Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T19:20:13.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ecological Characteristics of Sites Invaded by Buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Scott R. Abella ,
Lindsay P. Chiquoine  and
Dana M. Backer
Scott R. Abella*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-3064
Lindsay P. Chiquoine
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-3064
Dana M. Backer
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-3064
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Understanding the ecological characteristics of areas invaded and not invaded by exotic plants is a priority for invasive plant science and management. Buffelgrass is an invasive perennial species that managers view as a major threat to indigenous ecosystems of conservation lands in Australia, Mexico, the United States, and other locations where the species is not native. At 14 sites in Saguaro National Park in the Arizona Uplands of the Sonoran Desert, we compared the soil, vegetation, and soil seed bank of patches invaded and not invaded by buffelgrass. Abiotic variables, such as slope aspect and soil texture, did not differ between buffelgrass patches and patches without buffelgrass. In contrast, variables under primarily biotic control differed between patch types. Soil nutrients, such as organic C and NO3–N, were approximately twofold greater in buffelgrass compared with nonbuffelgrass patches. Average native species richness was identical (14 species 100 m−2) between patch types, but native plant cover was 43% lower in buffelgrass patches. Unexpectedly, native seed-bank densities did not differ significantly between patch types and were 40% greater than buffelgrass seed density below buffelgrass canopies. Results suggest that (1) soil nutrient status should not be unfavorable for native plant colonization at buffelgrass sites if buffelgrass is treated; (2) at least in the early stages of buffelgrass patch formation (studied patches were about 10 yr old), native vegetation species were not excluded, but rather, their cover was reduced; and (3) native soil seed banks were not reduced in buffelgrass patches.

Keywords

Buffelgrass, Pennisetum ciliare (L.) LinkCenchrus ciliaris L.diversityfertile islandinvasibilitynative species richnessseed banksoilspecies composition
Type
Research
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , December 2012 , pp. 443 - 453
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.)

References

Literature Cited

Abella, S. R. 2010. Disturbance and plant succession in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the American Southwest. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 7:1248–1284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abella, S. R. and Newton, A. C. 2009. A systematic review of species performance and treatment effectiveness for revegetation in the Mojave Desert, USA. Pages 45–74 in Fernandez-Bernal, A. and De La Rosa, M. A., eds. Arid Environments and Wind Erosion. Hauppauge, NY : Nova Science.Google Scholar
Bakker, J. P., Poschlod, P., Strykstra, R. J., Bekker, R. M., and Thompson, K. 1996. Seed banks and seed dispersal: important topics in restoration ecology. Acta Bot. Neerl. 45:461–490.Google Scholar
Bakker, J. D. and Wilson, S. D. 2004. Using ecological restoration to constrain biological invasion. J. Appl. Ecol. 41:1058–1064.Google Scholar
Beers, T. W., Dress, P. E., and Wensel, L. C. 1966. Aspect transformation in site productivity research. J. Forestry 64:691–692.Google Scholar
Blank, R. R. 2008. Biogeochemistry of plant invasion: a case study with downy brome (Bromus tectorum). Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 1:226–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, C. S., Anderson, V. J., Claassen, V. P., et al. 2008. Restoration ecology and invasive plants in the semiarid West. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 1:399–413.Google Scholar
Brown, D. E., ed. 1994. Biotic Communities: Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. Salt Lake City, UT : University of Utah Press. 342 p.Google Scholar
Burt, R., ed. 2004. Soil Survey Laboratory Methods Manual. Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Investigations Report 42, Version 4.0. 700 p.Google Scholar
Butterfield, B. J. and Briggs, J. M. 2009. Patch dynamics of soil feedbacks in the Sonoran Desert. J. Arid Environ. 73:96–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cabin, R. J. and Mitchell, R. J. 2000. To Bonferroni or not to Bonferroni: when and how are the questions. Bull. Ecol. Soc. Am. 81:246–248.Google Scholar
Carrillo-Garcia, A., Bashan, Y., Rivera, D. E., and Bethlenfalvay, J. G. 2000. Effects of resource-island soils, competition, and inoculation with Azospirillum on survival and growth of Pachycereus pringlei, the giant cactus of the Sonoran Desert. Restor. Ecol. 8:65–73.Google Scholar
Clarke, P. J., Latz, P. K., and Albrecht, D. E. 2005. Long-term changes in semi-arid vegetation: invasion of a non-native perennial grass has larger effects than rainfall variability. J. Veg. Sci. 16:237–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochran, C. C. and Richardson, M. L. 2003. Soil Survey of Pima County, Arizona, Eastern Part. Washington, DC : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. 353 p.Google Scholar
Corbin, J. and D'Antonio, C. M. 2004. Effects of invasive species on soil nitrogen cycling: implications for restoration. Weed Technol. 18:1464–1467.Google Scholar
Cox, R. D. and Allen, E. B. 2008. Composition of soil seed banks in southern California coastal sage scrub and adjacent exotic grassland. Plant Ecol. 198:37–46.Google Scholar
Daehler, C. C. and Goergen, E. M. 2005. Experimental restoration of an indigenous Hawaiian grassland after invasion by buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris). Restor. Ecol. 13:380–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dufrêne, M. and Legendre, P. 1997. Species assemblages and indicator species: the need for a flexible asymmetrical approach. Ecol. Monogr. 67:345–366.Google Scholar
Esque, T. C., Schwalbe, C. R., Lissow, J. A., Haynes, D. F., Foster, D., and Garnett, M. C. 2007. Buffelgrass fuel loads in Saguaro National Park increase fire danger and threaten native species. Park Sci. 24:33–37.Google Scholar
Franks, A. 2002. The ecological consequences of buffel grass Cenchrus ciliaris establishment within remnant vegetation of Queensland. Pac. Conserv. Biol. 8:99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gioria, M. and Osborne, B. 2010. Similarities in the impact of three large invasive plant species on soil seed bank communities. Biol. Invasions 12:1671–1683.Google Scholar
Halvorson, W. L. and Patten, D. T. 1975. Productivity and flowering of winter ephemerals in relation to Sonoran Desert shrubs. Am. Midl. Nat. 93:311–319.Google Scholar
Hejda, M., Pyšek, P., and Jarošik, V. 2009. Impact of invasive plants on the species richness, diversity and composition of invaded communities. J. Ecol. 97:393–403.Google Scholar
Hussain, F., Ahmad, B., and Ilahi, I. 2010. Allelopathic effects of Cenchrus ciliaris L. and Bothriochloa pertusa (L.) A. Camus. Pak. J. Bot. 42:3587–3604.Google Scholar
Ibarra-Flores, F., Cox, J., Martin-Rivera, M., et al. 1999. Soil physiochemical changes following buffelgrass establishment in Mexico. Arid Soil Res. Rehab. 13:39–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, J. 2005. Is there a relationship between herbaceous species richness and buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris)? Aust. Ecol. 30:505–517.Google Scholar
Jordan, N. R., Larson, D. L., and Huerd, S. C. 2011. Evidence of qualitative differences between soil-occupancy effects of invasive vs. native grassland plant species. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 4:11–21.Google Scholar
Lyons, K. G., Maldonado-Leal, B. G., and Owen, G. 2013. Community and ecosystem effects of buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) and nitrogen deposition in the Sonoran Desert. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. In press.Google Scholar
Marshall, V. M., Lewis, M. M., and Ostendorf, B. 2012. Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) as an invader and threat to biodiversity in arid environments: a review. J. Arid Environ. 78:1–12.Google Scholar
McAuliffe, J. R. 1988. Markovian dynamics of simple and complex desert plant communities. Am. Nat. 131:459–490.Google Scholar
McCune, B. and Mefford, M. J. 1999. PC-ORD: Multivariate Analysis of Ecological Data: User's Guide. Gleneden Beach, OR : MjM Software Design. 237 p.Google Scholar
McDonald, C. J. and McPherson, G. R. 2011. Fire behavior characteristics of buffelgrass-fueled fires and native plant community composition in invaded patches. J. Arid Environ. 75:1147–1154.Google Scholar
McIvor, J. 2003. Competition affects survival and growth of buffelgrass seedlings – is buffelgrass a colonizer or invader? Trop. Grassl. 37:176–178.Google Scholar
Morales-Romero, D. and Molina-Freaner, F. 2008. Influence of buffelgrass pasture conversion on the regeneration and reproduction of the columnar cactus, Pachycereus pectin-aboriginum, in northwestern Mexico. J. Arid Environ. 72:228–237.Google Scholar
Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2011. The PLANTS Database Baton Rouge, LA : National Plant Data Center. http://plants.usda.gov. Accessed: August 15, 2011.Google Scholar
Olsson, A. D., Betancourt, J., McClaran, M. P., and Marsh, S. E. 2012. Sonoran Desert ecosystem transformation by a C4 grass without the grass/fire cycle. Divers. Distrib. 18:10–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, I. M., Simberloff, D., Lonsdale, W. M., et al. 1999. Impact: toward a framework for understanding the ecological effects of invaders. Biol. Invasions 1:3–19.Google Scholar
Parker, S. S. and Schimel, J. P. 2010. Invasive grasses increase nitrogen availability in California grassland soils. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 3:40–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peet, R. K., Wentworth, T. R., and White, P. S. 1998. A flexible, multipurpose method for recording vegetation composition and structure. Castanea 63:262–274.Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Buriticá, S. and Miriti, M. N. 2009. Biting the hand that feeds: the invasive grass Schismus barbatus (Poaceae) is facilitated by, but reduces establishment of, the native shrub Ambrosia dumosa (Asteraceae). J. Veg. Sci. 20:241–250.Google Scholar
Rutman, S. and Dickson, L. 2002. Management of buffelgrass on Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. Pages 311–318 in Tellman, B., ed. Invasive exotic species in the Sonoran region. Tucson, AZ : University of Arizona Press and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.Google Scholar
Sands, J. P., Brennan, L. A., Hernández, F., Kuvlesky, W. P., Gallagher, J. F., Ruthven, D. C., and Pittman, J. E. 2009. Impacts of buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) on a forb community in South Texas. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 2:130–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute. 2009. SAS/STAT 9.2 User's Guide. Cary, NC : SAS Institute. 7869 p.Google Scholar
Stevens, J. and Falk, D. A. 2009. Can buffelgrass invasions be controlled in the American Southwest? using invasion ecology theory to understand buffelgrass success and develop comprehensive restoration and management. Ecol. Restor. 27:417–427.Google Scholar
Tan, K. H. 2005. Soil sampling, preparation, and analysis. Boca Raton, FL : CRC. 680 p.Google Scholar
Tjelmeland, A. D., Fulbright, T. E., and Lloyd-Reilley, J. 2008. Evaluation of herbicides for restoring native grasses in buffelgrass-dominated grasslands. Restor. Ecol. 16:263–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vilà, M. and Gimeno, I. 2007. Does invasion by an alien plant species affect the soil seed bank? J. Veg. Sci. 18:423–430.Google Scholar
[WRCC] Western Regional Climate Center. 2011. Western U.S. Historical Climate Summaries. Reno, NV : Western Regional Climate Center. http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/. Accessed: December 31, 2011.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Abella supplementary material

Appendix 1

Download Abella supplementary material(File)
File 63.5 KB
Supplementary material: File

Abella supplementary material

Appendix 2

Download Abella supplementary material(File)
File 80.4 KB
Supplementary material: File

Abella supplementary material

Appendix 3

Download Abella supplementary material(File)
File 84.5 KB