The Indo-Pacific lionfish species [Pterois volitans (Linnaeus, 1758) and P. miles (Bennett, 1828): Family Scorpaenidae] are the first nonnative marine fishes to establish in the Western North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. Despite the continued documentation of its range expansion and highly publicized invasion (including public-driven removal efforts) there remains a paucity of basic information ...

Non-native grass invasions have the potential to change natural and prescribed fire regimes by altering fuels, which in turn may promote further invasion. We examined if invasion by Microstegium vimineum, a non-native annual grass, resulted in a positive invasion-fire feedback in eastern deciduous forests managed with prescribed fire and how this response varied across the landscape. Using pair...

Resource utilization by earthworms affects soil C and N dynamics and further colonization of invasive earthworms. By applying 13C-labeled Tabebuia heterophylla leaves and 15N-labeled Andropogon glomeratus grass, we investigated resource utilization by three earthworm species (invasive endogeic Pontoscolex corethrurus, native anecic Estherella sp., and native endogeic Onychochaeta borincana) and...

Spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of light distribution were investigated using lacunarity analysis, a multi-scale measure of spatial heterogeneity, in three mesic grasslands with different disturbance regimes. Frequency distributions of relative light intensity (RLI) were similar for the two non-disturbed grasslands, despite different composition (forbs vs. caespitose grass) resulting fro...

Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertner.) is a potential source of low-maintenance turf species for use in areas with less water. The main goal of this study was to evaluate turf quality characteristics of 24 crested wheatgrass specimens collected from different locations of Iran as low-maintenance turfgrass. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with 3 re...

Marginal croplands, such as those in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), have been suggested as a source of biomass for biofuel production. However, little is known about the composition of plant species on these conservation grasslands or their potential for ethanol production. Our objective was to assess the potential of CRP and other conservation grasslands for biofuel production, descri...