Trait differences between grass species along a climatic gradient in South and North America

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Oyarzabal ◽  
José M. Paruelo ◽  
Federico Pino ◽  
Martín Oesterheld ◽  
William K. Lauenroth
1995 ◽  
Vol 127 (6) ◽  
pp. 979-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Andersen ◽  
J.N. McNeil

Larvae of the leafminer Chromatomyia fuscula attack many wild and cultivated grass species, including cereals, in Europe (Spencer 1969, 1991; Griffiths 1980) and are considered a major pest in parts of Fennoscandia (Spencer 1973; Andersen 1989a). However, in North America this species has been reported only on non-cereal grasses (Spencer 1969, 1991; Griffiths 1980). Therefore in 1994 a survey was undertaken in the region around Quebec City to determine if C. fuscula was truly restricted to non-cereal grasses or if, as in Europe, it also attacked cereals.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth P. Puliafico ◽  
Mark Schwarzländer ◽  
William J. Price ◽  
Bradley L. Harmon ◽  
Hariet L. Hinz

AbstractThe Eurasian perennial mustard, hoary cress, Cardaria draba (Brassicaceae), is an invasive weed in western North America that can displace native plants and other desirable forage species in pastures and rangelands. This study investigated the competitive ability of 11 grasses representing nine species in the genera Festuca and Poa from either North America (NA) or Europe (EU) against hoary cress. Hoary cress was grown alone and with four different grass densities under controlled conditions with ample water and nutrient supply, typical for riparian and disturbed habitats, in which hoary cress infestations are commonly found. Of the five Festuca grasses tested, only Schedonorus phoenix (= F. arundinacea) decreased hoary cress biomass. Four of the six Poa grasses tested decreased hoary cress biomass and were ranked by decreasing competitive effects as follows: P. annua > P. compressa (EU) > P. pratensis (EU) > P. compressa (NA). The most competitive grass species also experienced higher intraspecific competition. Within both grass genera, Eurasian species were more competitive against hoary cress than their North American congeners, which suggests that hoary cress establishment may be facilitated by lower biotic resistance in the invaded range. Regardless of origin, sod-forming Poa species were competitive at low densities, while Festuca species only had significant effects at high densities if at all. Based on our results we recommend the use of Poa species for restoration of riparian and disturbed sites following the control of hoary cress infestations to restrict recolonization.


2001 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy SM Wan ◽  
Rowan F Sage

In this study, relationships between temperature, precipitation, and the percentage of C4 grasses in local grass floras from the Atlantic and Pacific coastal regions of North America were examined. The proportion of C4 species in a local grass flora increased as latitude decreased on both coasts. At a given latitude, the C4 percentage on the Atlantic coast was higher than the Pacific coast. This difference was related to the Atlantic coast having greater July minimum temperatures than Pacific coast locations of similar latitude. Linear regression analysis showed that the proportion of C4 species in a local flora was positively associated with July minimum temperature on both coasts. The regression line between July minimum temperature and C4 representation was similar for each coast, indicating growth-season temperature has a similar control over C4 presence on the two coasts. Proportionally more of the annual precipitation fell in midsummer on the Atlantic than the Pacific coast, but this difference in the seasonal occurrence of precipitation did not alter the relationship between July minimum temperature and the contribution of C4 grass species to local floras. The Atlantic coast locations with the most precipitation had the highest C4 grass occurrence, indicating aridity alone did not increase the C4 representation in a grass flora. On both coasts, the proportion of NADP-malic enzyme C4 species in local C4 grass floras was positively correlated with mean annual precipitation; however, at equivalent percentages of NADP-malic enzyme subtype occurrence, precipitation levels were substantially lower on the Pacific than Atlantic coast. The trend between latitude and the percentage of C4 species in exotic grass floras was similar to the trend between latitude and the percentage of all C4 grasses in an entire grass flora. Thus, the C4 pathway appears to play no obvious role in enhancing the invasibility of exotic grasses in North America.Key words: bioinvasions, biogeography, C4 photosynthesis, C4 subtype, Poaceae, photosynthesis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-169
Author(s):  
Stephen Darbyshire ◽  
Sean Blaney ◽  
Sean Basquill

Altai Fescue, Festuca altaica Trinius, is an amphi-Beringian grass species also known from isolated, but widespread, locations in northeastern North America. The occurrence reported here, at the southern limit of eastern alpine habitat in Canada, represents the first for Nova Scotia.


Agronomy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Larson ◽  
Calvin Pearson ◽  
Kevin Jensen ◽  
Thomas Jones ◽  
Ivan Mott ◽  
...  

Plant Disease ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 87 (10) ◽  
pp. 1265-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Pratt

Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoemaker is a major foliar and root-infecting pathogen of cool-season forage and turf grasses and small grains in the southeastern United States (2). In North America, B. sorokiniana has been reported from bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon [L.] Pers.) once in California in 1961 (1), and rarely from other warm-season grasses in the southeastern United States. In May, July, September, and October 2002, B. sorokiniana sporulation was observed on leaves of common bermudagrass exhibiting necrotic lesions and dieback in waste application fields on three commercial swine farms in Chickasaw, Lowndes, and Webster counties, MS. Leaves were collected (50 per farm per month), surface-disinfested, plated on water agar, and observed for fungal sporulation on leaf surfaces after 7 to 10 days (3,4). The pathogen was detected on 1 to 3 farms each month in leaves that were infected with numerous other dematiaceous hyphomycetes (3,4). Three randomly selected single-spore isolates of B. sorokiniana from each of bermudagrass and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), collected at the Webster County farm, were compared for select features of morphology and pathogenicity on bermudagrass. Isolates differed significantly in growth rates, amount of sporulation, and spore sizes on cornmeal agar, but differences were not consistently related to hosts of origin. In plants inoculated by atomizing equal quantities of spores (2.8 × 104/ml) onto foliage, isolates of B. sorokiniana from bermudagrass and ryegrass both caused significantly (P = 0.05) more severe foliar necrosis after 10 days than B. cynodontis (5 pots of seeded plants per treatment in each of two experiments). B. sorokiniana was reisolated from disinfested, symptomatic bermudagrass leaf tissue following inoculations. To our knowledge, this is the first report of B. sorokiniana on bermudagrass in North America outside of California (1) and indicates that this pathogen is highly virulent on bermudagrass in the southeastern United States (3,4). Of potentially greater importance is the fact that one of the most common and widespread forage and turf grass species in the southeastern United States can serve as an alternate host for maintenance and increase of inoculum of B. sorokiniana during summer months. References: (1) R. M. Endo. Plant Dis. Rep. 45:869, 1961. (2) D. F. Farr et al. Fungal Databases. Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, On-line publication. ARS, USDA, 2003. (3) R. G. Pratt. Agron. J. 92:512, 2000. (4) R. G. Pratt. Plant Dis. 85:1206, 2001.


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