EXOTIC PLANT SPECIES INVADE HOT SPOTS OF NATIVE PLANT DIVERSITY

The births of brown brocket deer ( Mazama gouazoubira) in a secondary lower montane forest called "yunga" in northwestern Argentina were compared with rainfall. Analyses were performed with rainfall and flower-fruit fall in an attempt to determine the possible importance of these seasonal variables in birthing. The births were not directly correlated with rainfall, but rather with the flower and fruit fall of exotic plant species. This may be related to favor the development of fawns, which eat the new and more digestible plant parts, accessible one month after their births.The non-seasonal births observed around the year could be related to the selection by the deer of some plant species that have been introduced into the region ( Prunus, Morus and Psidium), have a longer fruiting span than the scarce native plant species.

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Relationships among soil fertility, native plant diversity and exotic plant abundance inform restoration of forb-rich eucalypt woodlands

Diversity and Distributions ◽

10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00872.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 18 (8) ◽

pp. 795-807 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Suzanne M. Prober ◽

Georg Wiehl

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Exotic Plant ◽

Native Plant ◽

Plant Abundance ◽

Eucalypt Woodlands ◽

Native Plant Diversity

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A Trait-Based Protocol for the Biological Control of Invasive Exotic Plant Species

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2021.586948 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Hui Zhang ◽

Kai Jiang ◽

Yang Zhao ◽

Yuting Xing ◽

Haijie Ge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biological Control ◽

Plant Species ◽

Native Species ◽

Invasive Plant ◽

Exotic Plant ◽

Native Plant ◽

Exotic Plant Species ◽

Native Plant Species ◽

Software Program ◽

Invasive Exotic

Selecting appropriate native species for the biological control of invasive exotic plants is a recurring challenge for conservationists, ecologists, and land managers. Recently developed trait-based approaches may be an effective means of overcoming this challenge. However, we lack a protocol and software platform that can be used to quickly and effectively select potential native plant species for performing biological control of the invasive exotic plant species. Here, our study introduces a protocol and a software program that can be used for trait-based selection of appropriate native plant species for performing biocontrol of invasive exotic plant species. In particular, we illustrate the effectiveness of this software program and protocol by identifying native species that can be used for the biological control of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit, a highly invasive plant species found in many parts of the world. Bougainvillea spectabilis was the only native species selected by our software program as a potential biocontrol agent for L. leucocephala. When separately planting 4 seedlings of B. spectabilis and two unselected species (Bombax ceiba, and Ficus microcarpa) as neighbors of each individual of L. leucocephala for 3 years, we found that B. spectabilis, which was functionally similar to the invasive L. leucocephala, significantly limited the invasion of the latter, while the unselected native plant species could not. That was because all the seedling of B. spectabilis survived, while half seedlings of unselected species (B. ceiba and F. microcarpa) died, during the experimental period when planted with L. leucocephala seedlings. Moreover, the growth of L. leucocephala was restricted when planted with B. spectabilis, in contrast B. ceiba and F. microcarpa did not influence the growth of L. leucocephala. Overall, our software program and protocol can quickly and efficiently select native plant species for use in the biological control of invasive exotic plant species. We expect that this work will provide a general protocol to perform biological control of many different types of invasive exotic plant species.

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Prescribed versus wildfire impacts on exotic plants and soil microbes in California grasslands

10.1101/2021.09.22.461426 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sydney I Glassman ◽

James WJ Randolph ◽

Sameer S Saroa ◽

Joia K Capocchi ◽

Kendra E Walters ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Soil Microbial Communities ◽

Exotic Plant ◽

Native Plant ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Bacterial Richness ◽

Native Plant Diversity

1. Prescribed fire is often used as a management tool to decrease exotic plant cover and increase native plant cover in grasslands. These changes may also be mediated by fire impacts on soil microbial communities, which drive plant productivity and function. Yet, the ecological effects of prescribed burns compared to wildfires on either plant or soil microbial composition remain unclear. 2. Here, we investigated the impacts of a spring prescribed fire versus a fall wildfire on plant cover and community composition and bacterial and fungal richness, abundance, and composition in a California grassland. We used qPCR of 16S and 18S to assess impacts on bacterial and fungal abundance and Illumina MiSeq of 16S and ITS2 to assess impacts on bacterial and fungal richness and composition. 3. Wildfire had stronger impacts than prescribed fire on microbial communities and both fires had similar impacts on plants with both prescribed and wildfire reducing exotic plant cover but neither reducing exotic plant richness. Fungal richness declined after the wildfire but not prescribed fire, but bacterial richness was unaffected by either. Yet increasing char levels in both fire types resulted in reduced bacterial and fungal biomass, and both fire types slightly altered bacterial and fungal composition. 4. Exotic and native plant diversity differentially affected soil microbial diversity, with native plant diversity leading to increased arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal richness while exotic plant diversity better predicted bacterial richness. However, the remainder of the soil microbial communities were more related to aspects of soil chemistry including cation exchange capacity, organic matter, pH and phosphorous. 5. Synthesis and applications. Understanding the different ecological effects of prescribed fires and wildfires on plant and soil communities are key to enhancing a prevalent management action and to guide potential management opportunities post wildfires. Our coupled plant and soil community sampling allowed us to capture the sensitivity of the fungal community to fire and highlights the importance of potentially incorporating management actions such as soil or fungal amendments to promote this critical community that mediates native plant performance.

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