Ecosystem Impacts of Exotic Annual Invaders in the Genus Bromus

Germino, Matthew J.; Belnap, Jayne; Stark, John; Allen, Edith B.; Rau, Benjamin M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-24930-8_3

Cited by 72 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 127 publications

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“…High germination rates of cheatgrass during wet years can nearly completely exhaust available stored seed (Smith, Meyer, & Anderson, ). Hence, without available seed, cheatgrass would be unable to take advantage of winter and spring moisture, such as when multiyear droughts end (Germino, Belnap, Stark, Allen, & Rau, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Refining the cheatgrass–fire cycle in the Great Basin: Precipitation timing and fine fuel composition predict wildfire trends

Pilliod

Welty

Arkle

2017

Ecology and Evolution

157

153

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Larger, more frequent wildfires in arid and semi‐arid ecosystems have been associated with invasion by non‐native annual grasses, yet a complete understanding of fine fuel development and subsequent wildfire trends is lacking. We investigated the complex relationships among weather, fine fuels, and fire in the Great Basin, USA. We first modeled the annual and time‐lagged effects of precipitation and temperature on herbaceous vegetation cover and litter accumulation over a 26‐year period in the northern Great Basin. We then modeled how these fine fuels and weather patterns influence subsequent wildfires. We found that cheatgrass cover increased in years with higher precipitation and especially when one of the previous 3 years also was particularly wet. Cover of non‐native forbs and native herbs also increased in wet years, but only after several dry years. The area burned by wildfire in a given year was mostly associated with native herb and non‐native forb cover, whereas cheatgrass mainly influenced area burned in the form of litter derived from previous years’ growth. Consequently, multiyear weather patterns, including precipitation in the previous 1–3 years, was a strong predictor of wildfire in a given year because of the time needed to develop these fine fuel loads. The strong relationship between precipitation and wildfire allowed us to expand our inference to 10,162 wildfires across the entire Great Basin over a 35‐year period from 1980 to 2014. Our results suggest that the region's precipitation pattern of consecutive wet years followed by consecutive dry years results in a cycle of fuel accumulation followed by weather conditions that increase the probability of wildfire events in the year when the cycle transitions from wet to dry. These patterns varied regionally but were strong enough to allow us to model annual wildfire risk across the Great Basin based on precipitation alone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Litter is a relatively understudied component of fine fuels in the Great Basin as well (Germino et al., ). In our focal study area, litter peaked after 1–2 wet winters and a year after a dry summer, a pattern consistent with our cheatgrass weather model.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refining the cheatgrass–fire cycle in the Great Basin: Precipitation timing and fine fuel composition predict wildfire trends

Pilliod

Welty

Arkle

2017

Ecology and Evolution

157

153

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“…, Germino et al. ). Potential mechanisms for the apparent negative effect of extensive non‐native plant cover may include competitive displacement or recruitment limitation for native species and/or alterations in disturbance regimes that reduce plant diversity (Gaertner et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Determinants of native and non‐native plant community structure on an oceanic island

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Understanding the relative importance of environmental and anthropogenic factors in driving plant community structure, including relative dominance of native and non-native species, helps predict community responses to biological invasions. To assess factors influencing plant communities on San Clemente Island, USA, we conducted an islandwide vegetation survey in which we measured plant species richness and percent cover of native and non-native plants, as well as physical environmental variables, soil chemical properties, abundance of soil microbial functional groups (e.g., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi [AMF]), and a human disturbance variable (distance to road). We found that total plant species richness decreased with increasing non-native plant cover, soil pH, and AMF abundance. Native plant cover increased with increasing distance to a major paved road and decreased with increasing soil moisture and pH. Non-native plant cover decreased with increasing distance to a major paved road and increased with increasing soil moisture, AMF abundance, and from southwest to northeast, a geographic/climatic gradient that represents increasing moisture. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordination further illustrated that trends in plant community composition were correlated with elevation, distance to a major paved road, and soil moisture, organic matter, and ammonium. These results suggest complex effects of physical environmental, soil chemical, and human-related factors on plant community structure on an oceanic island, and moreover, that different factors affect cover of native and non-native plants. Notably, our observation of apparent moisture limitation of non-native plants suggests that, in some contexts, drought conditions can limit plant invasions and may even represent an opportunity for efficient control or eradication of invasive plants. The apparent negative effect of non-native plants on native plant cover and overall plant species richness represents a conservation concern for native biodiversity on oceanic islands and suggests the potential for community reassembly as invasive species increasingly dominate due to anthropogenic disturbances.

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“…, Germino et al. ), but joint effects with a change in climate make predictions uncertain. Furthermore, plant community effects on SIC pools are rarely evaluated (Monger and Gallegos , Reeder et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation and precipitation shifts interact to alter organic and inorganic carbon storage in cold desert soils

et al. 2019

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Dryland ecosystems are experiencing shifts in rainfall and plant community composition, which are expected to alter cycling and storage of soil carbon (C). Few experiments have been conducted to examine long‐term effects on (1) soil organic C (SOC) pools throughout the soil profile, and (2) soil inorganic C (SIC) pools as they relate to dynamic changes in C storage and climate change. We measured SOC and SIC from 0 to 1 m beneath plants and in adjacent interplant microsites following nearly 20 yr of experimental manipulations of plant community (native sagebrush steppe or monoculture of exotic crested wheatgrass) and the amount and timing of water availability (ambient, or doubling of annual rainfall in the dormant, DORM, or growing, GROW, season). Under sagebrush plants, GROW increased both SOC and SIC pools, resulting in total carbon (TC) pools 15% greater than plots receiving ambient precipitation, while DORM decreased SOC and SIC pools, decreasing TC pools 20% from ambient. Under crested wheatgrass plants, GROW increased SOC by 73% but decreased SIC by 11% relative to ambient, netting no change in TC pools, while DORM SIC pools were 5% greater than ambient, with no significant increase in either SOC or TC pools. GROW significantly increased TC pools for interplant microsites, regardless of vegetation treatment. At the community scale and summing C pools weighted by percent patch cover, patterns of TC pool were similar to plot measurements. Our findings suggest that sagebrush communities can become a net C source to the atmosphere with increases in dormant season rainfall rather than a C sink as previously predicted. We also provide evidence of SIC as an important and dynamic C sequestration mechanism in drylands. Consideration of vegetation type, all or most of the soil profile, and both organic and inorganic C pools are all important to accurately predict C sequestration with changing climate and disturbance in drylands.

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Ecosystem Impacts of Exotic Annual Invaders in the Genus Bromus

Cited by 72 publications

References 127 publications

Refining the cheatgrass–fire cycle in the Great Basin: Precipitation timing and fine fuel composition predict wildfire trends

Refining the cheatgrass–fire cycle in the Great Basin: Precipitation timing and fine fuel composition predict wildfire trends

Determinants of native and non‐native plant community structure on an oceanic island

Vegetation and precipitation shifts interact to alter organic and inorganic carbon storage in cold desert soils

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