, DH, Keil, DJ, Patterson, R, Rosatti, TJ, Wilken, DH (2012) The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California, 2nd edn. Berkeley University of California Press. 1568 pGoogle Scholar
Barbour, MG, Burk, JH, Pitts, WD (1987) Terrestrial Plant Ecology. 2nd edn. Menlo Park, CA Benjamin/Cummings. 634 pGoogle Scholar
Bovey, RW, LeTourneau, D, Erickson, LC (1960) The chemical composition of medusahead and downy brome. Weeds 9:307311 Google Scholar
Corbin, JC, D’Antonio, CM, Bainbridge, SJ (2004) Tipping the balance in the restoration of native plants: experimental approaches to changing the exotic : native ratio in California grassland. Pages 154179 in Gordon, M, Bartol, L, eds. Experimental Approaches to Conservation Biology. Los Angeles University of California Press Google Scholar
Crampton, B (1974) Grasses in California. Berkeley, CA University of California Press. 184 pGoogle Scholar
Davy, JS, DiTomaso, JM, Laca, EA (2008) Barb Goatgrass. Davis, CA University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources No. 8315. 5 pGoogle Scholar
DiTomaso, JM (1994) Plants reported to be poisonous to animals in the United States. Vet Hum Toxicol 36:4952 Google Scholar
DiTomaso, JM, Heise, KL, Kyser, GB, Merenlender, AM, Keiffer, RJ (2001) Carefully timed burning can control barbed goatgrass. Calif Agric 55:4753 Google Scholar
DiTomaso, JM, Pitcairn, MJ, Enloe, SF (2007) Exotic plant management in California annual grasslands. Pages 281296 in Stromberg, MR, Corbin, JC, D’Antonio, C, eds. Ecology and Management of California Grasslands. Berkeley, CA University of California Press Google Scholar
Dyer, AR (2004) Maternal and sibling factors induce dormancy in dimorphic seed pairs of Aegilops triuncialis . Plant Ecol 172:211218 Google Scholar
George, MR, Brown, JR, Clawson, WJ (1992) Application of nonequilibrium ecology to management of Mediterranean grasslands. J Range Manage 45:436440 Google Scholar
Hopkinson, P, Fehmi, JS, Bartolome, JW (1999) Summer burns reduce cover, but not spread, of barbed goatgrass in California grassland. Ecol Restor 17:168169 Google Scholar
Keeley, JE, Franklin, J, D’Antonio, C (2011) Fire and invasive plants on California landscapes. Pages 193221 in McKenzie, D, Miller, C, Falk, DA, eds. The Landscape Ecology of Fire. Dordrecht, The Netherlands Springer Google Scholar
Klinger, R, Wills, R, Brooks, ML (2008) Fire and nonnative invasive plants in the southwest coastal bioregion. Pages 175196 in Zouhar, K, Smith, JK, Sutherland, S, Brooks, ML, eds. Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants. Ogden, UT U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station Google Scholar
Kyser, GB, Doran, MP, McDougald, NK, Orloff, SB, Vargas, RN, Wilson, RG, DiTomaso, JM (2008) Site characteristics determine the success of prescribed burning for medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae) control. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 1:376384 Google Scholar
Marty, JT (2002) Managing and Restoring California Annual Grassland Species: an Experimental Field Study. Ph.D dissertation. Davis, CA University of California. 116 pGoogle Scholar
Marty, JT (2007) Managing for biodiversity in vernal pool grasslands using fire and grazing. Pages 175186 in Schlising, RA, Alexander, DG, eds. Vernal Pool Landscapes: Studies from the Herbarium, Number 14. Chico, CA California State University Google Scholar
[NASS] National Agricultural Statistics Service (2013) Data item: Cattle, including calves—gross income, measured in dollars (for California in 2013). http://www.nass.usda.gov/index.asp. Accessed June 4, 2014Google Scholar
Peters, A, Johnson, DE, George, MR (1996) Barb goatgrass: a threat to California rangelands. Rangelands 18:810 Google Scholar
Pollak, O, Kan, T (1998) The use of prescribed fire to control invasive exotic weeds at Jepson Prairie Preserve. Pages 241249 in Witham, CW, Bauder, ET, Belk, D Jr. WRF, Ornduff, R, eds. Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Vernal Pool Ecosystems—Proceedings from a 1996 Conference. Sacramento, CA California Native Plant Society Google Scholar
Sawyer, J, Keeler-Wolf, T, Evens, J (2009) A Manual of California Vegetation. 2nd edn. Sacramento, CA California Native Plant Society. 1300 pGoogle Scholar
Scheiner, SM (1993) MANOVA: Multiple response variables and multispecies interactions. Pages 94112 in Scheiner, SM, Gurevitch, J, eds. Design and Analysis of Ecological Experiments. New York Chapman & Hall Google Scholar
Sokal, RR, Rohlf, FJ (1995) Biometry: The Principals and Practice of Statistics in Biological Research. New York WH Freeman and Company. 887 pGoogle Scholar
Sweet, SB, Kyser, GB, DiTomaso, JM (2008) Susceptibility of exotic annual grass seeds to fire. Invasive Plant Sci Manage 1:158167 Google Scholar
Tugel, A (1993) Soil Survey of Sacramento County, California. Sacramento, CA U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 399 pGoogle Scholar