Plant Recruitment and Soil Microbial Characteristics of Rehabilitation Seedings Following Wildfire in Northern Utah

One goal of post‐fire native species seeding is to increase plant community resistance to exotic weed invasions, yet few studies address the impacts of seeding on exotic annual establishment and persistence. In 2010 and 2011, we investigated the influence of seedings on exotic annuals and the underlying microbial communities. The wildfire site in northern Utah was formerly dominated by Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis, but burned in September 2008. Experimental seeding treatments were installed in November 2008 to examine strategies for establishing native species using two drills, hand broadcasts and different timing of seed applications (resulting in 13 seeding treatments). We collected aboveground biomass of invasive annuals (Halogeton glomeratus, Salsola kali, and Bromus tectorum), other volunteer plants from the extant seed bank, and seeded species from all treatments in the second and third years after fire. We sampled soils within microsites beneath native perennial bunchgrass and exotic annuals to characterize underlying soil microbial communities. High precipitation following seeding led to strong seedling establishment and we found few differences between seeding treatments established with either drill. All seeded treatments reduced exotic biomass by at least 90% relative to unseeded controls. Soil microbial communities (phospholipid fatty acid analysis), beneath B. tectorum, Poa secunda, and Pseudoroegneria spicata microsites differed little 3 years after fire. However, microbial abundance beneath P. spicata increased from June to July, suggesting that microbial communities beneath successful seedings can vary greatly within a single growing season.     

Shrub persistence and increased grass mortality in response to drought in dryland systems

Droughts in the southwest United States have led to major forest and grassland die‐off events in recent decades, suggesting plant community and ecosystem shifts are imminent as native perennial grass populations are replaced by shrub‐ and invasive plant‐dominated systems. These patterns are similar to those observed in arid and semiarid systems around the globe, but our ability to predict which species will experience increased drought‐induced mortality in response to climate change remains limited. We investigated meteorological drought‐induced mortality of nine dominant plant species in the Colorado Plateau Desert by experimentally imposing a year‐round 35% precipitation reduction for eight continuous years. We distributed experimental plots across numerous plant, soil, and parent material types, resulting in 40 distinct sites across a 4,500 km² region of the Colorado Plateau Desert. For all 8 years, we tracked c. 400 individual plants and evaluated mortality responses to treatments within and across species, and through time. We also examined the influence of abiotic and biotic site factors in driving mortality responses. Overall, high mortality trends were driven by dominant grass species, including Achnatherum hymenoides, Pleuraphis jamesii, and Sporobolus cryptandrus. Responses varied widely from year to year and dominant shrub species were generally resistant to meteorological drought, likely due to their ability to access deeper soil water. Importantly, mortality increased in the presence of invasive species regardless of treatment, and native plant die‐off occurred even under ambient conditions, suggesting that recent climate changes are already negatively impacting dominant species in these systems. Results from this long‐term drought experiment suggest major shifts in community composition and, as a result, ecosystem function. Patterns also show that, across multiple soil and plant community types, native perennial grass species may be replaced by shrubs and invasive annuals in the Colorado Plateau Desert.     

Attempting to Restore Herbaceous Understories in Wyoming Big Sagebrush Communities with Mowing and Seeding

Shrub steppe communities with depleted perennial herbaceous understories often need to be restored to increase resilience and resistance. Mowing has been applied to Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) steppe plant communities to reduce sagebrush dominance and restore native herbaceous vegetation, but success has been limited and hampered by increases in exotic annuals. Seeding native bunchgrasses after mowing may accelerate recovery and limit exotics. We compared mowing followed by drill‐seeding native bunchgrasses to mowing and an untreated control at five sites in southeastern Oregon over a 4‐year period. Mowing and seeding bunchgrasses increased bunchgrass density; however, bunchgrass cover did not differ among treatments. Exotic annuals increased with mowing whether or not post‐mowing seeding occurred. Mowing, whether or not seeding occurred, also reduced biological soil crusts. Longer term evaluation is needed to determine if seeded bunchgrasses will increase enough to suppress exotic annuals. Seeded bunchgrasses may have been limited by increases in exotic annuals. Though restoration of sagebrush communities with degraded understories is needed, we do not recommend mowing and seeding native bunchgrasses because this treatment produced mixed results that may lower the resilience and resistance of these communities. Before this method is applied, research is needed to increase our understanding of how to improve establishment of seeded native bunchgrasses. Alternatively, restoration practitioners may need to apply treatments to control exotic annuals and repeatedly seed native bunchgrasses.     

Native seeds incorporated into activated carbon pods applied concurrently with indaziflam: a new strategy for restoring annual‐invaded communities?

Reestablishing native perennial vegetation in annual grass‐invaded rangelands is critical to restoring ecosystems. Control of exotics, often achieved with preemergent herbicides, is essential for successful restoration of invaded rangelands. Unfortunately, desirable species cannot be seeded simultaneously with preemergent herbicide application due to nontarget damage. To avoid this, seeding is commonly delayed at least 1 year. Delaying seeding increases the likelihood that annual grasses will begin reestablishing and compete with seeded species. Activated carbon (AC) can provide preemergent herbicide protection for seeded species because it adsorbs and deactivates herbicides. Previous studies suggest that a cylindrical herbicide protection pod (HPP), containing AC and seeds, allows desired species to be seeded simultaneously with the application of the preemergent herbicide imazapic. Unfortunately, imazapic is only effective at controlling annual grasses for 1–2 years. Indaziflam is a new preemergent herbicide which exhibits longer soil activity, with which HPPs may be useful. To assess this possibility, we evaluated seeding two native species (Wyoming big sagebrush [Artemisia tridentata Nutt ssp. wyomingensis] and bluebunch wheatgrass [Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh) Á. Löve]), both incorporated into HPPs and as bare seed, at four application rates of indaziflam in a grow room study. HPPs protected seeded species at low, mid, and high rates of indaziflam. The abundance and size of plants was greater in HPPs compared to bare seed treatments. These results suggest that HPPs can be used to seed native grasses and shrubs simultaneously with indaziflam application.     

Diffuse knapweed (Centaurea diffusa Lam.) seedling emergence and establishment in a Colorado grassland

Knapweeds (Centaurea spp.) are damaging invaders of grasslands and other North American rangelands. A field study was conducted to determine conditions that promote diffuse knapweed (C. diffusa) emergence and establishment in a native Colorado grassland (North America). Knapweed was planted in native grassland under treatments with different opening sizes, levels of competition, knapweed seed burial and season of seeding. There was no effect of opening size where competing natives were alive, but knapweed emergence in 5- and 15-cm openings was higher than 0-cm openings where natives were killed. Reducing competition reduced fall diffuse knapweed emergence, but did not affect spring emergence. Seed burial increased knapweed emergence, but the effect varied by season. Although diffuse knapweed emergence reached 35%, only four plants survived from 3,600 seeds. This native grassland did not prevent knapweed emergence or establishment, but both were so low that rapid knapweed invasion is unlikely.     

Eco‐evolutionary responses of Bromus tectorum to climate change: implications for biological invasions

How plant populations, communities, and ecosystems respond to climate change is a critical focus in ecology today. The responses of introduced species may be especially rapid. Current models that incorporate temperature and precipitation suggest that future Bromus tectorum invasion risk is low for the Colorado Plateau. With a field warming experiment at two sites in southeastern Utah, we tested this prediction over 4 years, measuring B. tectorum phenology, biomass, and reproduction. In a complimentary greenhouse study, we assessed whether changes in field B. tectorum biomass and reproductive output influence offspring performance. We found that following a wet winter and early spring, the timing of spring growth initiation, flowering, and summer senescence all advanced in warmed plots at both field sites and the shift in phenology was progressively larger with greater warming. Earlier green‐up and development was associated with increases in B. tectorum biomass and reproductive output, likely due early spring growth, when soil moisture was not limiting, and a lengthened growing season. Seeds collected from plants grown in warmed plots had higher biomass and germination rates and lower mortality than seeds from ambient plots. However, in the following two dry years, we observed no differences in phenology between warmed and ambient plots. In addition, warming had a generally negative effect on B. tectorum biomass and reproduction in dry years and this negative effect was significant in the plots that received the highest warming treatment. In contrast to models that predict negative responses of B. tectorum to warmer climate on the Colorado Plateau, the effects of warming were more nuanced, relied on background climate, and differed between the two field sites. Our results highlight the importance of considering the interacting effects of temperature, precipitation, and site‐specific characteristics such as soil texture, on plant demography and have direct implications for B. tectorum invasion dynamics on the Colorado Plateau.     

Establishment and Management of Native Functional Groups in Restoration

The limiting similarity hypothesis predicts that communities should be more resistant to invasion by non‐natives when they include natives with a diversity of traits from more than one functional group. In restoration, planting natives with a diversity of traits may result in competition between natives of different functional groups and may influence the efficacy of different seeding and maintenance methods, potentially impacting native establishment. We compare initial establishment and first‐year performance of natives and the effectiveness of maintenance techniques in uniform versus mixed functional group plantings. We seeded ruderal herbaceous natives, longer‐lived shrubby natives, or a mixture of the two functional groups using drill‐ and hand‐seeding methods. Non‐natives were left undisturbed, removed by hand‐weeding and mowing, or treated with herbicide to test maintenance methods in a factorial design. Native functional groups had highest establishment, growth, and reproduction when planted alone, and hand‐seeding resulted in more natives as well as more of the most common invasive, Brassica nigra. Wick herbicide removed more non‐natives and resulted in greater reproduction of natives, while hand‐weeding and mowing increased native density. Our results point to the importance of considering competition among native functional groups as well as between natives and invasives in restoration. Interactions among functional groups, seeding methods, and maintenance techniques indicate restoration will be easier to implement when natives with different traits are planted separately.     

Postwildfire seeding to restore native vegetation and limit exotic annuals: an evaluation in juniper‐dominated sagebrush steppe

Reestablishment of perennial vegetation is often needed after wildfires to limit exotic species and restore ecosystem services. However, there is a growing body of evidence that questions if seeding after wildfires increases perennial vegetation and reduces exotic plants. The concern that seeding may not meet restoration goals is even more prevalent when native perennial vegetation is seeded after fire. We evaluated vegetation cover and density responses to broadcast seeding native perennial grasses and mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. spp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) after wildfires in the western United States in six juniper (Juniperus occidentalis ssp. occidentalis Hook)‐dominated mountain big sagebrush communities for 3 years postfire. Seeding native perennial species compared to not seeding increased perennial grass and sagebrush cover and density. Perennial grass cover was 4.3 times greater in seeded compared to nonseeded areas. Sagebrush cover averaged 24 and less than 0.1% in seeded and nonseeded areas at the conclusion of the study, respectively. Seeding perennial species reduced exotic annual grass and annual forb cover and density. Exotic annual grass cover was 8.6 times greater in nonseeded compared to seeded areas 3 years postfire. Exotic annual grass cover increased over time in nonseeded areas but decreased in seeded areas by the third‐year postfire. Seeded areas were perennial‐dominated and nonseeded areas were annual‐dominated at the end of the study. Establishing perennial vegetation may be critical after wildfires in juniper‐dominated sagebrush steppe to prevent the development of annual‐dominated communities. Postwildfire seeding increased perennial vegetation and reduced exotic plants and justifies its use.     

Evaluating strategies for facilitating native plant establishment in northern Nevada crested wheatgrass seedings

Non‐native crested wheatgrasses (Agropyron cristatum and A. desertorum) were used historically within the Great Basin for the purpose of competing with weed species and increasing livestock forage. These species continue to be used in some areas, especially after wildfires occurring in low elevation/precipitation, formerly Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis)/herbaceous communities. Seeding native species in these sites is often unsuccessful, and lack of establishment results in invasion and site dominance by exotic annuals. However, crested wheatgrass often forms dense monocultures that interfere competitively with the establishment of desirable native vegetation and do not provide the plant structure and habitat diversity for wildlife species equivalent to native‐dominated sagebrush plant communities. During a 5‐year study, we conducted trials to evaluate chemical and mechanical methods for reducing crested wheatgrass and the effectiveness of seeding native species into these sites after crested wheatgrass suppression. We determined that discing treatments were ineffective in reducing crested wheatgrass cover and even increased crested wheatgrass density in some cases. Glyphosate treatments initially reduced crested wheatgrass cover, but weeds increased in many treated plots and seeded species diminished over time as crested wheatgrass recovered. We concluded that, although increases in native species could possibly be obtained by repeating crested wheatgrass control treatments, reducing crested wheatgrass opens a window for invasion by exotic weed species.     

Soil amendment interacts with invasive grass and drought to uniquely influence aboveground versus belowground biomass in aridland restoration

Water‐holding soil amendments such as super‐absorbent polymer (SAP) may improve native species establishment in restoration but may also interact with precipitation or invasive species such as Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass or downy brome) to influence revegetation outcomes. We implemented an experiment at two sites in Colorado, U.S.A., in which we investigated the interactions of drought (66% reduction of ambient rainfall), B. tectorum seed addition (BRTE, 465 seeds/m²), and SAP soil amendment (25 g/m²) on initial plant establishment and 3‐year aboveground and belowground biomass and allocation. At one site, SAP resulted in higher native seeded species establishment but only with ambient precipitation. However, by the third year, we detected no SAP effects on native seeded species biomass. Treatments interacted to influence aboveground and belowground biomass and allocation differently. At one site, a SAP × precipitation interaction resulted in lower belowground biomass in plots with SAP and drought (61.7 ± 7.3 g/m²) than plots with drought alone (91.6 ± 18.1 g/m²). At the other site, a SAP × BRTE interaction resulted in higher belowground biomass in plots with SAP and BRTE (56.6 ± 11.2 g/m²) than BRTE alone (35.0 ± 3.7 g/m²). These patterns were not reflected in aboveground biomass. SAP should be used with caution in aridland restoration because initial positive effects may not translate to long‐term benefits, SAP may uniquely influence aboveground versus belowground biomass, and SAP can interact with environmental variables to impact developing plant communities in positive and negative ways.     

非生长季降水对青藏高原高寒草甸优势种生物量稳定性的影响

受全球气候变化的影响,青藏高原在过去的几十年间整体上呈现暖湿化的趋势,相比于年际之间温度和降水的变化外,生长季和非生长季气候变化模式的差异可能会对生态系统产生更重要的影响,但相关的研究尚不充分。以青藏高原东部的高寒草甸为研究对象,基于2001年至2017年17年的野外观测数据,包括优势植物紫花针茅的高度、多度以及生物量、次优势物种洽草的生物量,结合生长季和非生长季平均温度和降水量的变化,通过线性回归以及结构方程模型,探究生长季/非生长季不对称气候变化对于青藏高原高寒草甸优势物种生物量稳定性的影响。研究结果表明：1)青藏高原东部年均温和年降水在过去的17年间显著增加,呈现暖湿化的趋势,但是非生长的降水却变化不明显;2)紫花针茅的高度、多度以及生物量在过去17年没有显著的趋势,但是洽草的生物量稳定性显著减少;3)非生长降水结合紫花针茅的高度、多度以及洽草的生物量稳定性促进了紫花针茅的生物量稳定性。研究结果可以为青藏高原高寒草甸在未来气候变化的背景下合理保护与利用提供科学依据。     

Long‐term experiment manipulating community assembly results in favorable restoration outcomes for invaded prairies

Invasive species are a common problem in restoration projects. Manipulating soil fertility and species arrival order has the potential to lower their abundance and achieve higher abundances of seeded native species. In a 7‐year experiment in Missouri, United States, we tested how nutrient addition and the timing of arrival of the invasive legume Lespedeza cuneata and seeded native prairie grass and forb species influenced overall community composition. Treatments that involved early arrival of seeded forb and grass species and late arrival of L. cuneata were most successful at creating community structure that fulfilled our restoration goals, displaying high abundance of seeded native forb species, low abundances of L. cuneata, and non‐native species. There were few treatment interactions, with the exception that timing seeded native forbs and timing of L. cuneata arrival interactively influenced the abundance of seeded native forbs. This suggests that the individual treatments are supporting the restoration goals, such as creating a community with low abundance of L. cuneate or high abundance of native seeded species, without restricting each other. This study demonstrates the importance of priority effects in disturbed habitats prone to invasion, the lasting effects of initial seeding on long‐term community composition, and the potential for fertilization to positively benefit restoration of degraded grasslands.     

Climate anomalies provide opportunities for large-scale mapping of non-native plant abundance in desert grasslands

Aim Native plant communities are susceptible to climate anomalies, which would favour the invasion of non‐native species. However, climate anomalies may also provide opportunities for detecting non‐native plants at a regional scale using remote sensing. Based on this mechanism, we propose a direct and effective remote sensing approach to map the abundance of South African Eragrostis lehmanniana Nees (Lehmann lovegrass), a highly invasive, non‐native plant in the desert grasslands of southwestern North America. Location The desert grassland of Fort Huachuca Military Reservation (31°34′N, 110°26′W) in southern Arizona, USA. Methods Simple linear regression models were used to examine the relationships between additional (comparing to the normal level) remotely sensed greenness (delta Enhanced Vegetation Index (ΔEVI) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)), and field actual (g m^?2) and percentage (%) biomass of E. lehmanniana in an abnormal wet, cool period in October 2000. Results There was a strong and positive agreement (P < 0.005) between ΔEVI and field observations (R² = 0.72 and 0.64 for actual and percentage biomass of E. lehmanniana, respectively). These relationships allowed us to estimate the abundance of E. lehmanniana in the desert grassland. Main conclusions Phenology of native grass communities is quite similar to systems dominated by E. lehmanniana but responses differ when there are substantial amounts of precipitation in cool seasons. Eragrostis lehmanniana can produce significant amount of new tissues and seeds with sufficient cool season moisture, while native grasses are still in senescence or dormancy. Therefore, amplitude of ΔEVI during wet, cool seasons would indicate the abundance of E. lehmanniana. Long‐term climate records denote an amplification of cool season precipitation in the southwestern USA. This regional climatic trend should allow us to monitor E. lehmanniana and possibly other non‐native species frequently in this vast arid region.     

Attempting to restore mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) four years after fire

Restoration of shrubs is needed throughout the world because of altered fire regimes, anthropogenic disturbance, and overutilization. The native shrub mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. vaseyana (Rydb.) Beetle) is a restoration priority because of its value to wildlife in western North America. One of the principal threats to mountain big sagebrush is encroachment by western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis ssp. occidentalis Hook) and other conifers. Fire is frequently applied to control juniper; however, sagebrush recovery after fire can be variable. Seeding sagebrush postfire can hasten sagebrush recovery; however, seeding is not always necessary. Therefore, it may be advantageous to monitor postfire recovery to determine if seeding is needed. The effect of seeding sagebrush several years after fire is unknown. We evaluated the efficiency of seeding mountain big sagebrush four years after fire‐controlled junipers at five sites. Sagebrush cover (<0.5%) and density (<0.07 plants/m²) was low in seeded plots and did not differ from unseeded controls in the three postseeding years. We conclude that seeding sagebrush four years after fire did not accelerate sagebrush recovery. We speculate that seeded sagebrush failed to establish because of competition from herbaceous vegetation that had four years to recover after fire. Although it would be beneficial to seed sagebrush only when needed, our results suggest postponing seeding until monitoring has determined that recovery is inadequate may not be advisable. We suggest researchers investigate methods to improve predicting sagebrush recovery to allow for seeding, when needed, before the first postfire growing season.     

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTED: What caused the mid‐Holocene forest decline on the eastern Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau?

Aim Atmospheric CO₂ concentrations depend, in part, on the amount of biomass locked up in terrestrial vegetation. Information on the causes of a broad‐scale vegetation transition and associated loss of biomass is thus of critical interest for understanding global palaeoclimatic changes. Pollen records from the north‐eastern Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau reveal a dramatic and extensive forest decline beginning c. 6000 cal. yr bp . The aim of this study is to elucidate the causes of this regional‐scale change from high‐biomass forest to low‐biomass steppe on the Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau during the second half of the Holocene. Location Our study focuses on the north‐eastern Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau. Stratigraphical data used are from Qinghai Lake (3200 m a.s.l., 36°32′–37°15′ N, 99°36′–100°47′ E). Methods We apply a modern pollen‐precipitation transfer function from the eastern and north‐eastern Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau to fossil pollen spectra from Qinghai Lake to reconstruct annual precipitation changes during the Holocene. The reconstructions are compared to a stable oxygen‐isotope record from the same sediment core and to results from two transient climate model simulations. Results The pollen‐based precipitation reconstruction covering the Holocene parallels moisture changes inferred from the stable oxygen‐isotope record. Furthermore, these results are in close agreement with simulated model‐based past annual precipitation changes. Main conclusions In the light of these data and the model results, we conclude that it is not necessary to attribute the broad‐scale forest decline to human activity. Climate change as a result of changes in the intensity of the East Asian Summer Monsoon in the mid‐Holocene is the most parsimonious explanation for the widespread forest decline on the Tibet‐Qinghai Plateau. Moreover, climate feedback from a reduced forest cover accentuates increasingly drier conditions in the area, indicating complex vegetation–climate interactions during this major ecological change.     

Implication of climate change for the persistence of raptors in arid savanna

Arid savannas are regarded as one of the ecosystems most likely to be affected by climate change. In these dry conditions, even top predators like raptors are affected by water availability and precipitation. However, few research initiatives have addressed the question of how climate change will affect population dynamics and extinction risk of particular species in arid ecosystems. Here, we use an individual‐oriented modeling approach to conduct experiments on the population dynamics of long lived raptors. We investigate the potential impact of precipitation variation caused by climate change on raptors in arid savanna using the tawny eagle (Aquila rapax) in the southern Kalahari as a case study. We simulated various modifications of precipitation scenarios predicted for climate change, such as lowered annual precipitation mean, increased inter‐annual variation and increased auto‐correlation in precipitation. We found a high impact of these modifications on extinction risk of tawny eagles, with reduced population persistence in most cases. Decreased mean annual precipitation and increased inter‐annual variation both caused dramatic decreases in population persistence. Increased auto‐correlation in precipitation led only to slightly accelerated extinction of simulated populations. Finally, for various patterns of periodically fluctuating precipitation, we found both increased and decreased population persistence. In summary, our results suggest that the impacts on raptor population dynamics and survival caused by climate change in arid savannas will be great. We emphasize that even if under climate change the mean annual precipitation remains constant but the inter‐annual variation increases the persistence of raptor populations in arid savannas will decrease considerably. This suggests a new dimension of climate change driven impacts on population persistence and consequently on biodiversity. However, more investigations on particular species and/or species groups are needed to increase our understanding of how climate change will impact population dynamics and how this will influence species diversity and biodiversity.     

黄土高原羊圈沟小流域人工物种和自然物种径向生长对气候变化的响应差异

为揭示黄土高原人工和自然物种径向生长对气候变化的响应差异,在延安羊圈沟小流域分别获取人工和自然物种的树木年轮材料并构建标准年表,其中人工物种为刺槐(Robinia pseudoacacia)和柠条(Caragana korshinskii),自然物种为山杏(Armeniaca sibirica)和荆条(Vitex negundo var.heterophylla),并对年表中的气候信号进行了统计分析。结果表明:1)人工物种年表中的气候信号较强,主要表现在5—8月份,与温度呈负相关关系(刺槐:r=-0.427—-0.511,P0.05;柠条:r=-0.227—-0.738,P0.05),与降雨则呈正相关关系,但相关系数未达到显著性水平;自然物种年表中的气候信号较弱,与温度和降雨的相关关系均较低;2)不同于自然物种,人工物种树轮年表还与去年夏季(7—9月份)温度(负相关)和降水(正相关)存在相关关系,表明人工物种树木生长对气候因子存在一定滞后性;3)人工物种树轮年表与PDSI干旱指数在各月份均维持正相关关系,在生长季(刺槐4—9月、柠条4—8月)达到显著水平(刺槐:r=0.481—0.704,P0.05;柠条:r=0.314—0.610,P0.05);而自然物种年表与PDSI干旱指数的相关关系较弱,均未达到相关性水平。从各年表与气候要素(温度、降雨、PDSI)响应强度来看,黄土高原人工物种树木生长受水分胁迫显著,且以刺槐最为明显,其次是柠条;自然物种树木生长则没有明显干旱胁迫的影响,仅山杏生长受一定水分胁迫影响,荆条生长则与各气候要素关系较弱,水分胁迫对其生长的影响已很小。本研究的结果表明黄土高原人工物种生长明显受到水分条件限制,而自然恢复物种生长则受水分条件影响较小,能适应黄土高原干旱半干旱气候条件。     

Influence of fire and mechanical sagebrush reduction treatments on restoration seedings in Utah,United States

Overabundance of woody plants in semiarid ecosystems can degrade understory herbaceous vegetation and often requires shrub reduction and seeding to recover ecosystem services. We used meta‐analysis techniques to assess the effects of fire and mechanical shrub reduction over two post‐treatment timeframes (1–4 and 5–10 years) on changes in cover and frequency of 15 seeded species at 63 restoration sites with high potential for recovery. Compared to mechanical treatments, fire resulted in greater increases in seeded species. Native shrubs did not increase, and forbs generally declined over time; however, large increases in perennial grasses were observed, suggesting that seeding efforts contributed to enhanced understory herbaceous conditions. We found greater increases in a few non‐native species than native species across all treatments, suggesting the possibility that interference among seeded species may have influenced results of this regional assessment. Differences among treatments and species were likely driven by seedbed conditions, which should be carefully considered in restoration planning. Site characteristics also dictated seeded species responses: while forbs showed greater increases in cover over the long term at higher elevation sites considered to be more resilient to disturbance, surprisingly, shrubs and grasses had greater increases in cover and frequency at lower elevation sites where resilience is typically much lower. Further research is needed to understand the causes of forb mortality over time, and to decipher how greater increases of non‐native relative to native seeded species will influence species diversity and successional trajectories of restoration sites.     

Plant Community Recovery Following Restoration in Semiarid Grasslands

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is an extensive land use in the United States, which restores cultivated land to perennial vegetation through seeding. Low precipitation and high potential evapotranspiration are major limitations to the establishment and growth of seeded species in semiarid regions. We tested the rate of development of plant functional types across a chronosequence of restored fields using a model of plant succession. We also determined how the seeding of non‐native (introduced) relative to native perennial grasses influenced plant community recovery. In contrast to the native shortgrass steppe (SGS), recently seeded CRP fields had high cover of annuals, forbs, C₃, and introduced species. The seed mix determined which perennial grasses dominated the plant community within 18 years, but slow establishment prolonged early seral stages, allowed for the spread of colonizing perennial grasses, and limited recovery to less than half the canopy cover of undisturbed shortrass steppe. Species density declined in restored fields as seeded perennial grass cover increased and was lower in CRP fields seeded with introduced compared to native perennial grasses. Plant community composition transitioned to C₄ and native species, even if fields were not seeded with these species, and was modified by shifts in the amount and seasonality of precipitation. Thus, in semiarid CRP fields, we found that the potential for recovery depended on time since CRP enrollment, seed mix, and climatic variability. Full recovery, based on similarity to vegetation cover and composition of undisturbed SGS, requires greater than 20 years.     

Ecosystem Services from Keystone Species: Diversionary Seeding and Seed‐Caching Desert Rodents Can Enhance Indian Ricegrass Seedling Establishment

Seeds of Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides), a native bunchgrass common to sandy soils on arid western rangelands, are naturally dispersed by seed‐caching rodent species, particularly Dipodomys spp. (kangaroo rats). These animals cache large quantities of seeds when mature seeds are available on or beneath plants and recover most of their caches for consumption during the remainder of the year. Unrecovered seeds in caches account for the vast majority of Indian ricegrass seedling recruitment. We applied three different densities of white millet (Panicum miliaceum) seeds as “diversionary foods” to plots at three Great Basin study sites in an attempt to reduce rodents' over‐winter cache recovery so that more Indian ricegrass seeds would remain in soil seedbanks and potentially establish new seedlings. One year after diversionary seed application, a moderate level of Indian ricegrass seedling recruitment occurred at two of our study sites in western Nevada, although there was no recruitment at the third site in eastern California. At both Nevada sites, the number of Indian ricegrass seedlings sampled along transects was significantly greater on all plots treated with diversionary seeds than on non‐seeded control plots. However, the density of diversionary seeds applied to plots had a marginally non‐significant effect on seedling recruitment, and it was not correlated with recruitment patterns among plots. Results suggest that application of a diversionary seed type that is preferred by seed‐caching rodents provides a promising passive restoration strategy for target plant species that are dispersed by these rodents.