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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2018
- Title: The influence of nitrogen fixers on invasion dynamics in grassland plant communities
- Author: Jerilyn Jean M Calaor (University of Guam)
- Abstract:
Plant interactions have the potential to greatly influence community composition. The effects of these plant interactions become more important in increasingly rare habitats, like New England grasslands. Within a long term-study to assess the effects of grazing and mowing as grassland management regimes on plant communities, we are interested in the facilitative effects of non-native, nitrogen-fixing Trifolium species. Specifically, we are interested in the idea that Trifolium may facilitate non-native species at the expense of natives. To explore such facilitative effects, we surveyed plant species richness and cover in paired 1x1m plots with and without Trifolium. We found both higher species richness and diversity in plots with Trifolium. Trifolium appeared to have no significant effect on percent cover of natives and non-natives, but percent cover of invasives was significantly higher in plots with Trifolium. In the greenhouse, we explored the effects of soil type and plant litter by growing non-native and invasive plants in three soil types (potting, field, or Trifolium) with three litter treatments (no litter, general leaf litter, or Trifolium). Growth of all plants was highest in potting soil but variable between field and Trifolium soil. As for the effects of litter, growth was highest with no litter. Trifolium litter had negative effects on non-natives and positive effects on invasives when compared to leaf litter. Overall, the field and greenhouse results suggest Trifolium may facilitate invasive species and not non-native species generally.
- Research Category: Biodiversity Studies; Conservation and Management; Invasive Plants, Pests & Pathogens
