Multiple Disturbances Accelerate Invasion of Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) in a Mesocosm Study

Disturbances that intensify with agriculture and/or urban development are thought to promote the spread of invasive plants, such as the clonal perennial reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L). To test this relationship and interactions among disturbances, we subjected wet prairie assemblages wit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oecologia 2004-02, Vol.138 (3), p.455-464
Main Authors: Kercher, Suzanne M., Zedler, Joy B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Cities
Community Ecology
Demecology
Disasters
Ecosystem
Floods
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geologic Sediments - chemistry
Grasses
Invasive plants
Light
Light transmission
Micronutrients
Models, Theoretical
Nutrient nutrient interactions
Nutrients
Phalaris - growth & development
Phalaris arundinacea
Plants
Plants and fungi
Plants, Edible
Population Dynamics
Sediments
Soil nutrients
Species richness
Topsoil
Urban agriculture
Urban development
Vegetation
Wetlands
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Disturbances that intensify with agriculture and/or urban development are thought to promote the spread of invasive plants, such as the clonal perennial reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L). To test this relationship and interactions among disturbances, we subjected wet prairie assemblages within 1.1 m² mesocosms to invasion by Phalaris and addition of nutrients, sediments, and flooding. Species richness decreased with the application of sediments and/or flooding of 4 consecutive weeks or longer. Losses of up to six dominant and subdominant species in these treatments increased light transmission through the plant canopy by as much as 400% over the control. Light availability in July and September was a strong predictor of end-of-season aboveground biomass of Phalaris. Phalaris was also 35% and 195% more productive when nutrients were added at low and high levels, respectively. Multiple factors in combination were usually additive in their effects on invasion, but sediments and nutrients interacted with flood regime to synergistically increase invasion in some cases. A separate experiment likewise revealed a synergistic interaction between added nutrients and simulated grazing. We suggest that multiple factors be mitigated simultaneously to reduce invasion of Phalaris.
ISSN:0029-8549
1432-1939
DOI:10.1007/s00442-003-1453-7