Invasion by exotic grasses is a severe threat to the integrity of grassland ecosystems all over the world. Because grasslands are typically grazed by livestock and wildlife, the invasion is a community process modulated by herbivory. We hypothesized that the invasion of native South American grasslands by Eragrostis plana Nees, an exotic tussock-forming grass from Africa, could be deterred by g...

The southern white rhinoceros population in captivity has a disappointing reproductive rate and the reason behind this is unknown. On the contrary, the wild population has grown steadily over the last two decades and is still growing. In captivity, white rhinos are given a diet of mainly alfalfa and soy-based products, which contains high concentrations of phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are kno...

The use of population models for predicting desirable and undesirable outcomes of biological control are described using three case studies from New Zealand. The first reviews the models of Barlow and colleagues used to understand and improve the control of native grass grub Costelytra zealandica populations by augmentative application of pathogenic Serratia entomophila bacteria. A variety of m...

The interaction of resource availability and disturbance can strongly affect plant species richness and the spread of exotic plants. Several ecological theories posit that disturbance mediates the richness-reducing effects of increased competition as resource levels rise. In the low-nutrient serpentine grasslands of the San Francisco Bay Area, the fertilizing effects of atmospheric nitrogen (N)...

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy mineral supplementation programs that provide a performance-enhancing antibiotic for improving growth stocker calves grazing native grass pastures in Flint Hills region Kansas.

Invading exotic plants are thought to succeed primarily because they have escaped their natural enemies, not because of novel interactions with their new neighbors. However, we find that Centaurea diffusa, a noxious weed in North America, has much stronger negative effects on grass species from North America than on closely related grass species from communities to which Centaurea is native. Ce...

Plant-soil feedback (PSF) processes play an integral role in structuring plant communities. In native grasslands, PSF has a largely negative or stabilizing effect on growth contributing to species coexistence and succession, but perturbations system can alter PSF, leading long-term changes. Through changes soil abiotic biotic properties, invasion by non-native plants strong impact belowground w...

Waterway degradation in agricultural settings is caused by direct and diffuse sources of pollution. Waterway fencing focuses on reducing direct faecal contamination, but the extent to which it reduces overland surface runoff of pathogens is unknown. This study evaluated the potential of four riparian treatments to reduce Giardia in saturation excess surface runoff entering the waterway. Treatme...

Ecological impacts of invasive plant species are well documented, but the genetic response of native species to invasive dominance has been often overlooked. Invasive plants can drastically alter site conditions where they reach dominance, potentially exerting novel selective pressures on persistent native plant populations. Do native plant populations in old exotic invasions show evidence of s...