Demographic responses of the invasive annual grass Microstegium vimineum to prescribed fires and herbicide

Emery, Sarah M.; Flory, S. Luke; Clay, Keith; Robb, Joseph R.; Winters, Brian

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2013.08.002

Cited by 22 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 51 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This finding is consistent with previous studies showing that exposure to direct flame and high fire temperatures inhibit M. vimineum germination (Emery et al, 2011(Emery et al, , 2013Ward and Mervosh, 2012). Emery et al (2013) found an approximately 80% reduction in M. vimineum germination the year following a spring burn compared to the subsequent year, which suggests that increased fire intensity can lead to increased seed mortality.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Overall, the positive influence of fire on establishment outweighs the direct negative effect on emergence from the seedbank, favoring the growth of M. vimineum populations. Consistent with this conclusion, demographic modeling shows that one year after prescribed fire there was no effect of burning on M. vimineum population growth despite a reduction in population growth immediately following the fire (Emery et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…Emery et al (2013) also found that M. vimineum performance improved following fire and overwhelmed the negative effects of fire on germination. Removing litter and herbaceous competitors had only a small effect on recruitment in burned sites compared to unburned sites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Generally, M. vimineum shows a positive response to disturbance, including fire, litter removal, and logging (Glasgow and Matlack, 2007;Nelson et al, 2009;Emery et al, 2013). Specifically, post-burn conditions have been shown to have a positive effect on M. vimineum growth (Glasgow and Matlack, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, post-burn conditions have been shown to have a positive effect on M. vimineum growth (Glasgow and Matlack, 2007). Although M. vimineum germination and seedling density is reduced immediately following fire, these negative effects on stem density do not persist in the following growing season (Emery et al, 2013). In addition to responding positively to disturbance, M. vimineum performance is sensitive to resource gradients.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Positive feedbacks between fire and non-native grass invasion in temperate deciduous forests

Wagner

Fraterrigo

2015

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tNon-native grass invasions have the potential to change natural and prescribed fire regimes by altering fuels, which in turn may promote further invasion. We examined if invasion by Microstegium vimineum, a non-native annual grass, resulted in a positive invasion-fire feedback in eastern deciduous forests managed with prescribed fire and how this response varied across the landscape. Using paired invaded and uninvaded plots embedded in forest stands subjected to prescribed fire, we quantified differences in fire intensity and fuel loads, and fire effects on M. vimineum seedbank emergence, performance and spread. Invaded sites had less leaf litter and fine woody fuels, and increased fire intensity. Although fire reduced emergence of M. vimineum from the soil seedbank, sites subjected to prescribed fire had greater M. vimineum biomass and higher recruitment than unburned sites. Soil moisture strongly modulated M. vimineum response to fire, such that fire facilitated M. vimineum invasion more in wetter than drier sites. These findings indicate that deciduous forests are vulnerable to positive invasion-fire feedbacks, although the positive effect of fire may be less pronounced where soil moisture is limiting. The interaction between soil moisture and fire effects can inform management decisions regarding where to combine prescribed burning with intensive invasive control measures such as torching, hand pulling, and herbicide application.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Positive feedbacks between fire and non-native grass invasion in temperate deciduous forests

Wagner

Fraterrigo

2015

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Naturally diverse plant communities do not resist invasion by the strong competitor, Microstegium vimineum

Williams,

Brewer

2024

American J of Botany

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PremiseTheory predicts and empirical studies have shown that ecologically manipulated communities with high species diversity are resistant to invasion, but do these predictions and results hold true when applied to highly competitive invaders in natural communities? Few studies of diversity‐mediated invasion resistance have measured both invasion resistance and invader impact in the same study.MethodsWe used a two‐year field experiment to test: (1) diversity‐mediated competitive resistance to patch expansion by the grass, Microstegium vimineum; and (2) the competitive effect of M. vimineum on resident plant diversity. We examined responses of M. vimineum to two native plant density‐reduction treatments that had opposite effects on species diversity: (1) reducing species richness via the removal of rare species; and (2) reducing dominance by reducing the density of the dominant resident species. We examined the effects of M. vimineum reduction by pre‐emergent herbicide on resident diversity in the second year of the study.ResultsNeither rare species removal nor dominant species reduction significantly increased M. vimineum density (relative growth rate). The pre‐emergent herbicide dramatically reduced M. vimineum in year 2 of the study, but not most resident plants, which were perennials and indirectly benefited from the herbicide at a more productive site, presumably due to reduced competition from M. vimineum.ConclusionsDiversity‐mediated resistance did not effectively deter invasion by a highly competitive invader. In the case of M. vimineum and at more productive sites, it would appear that nearly complete removal of this invader is necessary to preserve plant species diversity.

show abstract

The use of periodic matrices to model the population dynamics of the long‐lived semelparous Furcraea parmentieri (Asparagaceae) in a temperate forest in central Mexico

Hernández-Pedrero

Valverde

2017

Population Ecology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Furcraea parmentieri (Roezl ex Ortgies) García‐Mend. is a long‐lived, semelparous threatened species with a restricted geographic distribution. We studied the demography of this species in southwest of Mexico City using periodic matrices. We followed the fate of 404 individuals (in 2006–2007) and performed seed germination and seedling establishment experiments in the field (in 2007–2008) to estimate survival, growth and reproduction probabilities of individuals in eight size categories, according to plant height. Population structure was characterized by a high number of saplings, as well as medium and large plants. We built three annual matrices that described the demography in different phases of the population cycle: regular years (RG) characterized by low fecundity and low adult mortality; mast‐seeding years (MS) with low seedling emergence and high adult mortality (related to semelparity); and post mast‐seeding years (PS) with a high emergence of seedlings and bulbils. Periodic matrices were built simulating three scenarios, which consisted of mast‐seeding events occurring every 5, 10, or 15 years. Finite population growth rates (λ) were 1.03 (RG year), 0.99 (MS year), and 1.25 (PS year). The long term population growth rate values projected over a 90 year period (estimated on an annual basis) were higher as the frequency of mast‐seeding events increased. We estimated that individuals reproduce at an age of 60–90 years and that most new recruits originate via sexual reproduction. Although the population has a potential for growth, its persistence may be threatened due to land use change.

show abstract

Demographic responses of the invasive annual grass Microstegium vimineum to prescribed fires and herbicide

Cited by 22 publications

References 51 publications

Positive feedbacks between fire and non-native grass invasion in temperate deciduous forests

Positive feedbacks between fire and non-native grass invasion in temperate deciduous forests

Naturally diverse plant communities do not resist invasion by the strong competitor, Microstegium vimineum

The use of periodic matrices to model the population dynamics of the long‐lived semelparous Furcraea parmentieri (Asparagaceae) in a temperate forest in central Mexico

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About