Competition between cheatgrass and bluebunch wheatgrass is altered by temperature, resource availability, and atmospheric CO2 concentration.

ABSTRACT: Global change drivers (elevated atmospheric CO2, rising surface temperatures, and changes in resource availability) have significant consequences for global plant communities. In the northern sagebrush steppe of North America, the invasive annual grass Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) is expected to benefit from projected warmer and drier conditions, as well as increased CO2 and nutrient availability. In growth chambers, we addressed this expectation using two replacement series experiments designed to test competition between B. tectorum and the native perennial bunchgrass Pseudoroegneria spicata. In the first experiment, we tested the effects of elevated temperature, decreased water and increased nutrient availability, on competition between the two species. In the second, we tested the effe

SUBMITTER: Larson CD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5829107 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature