Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:22:43.812Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relationships of Native Desert Plants with Red Brome (Bromus rubens): Toward Identifying Invasion-Reducing Species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Scott R. Abella ,
Donovan J. Craig ,
Lindsay P. Chiquoine ,
Kathryn A. Prengaman ,
Sarah M. Schmid  and
Teague M. Embrey
Scott R. Abella*
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Public Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4030
Donovan J. Craig
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Public Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4030
Lindsay P. Chiquoine
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Public Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4030
Kathryn A. Prengaman
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Public Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4030
Sarah M. Schmid
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Public Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4030
Teague M. Embrey
Affiliation:
School of Environmental and Public Affairs, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4030
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The interactions between native and exotic species occur on a continuum from facilitative to competitive. A growing thrust in invasive species science is differentiating where particular native species occur along this continuum, with practical implications for identifying species that might reduce the invasibility of ecosystems. We used a greenhouse experiment to develop a competitive hierarchy of 27 native species with red brome, an invasive annual grass in the arid lands of the southwestern United States, and a field study to assess in situ responses of brome to native perennial species in the Mojave Desert. Native species most competitive with brome in the competition experiment included the annuals Esteve's pincushion and western fiddleneck and the perennials eastern Mojave buckwheat, sweetbush, and brittlebush, which reduced brome biomass to 49 to 70% of its grown-alone amount. There was no clear difference in competitive abilities with brome between annual and perennial natives, and competiveness was not strongly correlated (r = 0.15) with the biomass of the native species. In the field, sweetbush and brittlebush supported among the least cover of brome, suggesting congruence of the strong early competitive abilities of these species with in situ patterns of brome distribution. At the other extreme, brome attained its highest average cover (19%) below littleleaf ratany, significantly greater than all but 3 of the 16 species evaluated. Cover by brome was only weakly related (r = 0.19) to the area of the perennial canopy, suggesting that factors other than the sizes of perennial plants were linked to differences in brome cover among species. Results suggest that (1) interactions with brome differ substantially among native species, (2) these interactions are not as closely linked to biomass production as in more temperate regions, and (3) there is potential for identifying native species that can reduce invasion of desert ecosystems.

Keywords

Red brome, Bromus rubens L.brittlebush, Encelia farinosa A. Gray ex Torr.eastern Mojave buckwheat, Eriogonum fasciculatum Benth.Esteve's pincushion, Chaenactis stevioides Hook. & Arn.littleleaf ratany, Krameria erecta Willd. ex Schult.sweetbush, Bebbia juncea (Benth.) Greenewestern fiddleneck, Amsinckia tessellata GrayCompetitionfacilitationplant–plant interactionsinvasion-reducing communitiesinvasibilityrevegetation
Type
Research
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 115 - 124
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. 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
Abella, S. R., Engel, E. C., Lund, C. L., and Spencer, J. E. 2009a. Early post-fire plant establishment on a Mojave Desert burn. Madroño 56:137–148.Google Scholar
Abella, S. R., Spencer, J. E., Hoines, J., and Nazarchyk, C. 2009b. Assessing an exotic plant surveying program in the Mojave Desert, Clark County, Nevada, USA. Environ. Monit. Assess 151:221–230.Google Scholar
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.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
Barney, J. N., Di Tommaso, A., and Weston, L. A. 2005. Differences in invasibility in two contrasting habitats and invasiveness of two mugwort Artemisia vulgaris populations. J. Appl. Ecol 42:567–576.Google Scholar
Baskin, C. C. and Baskin, J. M. 2001. Seeds: ecology, biogeography, and evolution of dormancy and germination. New York Academic.Google Scholar
Beatley, J. C. 1966. Ecological status of introduced brome grasses (Bromus spp.) in desert vegetation of southern Nevada. Ecology 47:548–554.Google Scholar
Beatley, J. C. 1974. Phenological events and their environmental triggers in Mojave Desert ecosystems. Ecology 55:856–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, M. S., Caldwell, M. M., and Stark, J. M. 2003. Overlapping resource use in three Great Basin species: implications for community invisibility and vegetation dynamics. J. Ecol 91:36–48.Google Scholar
Bowers, J. E., Webb, R. H., and Pierson, E. A. 1997. Succession of desert plants on debris flow terraces, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA. J. Arid Environ 36:67–86.Google Scholar
Brooker, R. W., Maestre, F. T., Callaway, R. M., et al. 2008. Facilitation in plant communities: the past, the present, and the future. J. Ecol 96:18–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, M. L. 1999. Habitat invasibility and dominance by alien annual plants in the western Mojave Desert. Biol. Invasions 1:325–337.Google Scholar
Brooks, M. L. 2000. Bromus madritensis ssp. rubens (L.) Husnot. Pages 72–76. In Bossard, C. C., Randall, J. M., and Hoshovsky, M. C. eds. Invasive Plants of California's Wildlands. Berkeley, CA University of California Press.Google Scholar
Brooks, M. L. 2003. Effects of increased soil nitrogen on the dominance of alien annual plants in the Mojave Desert. J. Appl. Ecol 40:344–353.Google Scholar
Brooks, M. L. 2009. Spatial and temporal distribution of non-native plants in upland areas of the Mojave Desert. Pages 101–124. In Webb, R. H., Fenstermaker, L. F., Heaton, J. S., Hughson, D. L., McDonald, E. V., and Miller, D. M. eds. The Mojave Desert: Ecosystem Processes and Sustainability. Reno, NV University of Nevada Press.Google Scholar
Brooks, M. L. and Matchett, J. R. 2006. Spatial and temporal patterns of wildfires in the Mojave Desert, 1980–2004. J. Arid Environ 67:148–164.Google Scholar
Brown, C. S., Anderson, V. J., Claassen, V. P., Stannard, M. E., Wilson, L. M., Atkinson, S. Y., Bromberg, J. E., Grant, T. A., and Munis, M. D. 2008. Restoration ecology and invasive plants in the semiarid West. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag 1:399–413.Google Scholar
Craig, D. J., Craig, J. E., Abella, S. R., and Vanier, C. H. 2010. Factors affecting exotic annual plant cover and richness along roadsides in the eastern Mojave Desert, USA. J. Arid Environ 74:702–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Soyza, A. G., Whitford, W. G., Martinez-Meza, E., and Van Zee, J. W. 1997. Variation in creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) canopy morphology in relation to habitat, soil fertility and associated annual plant communities. Am. Midl. Nat 137:13–26.Google Scholar
DeFalco, L. A., Bryla, D. R., Smith-Longozo, V., and Nowak, R. S. 2003. Are Mojave Desert annual species equal? Resource acquisition and allocation for the invasive grass Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens (Poaceae) and two native species. Am. J. Bot 90:1045–1053.Google Scholar
Fowler, N. 1986. The role of competition in plant communities in arid and semiarid regions. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst 17:89–110.Google Scholar
Gray, R. and Bonner, J. 1948. An inhibitor of plant growth from the leaves of Encelia farinosa . Am. J. Bot 35:52–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffith, R. S. 1991. Krameria parvifolia . In: Fire Effects Information System, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Available at http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/. Accessed: July 14, 2010.Google Scholar
Holmgren, M., Scheffer, M., and Huston, M. A. 1997. The interplay of facilitation and competition in plant communities. Ecology 78:1966–1975.Google Scholar
Hunter, R. B. 1991. Bromus invasions on the Nevada Test Site: present status of B. rubens and B. tectorum with notes on their relationship to disturbance and altitude. Great Basin Nat 51:176–182.Google Scholar
James, J. J., Caird, M. A., Drenovsky, R. E., and Sheley, R. L. 2006. Influence of resource pulses and perennial neighbors on the establishment of an invasive annual grass in the Mojave Desert. J. Arid Environ 67:528–534.Google Scholar
Keddy, P. A. 2001. Competition. Boston, MA Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Keddy, P., Nielsen, K., Weiher, E., and Lawson, R. 2002. Relative competitive performance of 63 species of terrestrial herbaceous plants. J. Veg. Sci 13:5–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lato, L. J. 2006. Soil Survey of Clark County Area, Nevada. Washington, DC U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.Google Scholar
Levine, J. M., Adler, P. B., and Yelenik, S. G. 2004. A meta-analysis of biotic resistance to exotic plant invasions. Ecol. Lett 7:975–989.Google Scholar
Muller, C. H. 1953. The association of desert annuals with shrubs. Am. J. Bot 40:52–60.Google Scholar
Muller, W. H. and Muller, C. H. 1956. Association patterns involving desert plants that contain toxic products. Am. J. Bot 43:354–361.Google Scholar
[NRCS] Natural Resources Conservation Service 2010. The PLANTS Database. Baton Rouge, LA National Plant Data Center. Available at http://plants.usda.gov. Accessed: January 29, 2010.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
Rundel, P. W. and Gibson, A. C. 1996. Ecological Communities and Processes in a Mojave Desert Ecosystem: Rock Valley, Nevada. New York Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salo, L. F. 2005. Red brome (Bromus rubens subsp. madritensis) in North America: possible modes for early introductions, subsequent spread. Biol. Invasions 7:165–180.Google Scholar
SAS Institute 1999. SAS/STAT User's Guide. Version 8. Cary, NC SAS Institute.Google Scholar
Seabloom, E. W., Harpole, W. S., Reichman, O. J., and Tilman, D. 2003. Invasion, competitive dominance, and resource use by exotic and native California grassland species. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 100:13384–13389.Google Scholar
Simmons, M. T. 2005. Bullying the bullies: the selective control of an exotic, invasive annual (Rapistrum rugosum) by oversowing with a competitive native species (Gaillardia pulchella). Restor. Ecol 13:609–615.Google Scholar
Stevens, J. M. and Fehmi, J. S. 2009. Competitive effect of two nonnative grasses on a native grass in southern Arizona. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag 2:379–385.Google Scholar
Strojan, C. L., Turner, F. B., and Castetter, R. 1979. Litter fall from shrubs in the northern Mojave Desert. Ecology 60:891–900.Google Scholar
Thacker, E., Ralphs, M. H., and Monaco, T. A. 2009. Seeding cool-season grasses to suppress broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), downy brome (Bromus tectorum), and weedy forbs. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag 2:237–246.Google Scholar
Thompson, D. B., Walker, L. R., Landau, F. H., and Stark, L. R. 2005. The influence of elevation, shrub species, and biological soil crust on fertile islands in the Mojave Desert, USA. J. Arid Environ 61:609–629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titus, J. H., Titus, P. J., Nowak, R. S., and Smith, S. D. 2002. Arbuscular mycorrhizae of Mojave Desert plants. West. North Am. Nat 62:327–334.Google Scholar
Turner, F. B. and Randall, D. C. 1987. The phenology of desert shrubs in southern Nevada. J. Arid Environ 13:119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, A., Romney, E. M., and Cha, J. W. 1980. Depth distribution of roots of some perennial plants in the Nevada Test Site area of the northern Mojave Desert. Great Basin Nat. Mem 4:201–207.Google Scholar
Went, F. W. 1942. The dependence of certain annual plants on shrubs in southern California deserts. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 69:100–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar