Growth Characteristics of Squirreltail Seedlings in Competition with Medusahead

Hironaka, M.; Sindelar, Brian W.

doi:10.2307/3897777

Cited by 25 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…While we detected no significant differences (P < 0.05) between squirreltail and medusahead wildrye for dry mass, leaf area, or root length at the final harvest (Fig. 1), Hironaka and Sindelar (1975) reported that squirreltail was inhibited by medusahead wildrye competition after 5 weeks. Squirreltail's ability to invade and persist in cheatgrass (Hironaka and Tisdale 1963) and medusahead wildrye (Hironaka and Sindelar 1973) stands may be attributed to factors other than growth rate under greenhouse conditions, e.g., fire tolerance (Wright (1971), high cool-temperature (50 C) root growth (Hironaka and Tisdale 1972), and rapid germination across a wide temperature range (Young and Evans 1977).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 52%

Seedling Growth of Intermountain Perennial and Weedy Annual Grasses

Arredondo¹,

Jones²,

Johnson³

1998

Journal of Range Management

101

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 52%

Seedling Growth of Intermountain Perennial and Weedy Annual Grasses

Arredondo¹,

Jones²,

Johnson³

1998

Journal of Range Management

101

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“…However, the general lack of correlations between native vegetation characteristics and environmental variables in invaded communities in this study suggests that T. caput-medusae invasion overwhelms environmentally driven differences among plant communities across the study area. Despite the influence of plant community characteristics on initial establishment rates of T. caput-medusae (Davies 2008), its demonstrated competiveness with native vegetation (Hironaka and Sindelar 1975;Young and Mangold 2008) and alteration of fire regimes may override the initial differences in plant community characteristics. The ability of T. caput-medusae to out-compete native vegetation and alter fire regimes to the detriment of native vegetation (Hironaka and Sindelar 1975;D'Antonio and Vitousek 1992;Davies and Svejcar 2008;Young and Mangold 2008) suggest the declines in native plants observed in this study were probably caused by increasing T. caput-medusae abundance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the influence of plant community characteristics on initial establishment rates of T. caput-medusae (Davies 2008), its demonstrated competiveness with native vegetation (Hironaka and Sindelar 1975;Young and Mangold 2008) and alteration of fire regimes may override the initial differences in plant community characteristics. The ability of T. caput-medusae to out-compete native vegetation and alter fire regimes to the detriment of native vegetation (Hironaka and Sindelar 1975;D'Antonio and Vitousek 1992;Davies and Svejcar 2008;Young and Mangold 2008) suggest the declines in native plants observed in this study were probably caused by increasing T. caput-medusae abundance. Native plants are often weakly competitive with highly competitive exotics, while these exotics substantially negatively impact natives (Maron and Marler 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Artemisia is a long-lived, evergreen shrub that is removed from the plant community by fire (Harniss and Murray 1973;Humphrey 1984;Wambolt et al 2001), suggesting that the influence of T. caput-medusae on plant communities may be more related to its ability to make the environment more adverse (i.e., increased fire frequency) than to direct competitive interactions. The superior competitiveness of T. caput-medusae is probably an important factor driving its success (Hironaka and Sindelar 1975;Young and Mangold 2008); however, its influence on fire frequency may be of equal or greater importance. The strong negative correlations between T. caput-medusae density and native plants supports D' Antonio and Vitousek's (1992) assertion that exotic invasions that alter disturbance regimes can be especially damaging to native plant communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant community diversity and native plant abundance decline with increasing abundance of an exotic annual grass

2011

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Exotic plants are generally considered a serious problem in wildlands around the globe. However, some argue that the impacts of exotic plants have been exaggerated and that biodiversity and other important plant community characteristics are commonly improved with invasion. Thus, disagreement exists among ecologists as to the relationship of exotic plants with biodiversity and native plant communities. A better understanding of the relationships between exotic plants and native plant communities is needed to improve funding allocation and legislation regarding exotic plants, and justify and prioritize invasion management. To evaluate these relationships, 65 shrub-bunchgrass plant communities with varying densities of an exotic annual grass, Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski (medusahead), were sampled across 160,000 ha in southeastern Oregon, United States. Environmental factors were generally not correlated with plant community characteristics when exotic annual grass density was included in models. Plant diversity and species richness were negatively correlated with exotic annual grass density. Exotic annual grass density explained 62% of the variation in plant diversity. All native plant functional groups, except annual forbs, exhibited a negative relationship with T. caput-medusae. The results of this study suggest that T. caput-medusae invasions probably have substantial negative impacts on biodiversity and native plant communities. The strength of the relationships between plant community characteristics and T. caput-medusae density suggests that some exotic plants are a major force of change in plant communities and subsequently threaten ecosystem functions and processes. However, experimental studies are needed to fully substantiate that annual grass invasion is the cause of these observed correlations.

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“…asperum (Sink.) Melderis) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) (Hironaka and Tisdale 1963, Hironaka and Sindelar 1973, 1975. Rapid seed germination, vigorous seedling development, and the presence of a disarticulating seed head that facilitates seed dispersal by wind are characteristics promoting the establishment of this species on weed dominated sites (Hironaka and Sindelar 1973, Mack and Pyke 1984, Jones 1998.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical Note: Early harvest of squirreltail seed

Doescher¹

2001

REM

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Squirreltail (Sitanion hystrix (Nutt.J. G. Smith), a native, coolseason perennial bunchgrass of the Intermountain West has been shown to reinvade degraded rangelands invaded by exotic annual weeds. However, one limitation to mechanical seed collection of this species is the disarticulating nature of the rachis at seed maturity. The purpose of this reseach was to determine if early harvest of the inflorescence before disarticulation would result in viable seed. After anthesis, seeds were collected weekly in 1995 and about every 10 days in 1996 at a research site near Prineville, Oregon. Seeds were germinated for 21 days at a constant temperature of 20°C. Germinable seeds were present at all collection dates from late anthesis to seed shatter in 1995, and all but early anthesis in 1996. Total germination, rate of germination and seed weight increased as seeds were collected later in the summer. Collection of squirreltail seed when a majority of seed awns have moved from a reddish to a divergent, straw colored appearance resulted in germination properties similar to fully mature seed. This occured about 1 week prior to the onset of seed head disarticulation.

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Growth Characteristics of Squirreltail Seedlings in Competition with Medusahead

Cited by 25 publications

References 8 publications

Seedling Growth of Intermountain Perennial and Weedy Annual Grasses

Seedling Growth of Intermountain Perennial and Weedy Annual Grasses

Plant community diversity and native plant abundance decline with increasing abundance of an exotic annual grass

Technical Note: Early harvest of squirreltail seed

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