Life History of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae), an Invasive Grass in Southern Illinois

Gibson, David J.; Spyreas, Greg; Benedict, Jennifer L.

doi:10.2307/3088771

Cited by 113 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Further, M. vimineum patches in forest understory habitat may be established in locations where reproduction is insufficient to maintain a population and persist only through constant or periodic propagule immigration from proximate edge populations. Source or core populations for understory M. vimineum sinks likely occur along road, trail or water corridors (Gibson et al 2002, Cole and Weltzin 2004, 2005, Christen and Matlack 2009, Huebner 2010a, but may only periodically interact with interior habitats because M. vimineum propagules do not typically travel .2 m from source plants (Barden 1987, Gibson et al 2002, Christen and Matlack 2009, Huebner 2010b, Rauschert et al 2010). However, flooding or other substantial waterflow can transport M. vimineum seeds from edge habitat at least 15 m into the forest interior (Appendix B).…”

Section: Niche and Dispersal Limitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If plots lacking M. vimineum represent dispersal limitation (Gibson et al 2002, Christen and Matlack 2009, Miller and Matlack 2010, Rauschert et al 2010) and/or time since invasion (Richardson and Pysek 2006), (H 1a ) we hypothesize that there will be little difference in environmental variables between invaded and uninvaded plots. However, if environmental variables limit or prevent M. vimineum establishment and persistence (H 1b ), we expect significant differences in environmental variables between invaded and uninvaded habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Performance and reproduction of an exotic invader across temperate forest gradients

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Widespread colonization by invasive species often obscures their underlying niche requirements. A robust inference into habitat requirements demands direct measures of invasive species performance linked with associated environmental conditions. In the context of general ecological theory, we investigated the niche requirements of Microstegium vimineum, an invasive grass in the U.S. that overruns native vegetation in forest understories. We examined M. vimineum's performance and reproduction as a function of environmental drivers across forested and unforested habitats along a 100-km regional and climatic gradient in the southeastern U.S. from the southern Appalachian Mountains to the Georgia piedmont. We then measured M. vimineum performance and reproduction in response to direct environmental drivers (diffuse light, litter cover, soil moisture, herbaceous cover, soil pH, clay content and temperature) in paired invaded and uninvaded plots. Lastly, we experimentally investigated recruitment in the context of experimental and natural disturbances. We find that all habitats are not equally suitable for M. vimineum-even those within which it occurs-and that the environmental conditions associated with roadsides and waterways are most suitable for M. vimineum persistence and spread. Microstegium vimineum's soil moisture, light and leaf litter requirements may delineate the boundaries of suitable habitat for the exotic invader. Significant decreases in M. vimineum recruitment, performance and reproduction along these environmental gradients suggest its potential niche limitations. Nevertheless, we also find significant dispersal limits on M. vimineum populations not subject to conspicuous overland water flow. We discuss our findings in the context of spread, impact and management of invasive species.

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Section: Niche and Dispersal Limitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and reproduction of an exotic invader across temperate forest gradients

et al. 2011

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“…Data for Microstegium vimineum.-Japanese stiltgrass is an Asian species that has become very invasive in the eastern USA (Hunt and Zaremba 1992;Gibson et al 2002). Although it is a summer annual C 4 grass, it is shade tolerant (Horton and Neufeld 1998) and tends to grow in mesic deciduous forests where it can form a dense, lawn-like monoculture underneath the canopy.…”

Section: Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasticity of Chasmogamous and Cleistogamous Reproductive Allocation in Grasses

Cheplick¹

2007

aliso

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Cleistogamy is more common in grasses than in any other angiosperm family. Both self-fertilized cleistogamous (CL) spikelets and open-pollinated chasmogamous (CH) spikelets are typically produced. Relative allocation to CL and CH varies among species and populations, and is influenced by ontogeny and environment. The balance between reproductive modes can be expressed as a CH/CL ratio. This ratio is very plastic and stressful conditions can result in values Ͻ1.0. In Amphicarpum purshii, an annual with subterranean CL spikelets, CH/CL declined as density increased because CH decreased more than CL as size was reduced by intraspecific competition. In the shade-tolerant annual Microstegium vimineum, CH/CL was lowest in large greenhouse-grown plants in an unlimited, sunny environment, but was highest in small plants from a shady forest interior; tiller vegetative mass often showed a negative allometric relation to CH and CL allocation. In the perennial Dichanthelium clandestinum, CH and CL allocation varied among populations, but there was no consistent effect of light on CH/CL. The phenology of reproduction strongly affects CH/CL. In Danthonia spicata, CH/CL was high early in the season as CH flowering commenced, but dropped quickly as axillary CL spikelets matured; A. purshii showed the opposite pattern because CL reproduction occurred first. The assumption that cleistogamy simply provides reproductive assurance should be reevaluated in light of new information on phenology and allometry. Changes in the balance between CH and CL caused by environmental factors may be indirect effects of size. Evolutionary models that do not explore the plasticity and allometry of CH and CL reproduction may not be useful in predicting the myriad patterns in nature.

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“…Their findings highlight how native ecosystems in the U.S. could be susceptible to M. vimineum invasion. However, the scope of M. vimineum invasiveness was limited to local spread only according to some researchers (Gibson et al, 2002;Cheplick, 2010;Rauschert et al, 2010). DeMeester and Richter (2010) made a successful effort to regain native species richness in the piedmont of North Carolina (from 4 to 15 species) by manually removing M. vimineum from a forested wetland but M. vimineum quickly reinvaded the plots after weeding was stopped and species richness dropped to 8 species.…”

Section: Invasive Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A five year study of floristic succession in a restored urban wetland

Richardson

2013

Ecological Engineering

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a b s t r a c tThe Stream and Wetland Assessment Management Park (SWAMP) project created a wetland-stream complex that encompasses a wide array of micro-environments and hydrology. These diverse habitats were designed to facilitate ecosystem diversity via enhanced pathways for ecological succession during restoration. We took an empirical approach to examine floral succession under natural processes following wetland restoration of floodplain and marsh habitats. Survey plots were set up in four forest gaps in palustrine wetlands, each containing a Low Marsh and a High Marsh. During five years of recovery from the soil disturbance and upland vegetation removal, wetland species richness gradually increased from 24 to 38 species in the Low Marshes, where waterlogged conditions precluded upland species invasions. Conversely, upland species richness quickly declined from 69 to 29 species over time in the High Marsh, now subjected to increase flooding. The species successional patterns suggest a slower turnover in the wet Low Marsh, but faster turnover in the moist High Marsh. Following the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, we observed that High Marsh species richness reached its maximum in the first year of the vegetation survey, whereas even after five years the plant diversity in the Low Marsh has yet to peak. The once widespread Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet) was decimated following the SWAMP restoration. However, the exotic invasive species, Microstegium vimineum (Japanese stilt grass) dominated the floodplain except in the wettest Low Marsh sites. Given the successional patterns of increased wetland species following restoration, we recommend removal of woody invasive species such as L. sinense to prevent their re-establishment followed by long-term monitoring and continued removal (5-7 years) of invasive species to allow native species establishment. Our study shows that the creation of wetter floodplain habitats with increased flooding suppresses the establishment of the highly invasive M. vimineum.

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Life History of Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae), an Invasive Grass in Southern Illinois

Cited by 113 publications

References 17 publications

Performance and reproduction of an exotic invader across temperate forest gradients

Performance and reproduction of an exotic invader across temperate forest gradients

Plasticity of Chasmogamous and Cleistogamous Reproductive Allocation in Grasses

A five year study of floristic succession in a restored urban wetland

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