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Grass Growth (grass + growth)
Selected AbstractsPlant,soil feedbacks: a meta-analytical reviewECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 9 2008Andrew Kulmatiski Abstract Plants can change soil biology, chemistry and structure in ways that alter subsequent plant growth. This process, referred to as plant,soil feedback (PSF), has been suggested to provide mechanisms for plant diversity, succession and invasion. Here we use three meta-analytical models: a mixed model and two Bayes models, one correcting for sampling dependence and one correcting for sampling and hierarchical dependence (delta-splitting model) to test these hypotheses. All three models showed that PSFs have medium to large negative effects on plant growth, and especially grass growth, the life form for which we had the most data. This supports the hypothesis that PSFs, through negative frequency dependence, maintain plant diversity, especially in grasslands. PSFs were also large and negative for annuals and natives, but the delta-splitting model indicated that more studies are needed for these results to be conclusive. Our results support the hypotheses that PSFs encourage successional replacements and plant invasions. Most studies were performed using monocultures of grassland species in greenhouse conditions. Future research should examine PSFs in plant communities, non-grassland systems and field conditions. [source] Wadi Bakht revisited: Holocene climate change and prehistoric occupation in the Gilf Kebir region of the Eastern Sahara, SW EgyptGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 8 2004Jörg Linstädter Geoarchaeological and chronological evidence from the remote Gilf Kebir Plateau in southwest Egypt suggests a new model for the influence of early and mid-Holocene precipitation regimes on land-use strategies of prehistoric settlers in what is now the center of the largest hyperarid area on earth. We hypothesize that the quantitatively higher, daytime, monsoon summer rainfall characteristic of the early Holocene (9300,5400 14C yr B.P./8400,4300 yr B.C.) resulted in less grass growth on the plateau compared to the winter rains that presumably fell in the cool nights during the terminal phase of the Holocene pluvial (5400,4500 yr B.P./4300,3300 yr B.C.). The unparalleled climatic transition at 5400 yr B.P. (4300 yr B.C.) caused a fundamental environmental change that resulted in different patterns of human behavior, economy, and land use in the canyon-like valleys and on the plains surrounding the plateau. The model emphasizes the crucial impact of seasonal rainfall distribution on cultural landscapes in arid regions and the lower significance of annual precipitation rates, with implications for future numeric climate models. It also serves as an example of how past climate changes have affected human societies. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Changing Fire Management in the Pastoral Lands of Cape York Peninsula of northeast Australia, 1623 to 1996GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2000G.M. Crowley Accounts of European explorers between 1623 and 1880 indicate that fires were lit by Aboriginal people on Cape York Peninsula in northeast Australia throughout the dry season (May,October). Diaries kept by three generations of pastoralists in the Musgrave area (1913,1952, 1953,1974 and 1976,1992) show that burning activities were largely confined to a two to six week period between May and early August. The timing of burning depended on the amount and date of cessation of wet season rainfall. More rarely, ,storm-burning', burning under hot conditions within a few days of the first heavy rains of the wet season, was undertaken. Long-term pastoralists felt a responsibility to use fire wisely and had a detailed knowledge of the role of fire in land management. Their decisions to burn were based on the extent of grass curing, and soil and weather conditions, all of which affected the extent of each burn. They used early dry season fires mainly to maintain forage and control cattle movements. Storm-burns were reputed to control woody weeds, but were used infrequently because of difficulty in controlling their spread and uncertainty as to when the next rains would stimulate new grass growth. [source] The importance of low atmospheric CO2 and fire in promoting the spread of grasslands and savannasGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 7 2003W. J. BOND Abstract The distribution and abundance of trees can be strongly affected by disturbance such as fire. In mixed tree/grass ecosystems, recurrent grass-fuelled fires can strongly suppress tree saplings and therefore control tree dominance. We propose that changes in atmospheric [CO2] could influence tree cover in such metastable ecosystems by altering their postburn recovery rates relative to flammable herbaceous growth forms such as grasses. Slow sapling recovery rates at low [CO2] would favour the spread of grasses and a reduction of tree cover. To test the possible importance of [CO2]/fire interactions, we first used a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM) to simulate biomass in grassy ecosystems in South Africa with and without fire. The results indicate that fire has a major effect under higher rainfall conditions suggesting an important role for fire/[CO2] interactions. We then used a demographic model of the effects of fire on mesic savanna trees to test the importance of grass/tree differences in postburn recovery rates. We adjusted grass and tree growth in the model according to the DGVM output of net primary production at different [CO2] relative to current conditions. The simulations predicted elimination of trees at [CO2] typical of the last glacial period (180 ppm) because tree growth rate is too slow (15 years) to grow to a fire-proof size of ca. 3 m. Simulated grass growth would produce an adequate fuel load for a burn in only 2 years. Simulations of preindustrial [CO2] (270 ppm) predict occurrence of trees but at low densities. The greatest increase in trees occurs from preindustrial to current [CO2] (360 ppm). The simulations are consistent with palaeo-records which indicate that trees disappeared from sites that are currently savannas in South Africa in the last glacial. Savanna trees reappeared in the Holocene. There has also been a large increase in trees over the last 50,100 years. We suggest that slow tree recovery after fire, rather than differential photosynthetic efficiencies in C3 and C4 plants, might have been the significant factor in the Late Tertiary spread of flammable grasslands under low [CO2] because open, high light environments would have been a prerequisite for the spread of C4 grasses. Our simulations suggest further that low [CO2] could have been a significant factor in the reduction of trees during glacial times, because of their slower regrowth after disturbance, with fire favouring the spread of grasses. [source] Quantitative evaluation of strategies for erosion control on a railway embankment batterHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 17 2001Y. Gyasi-Agyei Abstract Strategies for erosion control on a railway embankment batter (side slope) are quantitatively evaluated in this paper. The strategies were centred on control (,do nothing' treatment), grass seeding, gypsum application, jute mat (an erosion control blanket) placement and planting hedgerows of Monto vetiver grass. Rainfall and runoff were monitored at 1 min intervals on 10 m wide embankment batter plots during 1998 and 1999. Total bedload and suspended sediment eroded from the plots were also measured but only for a group of storm events within sampling intervals. It has been demonstrated that vetiver grass is not cost-effective in controlling erosion on railway batters within Central Queensland region. Seeding alone could cause 60% reduction in the erosion rate compared with the control treatment. Applying gypsum to the calcium-deficient soil before seeding yielded an additional 25% reduction in the erosion rate. This is the result, primarily, of 100% grass cover establishment within seven months of sowing. Therefore, for railway embankment batter erosion control, the emphasis needs to be on rapid establishment of 100% grass cover. For rapid establishment of grass cover, irrigation is necessary during the initial stages of growth as the rainfall is unpredictable and the potential evaporation exceeds rainfall in the study region. The risk of seeds and fertilizers being washed out by short-duration and high-intensity rainfall events during the establishment phase may be reduced by the use of erosion control blankets on sections of the batters. Accidental burning of grasses on some plots caused serious erosion problems, resulting in very slow recovery of grass growth. It is therefore recommended that controlled burning of grasses on railway batters should be avoided to protect batters from being exposed to severe erosion. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Factors affecting black rhino monitoring in Masai Mara National Reserve, KenyaAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Matthew J. Walpole Abstract The black rhino in Africa is slowly recovering from poaching. This has been achieved in part by maintaining ongoing monitoring as part of intensive protection and biological management. However, the efficacy of population monitoring methods has not been assessed. Rhino surveillance records and rainfall data were used to determine which ecological and operational factors affected monthly rhino sightings by vehicle patrols in Masai Mara, Kenya. Comparisons of sightings capture rates using different ground-based and aerial methods were also conducted. Stepwise multiple regression revealed a model (adjusted R2 = 0.66) predicting monthly rhino sightings with four significant factors; number of patrols, rhino population size, rainfall over the previous 2 months and a dummy variable for the month of August. The latter two variables represent the negative effects of long grass growth and the annual wildebeest migration on rhino sightings, and result in seasonal deficiencies in monitoring. During vehicle patrols, 51% of sightings were made whilst moving, and 49% were made whilst stationary and scanning with binoculars, although sightings capture rate was an order of magnitude higher when stationary. Equally, sightings capture rate from hot air balloons was twice that during vehicle-based patrols, although with less accuracy of identification. The introduction of foot patrols would increase patrol cost-effectiveness and fill seasonal troughs, thereby providing better all-round surveillance. Résumé Le rhino noir d'Afrique récupère peu à peu des méfaits du braconnage. Ceci est le résultat, en partie, de la poursuite des contrôles constants visant une protection intensive et une gestion biologique. Pourtant, on n'a pas évalué l'efficacité des méthodes de surveillance de la population. On a utilisé les rapports de surveillance des rhinos et les données sur les chutes de pluie pour déterminer quels facteurs écologiques et opérationnels influençaient le nombre de fois que les véhicules des patrouilles apercevaient des rhinos chaque mois dans le Masai Mara, au Kenya. On a aussi fait des comparaisons des taux de captures visuelles selon différentes méthodes, au sol et aériennes. La méthode de régression multiple a fait apparaître un modèle (R2 ajusté= 0,66) pour prédire les observations mensuelles de rhinos avec quatre facteurs significatifs; le nombre de patrouilles, la taille de la population de rhinos, les chutes de pluie au cours des deux mois précédents et une variable factice pour le mois d'août. Les deux dernières variables représentent les effets négatifs de la croissance de longues herbes et de la migration annuelle des gnous sur l'observation des rhinos et leurs résultats sur les faiblesses saisonnières des contrôles. Pendant les patrouilles motorisées, 51% des observations se sont faites en mouvement et 41% à l'arrêt, en observant aux jumelles, mais le taux de captures visuelles était un ordre de grandeur supérieur à l'arrêt. De même, le taux de captures visuelles obtenu à partir d'une mongolfière était le double de celui obtenu lors des patrouilles motorisées, mais la précision des identifications était plus faible. L'introduction de patrouilles à pied augmenterait la rentabilité des patrouilles et permettrait de combler les lacunes saisonnières et d'assurer une meilleure continuité de la surveillance. [source] Effect of defoliation on grass growth.OIKOS, Issue 1 2002A quantitative review The diversity of responses of individual grasses to defoliation created a controversy about 15 years ago, which still needs clarification. We quantitatively assessed the evidence of defoliation effects on individual grass growth, addressing two main questions: 1) what is the average and variability of the effect of defoliation on plant growth? and 2) what are the associated conditions accounting for the diversity of effects? Regarding the first question, the results showed a negative overall effect of defoliation on plant growth and substantial variability in the defoliation responses of different plant components. There was an intermediate negative effect on total production (which included clipped-off biomass), a large negative effect on final live biomass at harvest, and a minimal effect on root biomass. Regarding the second question (conditions accounting for the diversity of effects), defoliation intensity had no effect on the response to defoliation, but both time for recovery from the last defoliation and the period of time between defoliation events significantly decreased the negative effect of defoliation. Nitrogen availability also altered the effect of defoliation, as plants grown at highest nitrogen levels were more negatively affected by clipping than plants with no supplementary addition of nitrogen. These results indicate that the magnitude of defoliation response by an individual plant differs among plant compartments and this response is modulated by other factors, such as time for recovery after defoliation, and nutrient availability. In general, the effect of defoliation on individual plant production was more negative than reported effects of grazing on ecosystem primary production. [source] | ||||||||||