Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:33:37.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Satellite patches, patch expansion, and doubling time as decision metrics for invasion control: Pennisetum ciliare expansion in southwestern Arizona

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2019

Jaron D. Weston ,
Mitchel P. McClaran Open the ORCID record for Mitchel P. McClaran [Opens in a new window] ,
Richard K. Whittle ,
Christian W. Black  and
Jeffrey S. Fehmi Open the ORCID record for Jeffrey S. Fehmi [Opens in a new window]
Jaron D. Weston
Affiliation:
Graduate Student, University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Tucson, AZ, USA
Mitchel P. McClaran
Affiliation:
Professor, University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Tucson, AZ, USA
Richard K. Whittle
Affiliation:
Wildlife Biologist, 56th Range Management Office, U.S. Air Force, Luke AFB, AZ, USA
Christian W. Black
Affiliation:
Geographer, 56th Range Management Office, U.S. Air Force, Luke AFB, AZ, USA
Jeffrey S. Fehmi*
Affiliation:
Professor, University of Arizona, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, Tucson, AZ, USA
*
*Author for correspondence: J. Fehmi, University of Arizona, 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85719. (Email: jfehmi@email.arizona.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Essential variables to consider for an efficient control strategy for invasive plants include dispersion pattern (i.e., satellite or invasion front) and patch expansion rate. These variables were demonstrated for buffelgrass [Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link], a C4 perennial grass introduced from Africa, which has invaded broadly around the world. The study site was along a roadway in southern Arizona (USA). The P. ciliare plant distributions show the pattern of clumping associated with the satellite (nascent foci) colonization pattern (average nearest neighbor test, z-score −47.2, P<0.01). The distance between patches ranged from 0.743 to 12.8 km, with an average distance between patches of 5.6 km. Median patch expansion rate was 271% over the 3-yr monitoring period versus 136% found in other studies of established P. ciliare patches. Targeting P. ciliare satellite patches as a control strategy may exponentially reduce the areal doubling time, while targeting the largest patches may have less effect on the invasion speed.

Keywords

Catherine Jarnevich, U.S. Geological SurveyClustered patterninvasive speciesmanagement strategyseed dispersionSonoran Desert.
Type
Research Article
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 36 - 42
Copyright
© Weed Science Society of America, 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bush, JK, Van Auken, OW (1987) Light requirements for growth of Prosopis glandulosa seedlings. Southwest Nat 32:469–473 Google Scholar
Cannas, SA, Marco, DE, Montemurro, MA (2006) Long range dispersal and spatial pattern formation in biological invasions. Math Biosci 203:155–170 Google Scholar
Cox, JR, Martin, MH, Ibarra, FA, Fourie, JH, Rethman, JFG, Wilcox, DG (1988) The influence of climate and soils on the distribution of four African grasses. J Range Manage 41:127–139 Google Scholar
D’Antonio, C, Vitousek, P (1992) Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 23:63–87 Google Scholar
Davis, HG, Taylor, CM, Civille, JC, Strong, DR (2004) An allee effect at the front of a plant invasion: Spartina in a Pacific estuary. J Ecol 92:321–327 Google Scholar
DiTomaso, JM (2000) Invasive weeds in rangelands: species, impacts, and management. Weed Sci 48:255–265 Google Scholar
DiTomaso, JM, Masters, RA, Peterson, VF (2010) Rangeland invasive plant management. Rangelands 32:43–47 Google Scholar
[DOC-NOAA] Department of Commerce–National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2018) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. Gila Bend 3 ENE Station. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web. Accessed: November 27, 2018Google Scholar
Ernst, WHO, Veenendaal, EM, Kebkile, MM (1992) Possibilities for dispersal in annual and perennial grasses in a savannah in Botswana. Vegetatio 102:1–11 Google Scholar
Fensham, RJ, Donald, S, Dwyer, JM (2013) Propagule pressure, not fire or cattle grazing, promotes invasion of buffelgrass Cenchrus ciliaris . J Appl Ecol 50:138–146 Google Scholar
Foody, GM (2002) Status of land cover classification accuracy assessment. Remote Sens Environ 80:185–201 Google Scholar
Higgins, SI, Richardson, DM, Cowling, RM (1996) Modeling invasive plant spread: the role of plant–environment interactions and model structure. Ecology 77:2043–2054 Google Scholar
Jernigan, MB, McClaran, MP, Biedenbender, SH, Fehmi, JS (2016) Uprooted buffelgrass thatch reduces buffelgrass seedling establishment. Arid Land Res Manag 30:320–329 Google Scholar
Johnson, WS, Shonkwiler, JS (1999) The implications of variable or constant expansion rates in invasive weed infestations. Weed Sci 47:62–66 Google Scholar
Lonsdale, WM (1999) Global patterns of plant invasions and the concept of invasibility. Ecology 80:1522–1536 Google Scholar
Lookingbill, TR, Minor, ES, Bukach, N, Ferrari, JR, Wainger, LA (2014) Incorporating risk of reinvasion to prioritize sites for invasive species management. Nat Area J 34:268–281 Google Scholar
Lyons, KG, Maldonado-Leal, BG, Owen, G (2013) Community and ecosystem effects of buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) and nitrogen deposition in the Sonoran Desert. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 6:65–78 Google Scholar
McDonald, CJ, McPherson, GR (2011) Fire behavior characteristics of buffelgrass-fueled fires and native plant community composition in invaded patches. J Arid Environ 75:1147–1154 Google Scholar
Molina-Montenegro, MA, Carrasco-Urra, F, Rodrigo, C, Convey, P, Valladares, F, Gianoli, E (2012) Occurrence of the non-native annual bluegrass on the Antarctic mainland and its negative effects on native plants. Conserv Biol 26:717–723 Google Scholar
Moody, M, Mack, R (1988) Controlling the spread of plant invasions: the importance of nascent foci. J Appl Ecol 25:1009–1021 Google Scholar
Olsson, AD, Betancourt, JL, Crimmins, MA, Marsh, SE (2012a) Constancy of local spread rates for buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare L) in the Arizona Upland of the Sonoran Desert. J Arid Environ 87:136–143 Google Scholar
Olsson, AD, Betancourt, JL, McClaran, MP, Marsh, SE (2012b) Sonoran Desert ecosystem transformation by a C4 grass without the grass/fire cycle. Divers Distrib 18:10–21 Google Scholar
Reynolds, JF, Kemp, PR, Ogle, K, Fernández, RJ (2004) Modifying the “pulse-reserve” paradigm for deserts of North America: precipitation pulses, soil water, and plant responses. Oecologia 141:194–210 Google Scholar
Richardson, DM, Pyšek, P (2006) Plant invasions: merging the concepts of species invasiveness and community invasibility. Prog Phys Geogr 30:409–431 Google Scholar
Robinson, TP, van Klinken, RD, Metternicht, G (2008) Spatial and temporal rates and patterns of mesquite (Prosopis species) invasion in Western Australia. J Arid Environ 72:175–188 Google Scholar
Rogstad, A (2008) The Buffelgrass Strategic Plan. Tucson, AZ: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum 52 p. https://www.desertmuseum.org/invaders/splan/buffelgrass_strategic_plan.pdf. Accessed: March 17, 2016Google Scholar
Rossiter, NA, Setterfield, SA, Douglas, MM, Hutley, LB (2003) Testing the grass-fire cycle: alien grass invasion in the tropical savannas of Northern Australia. Divers Distrib 9:169–176 Google Scholar
Schramm, JW, Ehrenfeld, JG (2012) Patterns of patch colonization and expansion in the non-native annual grass Microstegium vimineum (Poaceae). Rhodora 114:1–20 Google Scholar
Sebert-Cuvillier, E, Simonet, M, Simon-Goyheneche, V, Paccaut, F, Goubet, O, Decocq, G (2010) PRUNUS: a spatially explicit demographic model to study plant invasions in stochastic, heterogeneous environments. Biol Invasions 12:1183–1206 Google Scholar
Shigesada, N, Kawasaki, K (1997) Biological Invasions: Theory and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 205 pGoogle Scholar
Van Auken, OW, Bush, JK (1990) Influence of light levels, soil nutrients, and competition on seedling growth of Baccharis neglecta (Asteraceae). Bull Torrey Bot Club 117:438–444 Google Scholar
Ward, JP, Smith, SE, McClaran, MP (2006) Water requirements for emergence of buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare). Weed Sci 54:720–725 Google Scholar
Winkworth, RE (1971) Longevity of buffelgrass seed sown in an arid Australian range. J Range Manage 24:141–145 Google Scholar