In grasses, food reserves in crowns and rhizomes support herbage production and allow regrowth in the spring. One important factor leading to the relative competitiveness of Kentucky bluegrass and smooth brome is that they initiate spring regrowth earlier than their native counterparts in the mixed-grass prairie. It still remains to be tested if there is a greater biomass investment to crowns o...

Methods: We monitored plant community composition in paired grassland patches that were initially dominated by native or exotic grasses at eight sites. We followed recovery of native and exotic grassland species over time, starting in a record drought year prior to an intense fire, and then for 3 yrwithmore typical rainfall patterns after the fire. Additionally, we compared seed rain of native ...

Drought is common in rangeland environments and an understanding of its impacts on the structure and function of rangeland ecosystems is paramount for developing effective management strategies. This research was the second of a series of studies investigating the impacts of varying seasonal droughts on northern Great Plains rangelands. Research was conducted on native rangeland during the 1998...

Throughout the western United States, the invasive annual grass, medusahead (Taeniatherum caputmedusae L. Nevski), is rapidly invading grasslands once dominated by native perennial grasses, such as bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata (Pursh) A). It is also invading grasslands dominated by less undesirable invasive annual grasses, especially cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.). Understandi...

Hotter, longer, and more frequent global change-type drought events may profoundly impact terrestrial ecosystems by triggering widespread vegetation mortality. However, severe drought is only one component of global change, and ecological effects of drought may be compounded by other drivers, such as anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and nonnative plant invasion. Elevated N deposition, for ...

Grasses infected with clavicipitaceous fungi have been associated with a variety of diseases including classical ergotism in humans and animals, fescue foot and summer syndrome in cattle, and rye-grass staggers in sheep. During the last decade it has been recognized that many of these fungal infections are endophytic; a fungal endophyte is a fungus that grows entirely within the host plant. Ins...