A novel plant-fungal mutualism associated with fire

Bromus tectorum, or cheatgrass, is native to Eurasia and widely invasive in western North America. By late spring, this annual plant has dispersed its seed and died; its aboveground biomass then becomes fine fuel that burns as frequently as once every 3-5 y in its invaded range. Cheatgrass has proven to be better adapted to fire there than many competing plants, but the contribution of its fungal symbionts to this adaptation had not previously been studied. In sampling cheatgrass endophytes, many fire-associated fungi were found, including Morchella in three western states (New Mexico, Idaho, and Washington). In greenhouse experiments, a New Mexico isolate of Morchella increased both the biomass and fecundity of its local cheatgrass population, thus simultaneously increasing both the probability of fire and survival of that event, via more fuel and a greater, belowground seed bank, respectively. Re-isolation efforts proved that Morchella could infect cheatgrass roots in a non-mycorrhizal manner and then grow up into aboveground tissues. The same Morchella isolate also increased survival of seed exposed to heat typical of that which develops in the seed bank during a cheatgrass fire. Phylogenetic analysis of Eurasian and North American Morchella revealed that this fire-associated mutualism was evolutionarily novel, in that cheatgrass isolates belonged to two phylogenetically distinct species, or phylotypes, designated Mel-6 and Mel-12 whose evolutionary origin appears to be within western North America. Mutualisms with fire-associated fungi may be contributing to the cheatgrass invasion of western North America.     

小麦SSR和EST-SSR引物对无芒雀麦的通用性分析

无芒雀麦(Bromus inermis Leyss.)具有营养价值高、产量大、利用季节长、耐寒耐旱、适应性强等优良品质。为了解小麦SSR和EST-SSR引物在亲缘植物无芒雀麦中的通用性,本研究选用位于普通小麦7个部分同源群的203对SSR引物和46对EST-SSR引物对无芒雀麦基因组DNA进行了扩增。结果显示:有137对(67.49%)SSR和30对(65.22%)EST-SSR引物对无芒雀麦可以有效扩增,平均扩增条带数分别为2.8和2.5,即小麦SSR和EST-SSR引物在无芒雀麦中具有较高的通用性;研究还发现,来自小麦B基因组和第5同源群染色体的引物在无芒雀麦中的有效扩增比率和平均扩增条带数最低。据此推断,小麦B基因组和第5同源群染色体可能与无芒雀麦基因组的亲缘关系较远。该研究对开发无芒雀麦基因组的特异分子标记、进行遗传多样性分析和功能基因定位等具有一定的参考价值。     

Can commercial soil microbial treatments remediate plant–soil feedbacks to improve restoration seedling performance?

Seedling performance is often a limiting factor in ecological restoration. Changes in the soil microbial community generated by invasive plants contribute to seedling failure. A method to remediate invasive species‐induced changes to the soil microbial community that results in increased native species seedling performance and decreased invasive species seedling performance could have a large impact on the success of many restoration efforts. In a greenhouse experiment, we first examined the changes in the soil microbial community created by invasive compared to native grasses. Then, we investigated four microbial treatments (bacterial inoculant, fungal inoculant, fungicide, and bactericide/fungicide) to remediate microbial plant–soil feedbacks (PSFs) created by invasive species Bromus inermis and Poa pratensis and increase the performance of natives Andropogon gerardii, Elymus canadensis, Pascopyrum smithii, and Schizachyrium scoparium. We found that the PSF mitigation treatments had some context‐dependent utility for restoration. For example, all of the treatments decreased the performance of B. inermis and fungal inoculant decreased the performance of P. pratensis. However, no single treatment increased the performance of all natives. Fungicide increased the performance of A. gerardii and E. canadensis in soil previously occupied by B. inermis and the performance of S. scoparium in soil previously occupied by P. pratensis. If validated in the field, PSF mitigation treatments may have utility for restoration practitioners.     

Germination and seed water status of four grasses on moss-dominated biological soil crusts from arid lands

Biological soil crusts dominated by drought-tolerant mosses are commonly found through arid and semiarid steppe communities of the northern Great Basin of North America. We conducted growth chamber experiments to investigate the effects of these crusts on the germination of four grasses: Festuca idahoensis, Festuca ovina, Elymus wawawaiensis and Bromus tectorum. For each of these species, we recorded germination time courses on bare soil and two types of biological soil crusts; one composed predominantly of the tall moss Tortula ruralis and the other dominated by the short moss Bryum argenteum. On the short-moss crust, the final germination percentage was about half of that on bare soil. Also, the mean germination time was 4 days longer on short-mosses than on bare soil. In contrast to the short-moss crust, the tall-moss crust did not reduce the final germination percentage but increased the mean germination time. Similar results were observed in the four grasses studied. To investigate the mechanism by which moss crusts affected germination, we analyzed the water status of seeds on bare soil and moss crusts. Six days after seeding, the water content of seeds on bare soil was approximately twice that of seeds on tall- or short-moss crust. Analysis of the time course of changes in seed weight and water potential in Bromus tectorum revealed that overtime seeds on tall mosses reached higher water content than those on short mosses. The increase in the water content of seeds on tall mosses occurred as the seeds gradually fell through the moss canopy. Taken together, our results indicate that biological soil crusts with distinct structural characteristics can have different effects on seed germination. Furthermore, this study revealed that a biological soil crust dominated by short mosses had a negative effect on seed water status and significantly reduced seed germination.     

Incorporation of Plant Residues into Soil Organic Matter Fractions With Grassland Management Practices in the North American Midwest

Disturbed grassland soils are often cited as having the potential to store large amounts of carbon (C). Fertilization of grasslands can promote soil C storage, but little is known about the generation of recalcitrant pools of soil organic matter (SOM) with management treatments, which is critical for long-term soil C storage. We used a combination of soil incubations, size fractionation and acid hydrolysis of SOM, [C], [N], and stable isotopic analyses, and biomass quality indices to examine how fertilization and haying can impact SOM dynamics in Kansan grassland soils. Fertilized soils possessed 113% of the C possessed by soils subjected to other treatments, an increase predominantly harbored in the largest size fraction (212–2,000 μm). This fraction is frequently associated with more labile material. Haying and fertilization/haying, treatments that more accurately mimic true management techniques, did not induce any increase in soil C. The difference in ¹⁵N-enrichment between size fractions was consistent with a decoupling of SOM processing between pools with fertilization, congruent with gains of SOM in the largest size fraction promoted by fertilization not moving readily into smaller fractions that frequently harbor more recalcitrant material. Litterfall and root biomass C inputs increased 104% with fertilization over control plots, and this material possessed lower C:N ratios. Models of incubation mineralization kinetics indicate that fertilized soils have larger pools of labile organic C. Model estimates of turnover rates of the labile and recalcitrant C pools did not differ between treatments (65.5 ± 7.2 and 2.9 ± 0.3 μg C d⁻¹, respectively). Although fertilization may promote greater organic inputs into these soils, much of that material is transformed into relatively labile forms of soil C; these data highlight the challenges of managing grasslands for long-term soil C sequestration.     

Evaluating dominance as a component of non-native species invasions

Many studies have quantified plant invasions by determining patterns of non‐native species establishment (i.e. richness and absolute cover). Until recently, dominance has been largely overlooked as a significant component of invasion. Therefore, we re‐examined a 6‐year data set of 323 0.1 ha plots within 18 vegetation types collected in the Grand Staircase‐Escalante National Monument from 1998 to 2003, including dominance (i.e. relative cover) in our analyses. We specifically focused on the non‐native species Bromus tectorum, a notable dominant annual grass in this system. We found that non‐native species establishment and dominance are both occurring in species‐rich, mesic vegetation types. Therefore, non‐native species dominance may result despite many equally abundant native species rather than a dominant few, and competitive exclusion does not seem to be a primary control on either non‐native species establishment or dominance in this study. Unlike patterns observed for non‐native species establishment, relative non‐native species cover could not be predicted by native species richness across vegetation types (R² < 0.001; P = 0.45). However, non‐native species richness was found to be positively correlated with relative non‐native species cover and relative B. tectorum cover (R² = 0.46, P < 0.01; R² = 0.17, P < 0.01). Analyses within vegetation types revealed predominantly positive relationships among these variables for the correlations that were significant. Regression tree analyses across vegetation types that included additional biotic and abiotic variables were a little better at predicting non‐native species dominance (PRE = 0.49) and B. tectorum dominance (PRE = 0.39) than at predicting establishment. Land managers will need to set priorities for control efforts on the more productive, species‐rich vegetation types that appear to be susceptible to both components of invasion.     

Recovery of Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Features in Wyoming Big Sagebrush following Prescribed Fire

The ability of prescribed fire to enhance habitat features for Greater Sage-Grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) in Wyoming big sagebrush ( Artemisia tridentata wyomingensis ) in western North America is poorly understood. We evaluated recovery of habitat features important to wintering, nesting, and early brood-rearing Sage-Grouse in Wyoming big sagebrush following prescribed fire. Our case study included 1 year of preburn (1989) and 10 years of postburn data collected over 14 years (1990–2003) from control and burned study areas in the Big Desert of southeastern Idaho, U.S.A. We compared recovery and rate of change for 12 features in four categories between burned and control transects and recovery in burned transects including change in variation. Our results indicate that prescribed fire induced quantifiable changes in wintering, nesting, and early brood-rearing Sage-Grouse habitat features 14 years after fire in Wyoming big sagebrush in our study area. Specifically, grass and litter required by Sage-Grouse for nest and brood concealment recovered relatively rapidly following fire; major forb cover was similar between burned and control sites, but the rate of increase for major forb cover and richness was greater in control transects, and structurally mediated habitat features required by Sage-Grouse for food and cover in winter and for nest and brood concealment in spring recovered slowly following fire. Because shrub structural features in our study did not recover in magnitude or variability to preburn levels 14 years after fire, we recommend that managers avoid burning Wyoming big sagebrush to enhance Sage-Grouse habitat, but rather implement carefully planned treatments that maintain Sagebrush.     

普通小麦与无芒雀麦不对称体细胞杂交的研究

普通小麦（ＴｒｉｔｉｃｕｍａｅｓｔｉｖｕｍＬ．）９９Ｐ原生质体与经紫外线照射的无芒雀麦（ＢｒｏｍｕｓｉｎｅｒｍｉｓＬｅｙｓ）愈伤组织来源的原生质体用ＰＥＧ法诱导融合。融合再生的３个单细胞克隆（Ｎｏ．１～Ｎｏ．３）经染色体、同工酶和ＲＡＰＤ分析表明,它们均为杂种细胞系。Ｎｏ．１克隆形成的愈伤组织分化出大量白化苗,其叶片同工酶和ＲＡＰＤ分析均出现双亲特征谱带及新带,白化苗的染色体数目为４２～５４,大于亲本小麦,并具有无芒雀麦的小染色体和染色体断片,确认它们为不对称体细胞杂种。     

克隆整合对无芒雀麦(Bromus inermis)忍受沙埋能力的影响

无芒雀麦是浑善达克沙地植物群落中占优势的多年生根茎禾草。研究了克隆整合特性对无芒雀麦忍受沙埋能力的影响。结果表明,克隆整合显著提高了远端完全沙埋分株的存活,耗-益分析表明远端沙埋分株的生物量、分株数、叶片数、根茎节数和根茎总长显著受益于克隆整合,而与之相连的近端非沙埋分株却没有产生显著的损耗,并且随着沙埋程度增加时,远端沙埋分株的收益有增大的趋势。因而,克隆整合特性是无芒雀麦对严酷沙埋环境形成的重要适应对策,它能够缓解沙埋对无芒雀麦存活、生长的胁迫,提高其在半干旱沙化地区的适合度。     

浑善达克沙地无芒雀麦(Bromus inermis)空间分布格局

通过西北-东南和东北-西南方向两条宽5m×长3km的样带和一块4m×4m的样方调查,研究了浑善达克沙地无芒雀麦、植被、土壤水分及土壤盐分的空间变异特点及其相互关系。结果表明,样带内植被盖度、无芒雀麦盖度、土壤水分和土壤盐分的空间变化格局相似,然而,在不同的空间方向上,它们具有不同的空间变化;样方内无芒雀麦地上部生物量、分株数和土壤盐分具有相似的空间变化格局,但却不同于植被地上部总生物量和土壤水分的空间变化格局。相关分析表明,样带内植被盖度、无芒雀麦盖度与土壤水分和土壤盐分之间均具有显著的正相关关系。土壤水分和土壤盐分也具有显著的正相关。样方内无芒雀麦地上部生物量、分株数及植被地上部总生物量与土壤水分均具有显著的正相关关系,但与土壤盐分没有显著的相关关系。无芒雀麦地上部生物量、分株数和植被地上部总生物量三者之间,以及土壤水分和土壤盐分之间也均具有显著的正相关关系。研究结果表明了植被与土壤之间的相互关系依赖于空间尺度。