Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis) in Tallgrass Prairies: A Review of Control Methods and Future Research Directions

Salesman, Jessica Bolwahn; Thomsen, Meredith

doi:10.3368/er.29.4.374

Cited by 29 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…). Some studies suggest that B. inermis is generally persistent, being highly resistant to restoration efforts, persisting and even increasing in abundance over time (Salesman and Thomsen , Sinkins and Otfinowski ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic homogenization within and across eight widely distributed grasslands following invasion by Bromus inermis

Stotz

Gianoli

Cahill

2019

Ecology

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Invasive species can alter the structure and function of the communities they invade, as well as lead to biotic homogenization across their invasive range, thus affecting large‐scale diversity patterns. The mechanisms by which invasive species can lead to biotic homogenization are poorly understood. We argue that invasive species acting as strong, deterministic, and consistent filters within and across invaded communities are likely to cause biotic homogenization at multiple spatial scales. We studied Bromus inermis Leyss. invasion into eight grasslands covering most of the grassland and parkland natural regions of Alberta (western Canada). Specifically, we tested whether B. inermis (1) has a strong impact on species richness and composition, (2) consistently alters resources (nutrients, light, and soil moisture), imposing the same ecological filter to species establishment and persistence across sites, and hence (3) whether it leads to biotic homogenization within and across sites. We recorded plant cover and resources across native‐to‐invaded transition areas combining space‐for‐time substitutions with time‐series data analyses. Bromus inermis invasion was associated with rapid biotic homogenization of communities, within and among the eight grasslands. The sharp changes in species relative abundances following invasion was the initial driver of biotic homogenization, and species loss was delayed. Supporting the idea that biotic homogenization can occur when an invasive species presents a broad and consistent filter, resources modified by B. inermis invasion (particularly light and certain nutrients) were altered rather consistently within and across sites. The 50% reduction in light was likely the initial driver of biotic homogenization, and the increase in nutrient availability probably facilitates the displacement of species from the invaded areas and could lead to the establishment of self‐reinforcing dynamics. Overall, our results support the idea that invaders acting as strong, deterministic, and consistent ecological filters are likely to cause biotic homogenization of the communities they invade.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic homogenization within and across eight widely distributed grasslands following invasion by Bromus inermis

Stotz

Gianoli

Cahill

2019

Ecology

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“…The differences in ET gs rates between CRP‐Ref and the perennial bioenergy crops in the early years during the establishment phase of the perennial bioenergy crops were larger but diminished with time as the perennials became established. The higher ET gs rates at the CRP‐Ref field compared with all the bioenergy fields could be due to the earlier emergence (late‐March or early April) and canopy development of the cool‐season C 3 smooth brome grass, resulting in higher ET gs rates in May and June (Figure ), and also perhaps due to a second growth phase that may start in September (Figure ; Salesman & Thomsen, ) when all the bioenergy crops have senesced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, the years during which the CRP‐Ref field had higher ET ngs rates than the perennial fields were the years with the highest average nongrowing season air temperatures (Table ; 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2017). This could be due to plants exploiting available soil water early in spring (March and April) and also during a likely second growth phase in fall (September through November; Salesman & Thomsen, ) under air temperatures that favour and stimulate growth of the cool‐season C 3 smooth brome grass, hence increased ET, while the perennial bioenergy crops were dormant (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term evapotranspiration rates for rainfed corn versus perennial bioenergy crops in a mesic landscape

Abraha

Chen

Hamilton

et al. 2019

Hydrological Processes

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Perennial cellulosic crops are promoted for their potential contributions to a sustainable energy future. However, a large-scale perennial bioenergy production requires extensive land use changes through diversion of croplands or conversion of uncultivated lands, with potential implications for local and regional hydrology. To assess the impact of such land use conversions on ecosystem water use, we converted three 22 year-old Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands and three 50+ year-old conventionally tilled corn-soybean crop fields (AGR) to either notill continuous maize (corn) or perennial (switchgrass or restored prairie) bioenergy crops. We also maintained one CRP grassland without conversion. We measured evapotranspiration (ET) rates on all fields for 9 years using eddy covariance methods.Results show that: (a) mean growing-season ET rates for perennial crops were similar to the ET rate of the corn they replaced at the previously cultivated (AGR) field but ET rates for perennial crops at CRP fields were 5-9% higher than ET rate for corn on former CRP fields; and (b) mean nongrowing season ET rates for perennial fields were 11-15% lower than those for corn fields, regardless of land use history. On an annual basis, mean ET rates for perennial crops tended to be lower (4-7%) than ET rate of the corn that they replaced at AGR fields but ET rates for perennial crops and corn at CRP fields were similar. Over 9 years, mean ET rates for the same crop across land use histories were remarkably similar for corn, whereas for the perennial crops they were 4-10% higher at former CRP than at former AGR fields, mainly due to differences in growing season ET. Over the 9 years and across all fields, ET returned~60% of the precipitation back to the atmosphere. These findings suggest that large-scale substitution of perennial bioenergy crops for rainfed corn in mesic landscapes would have little if any (0 to −3%) impact on terrestrial water balances. K E Y W O R D S eddy covariance, maize, perennial cellulosic bioenergy, restored prairie, seasonal evapotranspiration (ET), smooth brome grass, switchgrass Hydrological Processes. 2020;34:810-822. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hyp 810 SUPPORTING INFORMATIONAdditional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section at the end of this article.How to cite this article: Abraha M, Chen J, Hamilton SK, Robertson GP. Long-term evapotranspiration rates for rainfed corn versus perennial bioenergy crops in a mesic landscape.

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“…Smooth brome invasion into intact native grasslands has been extensively studied [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] . Smooth brome invasion radically changes plant community structure 15,16 , and subsequently causes changes in soil nutrient cycling and soil microbial community structure and function [9][10][11]18,19 .…”

Section: Background and Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

A survey of invasive plants on grassland soil microbial communities and ecosystem services

2020

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Invasive plants can cause changes in the structure and function of the ecosystem being invaded. any changes in ecosystem diversity and community composition will likely alter ecosystem services provided by that ecosystem. However, how these ecosystem services may change is poorly understood. To elucidate how these ecosystem services will change with invasion, we sampled 561 plots undergoing invasion by smooth brome (Bromus inermis) and four other invasive species at a native Rough Fescue prairie located near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Soil and plant surveys were undertaken weekly for 26 weeks between May of 2014 and November of 2014, or the growing season. We measured a suite of ecosystem services, including greenhouse gasses, extracellular enzyme function, forage production, glyphosate degradation and decomposition. Furthermore, soil physical and chemical properties were measured, and soil bacterial and fungal communities were sequenced. this is a large and multifaceted dataset with complex temporal and spatial attributes which can be used to answer numerous questions regarding the functioning of prairie ecosystems and how invasive species will impact that functioning.All DNA samples were verified using the qubit standard protocol and PCR products were verified using an agarose gel. Sequence library concentrations were verified using the standard qubit protocol.

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Smooth Brome (Bromus inermis) in Tallgrass Prairies: A Review of Control Methods and Future Research Directions

Cited by 29 publications

References 34 publications

Biotic homogenization within and across eight widely distributed grasslands following invasion by Bromus inermis

Biotic homogenization within and across eight widely distributed grasslands following invasion by Bromus inermis

Long‐term evapotranspiration rates for rainfed corn versus perennial bioenergy crops in a mesic landscape

A survey of invasive plants on grassland soil microbial communities and ecosystem services

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