Variation in Timing of Planting Influences Bluebunch Wheatgrass Demography in an Arid System |
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| Authors: | Chad S. Boyd Jeremy J. James |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Research Associate, Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA.;2. Associate Professor, Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA.;3. Research Botanist, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Boise, ID 83706, USA.;1. Research Agronomist, USDA-ARS Plant Germplasm and Testing Unit, Pullman, WA 99164, USA;2. Biologist, USDA-ARS Plant Germplasm and Testing Unit, Pullman, WA 99164, USA;3. Reseach Associate, The Conservation Planning Institute, Corvallis, OR 97330, USA;1. Botanist, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Reno, NV 89502, USA;2. Assistant Professor of Plant Ecology, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA;3. Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA;4. Research Ecologist, USDA-ARS NPARL, Pest Management Research Unit, Sidney, MT 59270, USA;1. Graduate Program of the Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA;2. Research Geneticist USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT, USA.;3. Research Ecologist, USDA-ARS Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT, USA.;1. Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Burns, OR 97720, USA;2. Director of Technology and Business Development, Aquatrols Corporation of America, Paulsboro, NJ 08066, USA;3. Undergraduate Student, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84642, USA;4. Graduate Student, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84642, USA;1. Ecologist, USDA-ARS, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns, OR 67826, USA;2. Assistant Professor, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84642, USA;3. Professor, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84642, USA;4. Associate Professor, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84642, USA;5. Professor, Department of Horticulture, Cornell University, Geneva, NY 14456, USA |
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| Abstract: | Establishing perennial grasses from seed in postdisturbance Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata subsp. wyomingensis Welsh) communities is often unsuccessful, due in part to a lack of knowledge of the seedling ecology of perennial grasses. We examined the influence of planting timing on germination and seedling demography of bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata [Pursh] A. Love) in the northern Great Basin. In 2008 (year 1) and 2009 (year 2) we planted seeds monthly, September–December, in 1-m2 plots (500 seeds per plot) using a randomized block design with five replications. Germination timing was indexed using seed bags placed adjacent to 1-m2 plots and retrieved at 2-wk intervals in fall and 1-mo intervals in spring. Seedlings were marked in March–June of the year following planting; seedlings alive in July were considered initially established. Planting in September and October had up to 80% germination prior to winter, whereas December plantings germinated mainly in spring and at reduced rates (15–35%). Seeds planted in September and October emerged approximately a month earlier than November–December plantings. The percentage of germinated seeds that emerged was highest for September–October plantings but the percentage of emergent seeds surviving to the end of the first growing season was highest for later plantings. Final seedling density was lowest for November planting in year 1 and highest for September and October planting in year 2. Our data indicate that timing of and performance at critical stages of seedling development were affected by planting month. We suggest that it may be possible to use emerging technologies (e.g., seed coatings or germplasm manipulations) to produce variable chronologies of seedling development with single plantings and allow managers to exploit multiple temporal windows of opportunity for seedling establishment. |
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