Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T05:37:18.606Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Developing minimal-input techniques for invasive plant management: perimeter treatments enlarge native grass patches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2020

Scott R. Abella Open the ORCID record for Scott R. Abella [Opens in a new window] ,
Lindsay P. Chiquoine ,
Jeremy M. Moss ,
Eric D. Lassance  and
Charles D. Schelz
Scott R. Abella*
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Lindsay P. Chiquoine
Affiliation:
Research Associate, School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Jeremy M. Moss
Affiliation:
Archaeologist and Chief of Resource Stewardship and Science, Pecos National Historical Park, National Park Service, Pecos, NM, USA
Eric D. Lassance
Affiliation:
Biologist, Pecos National Historical Park, National Park Service, Pecos, NM, USA
Charles D. Schelz
Affiliation:
Ecologist, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Bureau of Land Management, Medford, OR, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Scott R. Abella, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Life Sciences, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV89154-4004. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There is a continual need for invasive plant science to develop approaches for cost-effectively benefiting native over nonnative species in dynamic management and biophysical contexts, including within predominantly nonnative plant landscapes containing only small patches of native plants. Our objective was to test the effectiveness of a minimal-input strategy for enlarging native species patches within a nonnative plant matrix. In Pecos National Historical Park, New Mexico, USA, we identified 40 native perennial grass patches within a matrix of the nonnative annual forb kochia [Bassia scoparia (L.) A.J. Scott]. We mechanically cut B. scoparia in a 2-m-wide ring surrounding the perimeters of half the native grass patches (with the other half as uncut controls) and measured change in native grass patch size (relative to pretreatment) for 3 yr. Native grass patches around which B. scoparia was cut grew quickly the first posttreatment year and by the third year had increased in size four times more than control patches. Treated native grass patches expanded by an average of 25 m2, from 4 m2 in October 2015 before treatment to 29 m2 in October 2018. The experiment occurred during a dry period, conditions that should favor B. scoparia and contraction of the native grasses, suggesting that the observed increase in native grasses occurred despite suboptimal climatic conditions. Strategically treating around native patches to enlarge them over time showed promise as a minimal-input technique for increasing the proportion of the landscape dominated by native plants.

Keywords

Archaeological resourcesBassia scopariacultural resource managementkochianational parkperennial grass
Type
Note
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 108 - 113
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States.
Copyright
© Weed Science Society of America, 2020

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

Associate Editor: Edith Allen, University of California, Riverside

References

Abella, SR (2014) Effectiveness of exotic plant treatments on National Park Service lands in the United States. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 7:147–163CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abella, SR, Craig, DJ, Chiquoine, LP, Prengaman, KA, Schmid, SM, Embrey, TM (2011) Relationships of native desert plants with red brome (Bromus rubens): toward identifying invasion–reducing species. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 4:115–124CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abella, SR, Springer, JD, Covington, WW (2007) Seed banks of an Arizona Pinus ponderosa landscape: responses to environmental gradients and fire cues. Can J For Res 37:552–567CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, EB (1982) Water and nutrient competition between Salsola kali and two native grass species (Agropyron smithii and Bouteloua gracilis). Ecology 63:732–741CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, PS, Meyer, SE (2014) Community structure affects annual grass weed invasion during restoration of a shrub-steppe ecosystem. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 7:1–13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benjamini, Y, Hochberg, Y (1995) Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J R Stat Soc B 57:289–300Google Scholar
Burnside, OC, Wilson, RG, Weisberg, S, Hubbard, KG (1996) Seed longevity of 41 weed species buried 17 years in eastern and western Nebraska. Weed Sci 44:74–86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corbin, JD, D’Antonio, CM (2012) Gone but not forgotten? Invasive plants’ legacies on community and ecosystem properties. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 5:117–124CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cutway, HB (2017) Effects of long-term manual invasive plant removal on forest understory composition. Nat Areas J 37:530–539CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, KW, Sheley, RL (2011) Promoting native vegetation and diversity in exotic annual grass infestations. Restor Ecol 19:159–165CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dille, JA, Stahlman, PW, Du, J, Geier, PW, Riffel, JD, Currie, RS, Wilson, RG, Sbatella, GM, Westra, P, Kniss, AR, Moechnig, MJ, Cole, RM (2017) Kochia (Kochia scoparia) emergence profiles and seed persistence across the central Great Plains. Weed Sci 65:614–625CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, SE, Byrne, KM, Lauenroth, WK, Burke, IC (2011) Defining the limit to resistance in a drought-tolerant grassland: long-term severe drought significantly reduces the dominant species and increases ruderals. J Ecol 99:1500–1507CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fair, J, Lauenroth, WK, Coffin, DP (1999) Demography of Bouteloua gracilis in a mixed prairie: analysis of genets and individuals. J Ecol 87:233–243CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friesen, LF, Beckie, HJ, Warwick, SI, Van Acker, RC (2009) The biology of Canadian weeds. 138. Kochia scoparia (L) Schrad. Can J Plant Sci 89:141–167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, B, Levine, JM (2013) Plant invasions and extinction debts. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:1744–1749CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, RB (1969) Pecos National Monument, New Mexico: Its Geologic Setting. Bulletin 1271-E. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. 11 pGoogle Scholar
Jones, KL (1998) The state of large earthwork sites in the United Kingdom. Antiquity 72:293–307CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, KL (2000) Native grasslands and the stabilization of earthwork archaeological sites on the middle Missouri River, North Dakota. Conserv Manag Archaeol Sites 4:139–150CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kidder, AV (1958) Pecos, New Mexico: Archaeological Notes. Andover, MA: Peabody Foundation for Archaeology. 360 pGoogle Scholar
Kumar, V, Jha, P, Jugulam, M, Yadav, R, Stahlman, PW (2019) Herbicide-resistant kochia (Bassia scoparia) in North America: a review. Weed Sci 67:4–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lauenroth, WK, Adler, PB (2008) Demography of perennial grassland plants: survival, life expectancy and life span. J Ecol 96:1023–1032CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marlette, GM, Anderson, JE (1986) Seed banks and propagule dispersal in crested-wheatgrass stands. J Appl Ecol 23:161–175CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monaco, TA, Mangold, JM, Mealor, BA, Mealor, RD, Brown, CS (2017) Downy brome control and impacts on perennial grass abundance: a systematic review spanning 64 years. Rangeland Ecol Manag 70: 396–404CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ott, JP, Hartnett, DC (2015) Bud bank dynamics and clonal growth strategy in the rhizomatous grass, Pascopyrum smithii. Plant Ecol 216:395–405CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, DE, Ortega, YK, Runyon, JB, Butler, JL (2016) Secondary invasion: the bane of weed management. Biol Conserv 197: 8–17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pérez, CJ, Waller, SS, Moser, LE, Stubbendieck, JL, Steuter, AA (1998) Seedbank characteristics of a Nebraska sandhills prairie. J Range Manag 51:55–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, WM, Launchbaugh, JL (1958) Preliminary studies of the root system of Kochia scoparia at Hays, Kansas. Weeds 6:19–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ransom, CV, Christensen, SD, Edvarchuk, KA, Naumann, T (2012) A reinventory of invasive weed species in Dinosaur National Monument to determine management effectiveness. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 5:300–309CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rew, LJ, Lehnhoff, EA, Maxwell, BD (2007) Non-indigenous species management using a population prioritization framework. Can J Plant Sci 87:1029–1036CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rondeau, RJ, Pearson, KT, Kelso, S (2013) Vegetation response in a Colorado grassland-shrub community to extreme drought: 1999–2010. Am Midl Nat 170:14–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorne, RM (1990) Revegetation: The Soft Approach to Archeological Site Stabilization. Technical Brief 8. Washington, DC: National Park Service. 8 pGoogle Scholar
Weaver, JE, Albertson, FW (1943) Resurvey of grasses, forbs, and underground plant parts at the end of the Great Drought. Ecol Monogr 13:64–117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, JJ (1941) The life history of buffalo grass. Trans Kansas Acad Sci 44:58–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witwicki, DL, Munson, SM, Thoma, DP (2016) Effects of climate and water balance across grasslands of varying C3 and C4 grass cover. Ecosphere 7:e01577CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerman, CL, Shirer, RR, Corbin, JD (2018) Native plant recovery following three years of common reed (Phragmites australis) control. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 11:175–180CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zorner, PS, Zimdahl, RL, Schweizer, EE (1984) Effect of depth and duration of seed burial on kochia (Kochia scoparia). Weed Sci 32:602–607CrossRefGoogle Scholar