Soil,Vegetation, and Seed Bank of a Sonoran Desert Ecosystem Along an Exotic Plant (Pennisetum ciliare) Treatment Gradient

Ecological conditions following removal of exotic plants are a key part of comprehensive environmental management strategies to combat exotic plant invasions. We examined ecological conditions following removal of the management-priority buffelgrass ( Pennisetum ciliare ) in Saguaro National Park of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental management (New York) 2013-10, Vol.52 (4), p.946-957
Main Authors: Abella, Scott R., Chiquoine, Lindsay P., Backer, Dana M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Aquatic Pollution
Arizona
Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution
Biological and medical sciences
Cenchrus ciliaris
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
Desert Climate
Deserts
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecological conditions
Ecology
Ecosystems
Environment
Environmental Management
Environmental Restoration and Remediation
Forestry Management
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Herbicides
Indigenous species
Introduced plants
Introduced Species
National parks
Native species
Nature Conservation
Nonnative species
Pennisetum
Pennisetum ciliare
Plant ecology
Plant populations
Precipitation
Seed banks
Seeds
Soil
Soil properties
Species composition
Synecology
Vegetation
Vegetation cover
Waste Water Technology
Water Management
Water Pollution Control
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Summary:Ecological conditions following removal of exotic plants are a key part of comprehensive environmental management strategies to combat exotic plant invasions. We examined ecological conditions following removal of the management-priority buffelgrass ( Pennisetum ciliare ) in Saguaro National Park of the North American Sonoran Desert. We assessed soil, vegetation, and soil seed banks on seven buffelgrass site types: five different frequencies of buffelgrass herbicide plus hand removal treatments (ranging from 5 years of annual treatment to a single year of treatment), untreated sites, and non-invaded sites, with three replicates for each of the seven site types. The 22 measured soil properties (e.g., pH) differed little among sites. Regarding vegetation, buffelgrass cover was low (≤1 % median cover), or absent, across all treated sites but was high (10–70 %) in untreated sites. Native vegetation cover, diversity, and composition were indistinguishable across site types. Species composition was dominated by native species (>93 % relative cover) across all sites except untreated buffelgrass sites. Most (38 species, 93 %) of the 41 species detected in soil seed banks were native, and native seed density did not differ significantly across sites. Results suggest that: (1) buffelgrass cover was minimal across treated sites; (2) aside from high buffelgrass cover in untreated sites, ecological conditions were largely indistinguishable across sites; (3) soil seed banks harbored ≥12 species that were frequent in the aboveground vegetation; and (4) native species dominated post-treatment vegetation composition, and removing buffelgrass did not result in replacement by other exotic species.
ISSN:0364-152X
1432-1009
DOI:10.1007/s00267-013-0104-y