Barriers to establishing native plant communities on former pasture include dominance by a single planted species, hydrologic and edaphic alteration, and native species propagule limitation. Establishment may be dispersallimited (propagules do not arrive at the site), micrositelimited (areas suitable for seedling emergence and survival do not exist), or both. Successful restoration strategies hinge on identifying and addressing critical limitations. We examined seed and microsite limitation to establishment of a native wildflower (Coreopsis lanceolata) in a former pasture dominated by Paspalum notatum (bahiagrass). We determined the relative and interactive effects of microsite (irrigation and disturbance) and seed limitation on C. lanceolata establishment. We tested (1) irrigation (none, pre-seeding, and pre-and postseeding), (2) disturbance (none, sethoxydim, glyphosate, and topsoil removal), and (3) C. lanceolata seeding rate (three seeding densities). Applying glyphosate before seeding increased C. lanceolata establishment compared to other disturbance treatments. Ultimately, C. lanceolata establishment was not affected by irrigation. Coreopsis lanceolata establishment was limited when seeded at 100 live seeds/m 2 but not at 600 or 1100 live seeds/m 2 . Seed and microsite availability interactively affected C. lanceolata establishment, in that microsite limitation was biologically relevant only when a minimum number of seeds were present. In practice, both seed and microsite requirements must be met for successful establishment, and increasing the availability of seeds or microsites does not compensate for limitations of the other. Here, it is the relative importance of seed and microsite limitations that drives plant establishment; these limitations do not represent a simple dichotomy.
Field plantings of six native wildflower species were established at five sites in 1997 from seeds derived from local native populations (local ecotype) and from seeds purchased from commercial sources outside of Florida (nonlocal ecotype). The species were Cassia fasciculata (partridge-pea), Coreopsis lanceolata (lance-leaf coreopsis), Gaillardia pulchella (blanketflower), Ipomopsis rubra (standing cypress), Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed susan), and Salvia lyrata (lyre-leaf sage; cancer weed). They were evaluated once per month from June to Oct. 1997. Plantings were maintained as follows: no supplemental fertilization; irrigation as needed up until early April to ensure germination; no pesticides except to control fireants and weeds on the perimeter of the plantings; plots were handweeded as necessary. It was clearly evident from these evaluations that the local ecotypes generally were better adapted to north Florida conditions than were the nonlocal ecotypes. The most noteworthy differences were as follows: 1) the local ecotypes of Rudbeckia and Gaillardia had longer flowering periods than their nonlocal counterparts, 2) the local ecotype of Coreopsis flowered profusely while flowering of the nonlocal ecotype was sparse, and 3) the local ecotypes of Coreopsis and Salvia had less disease incidence than their nonlocal counterparts.
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