Effect of Eastern Red Cedar on Seedling Establishment of Prairie Plants

Authors

Dan J. Stipe, Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska
Thomas B. Bragg, Department of Biology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska

Date of this Version

1989

Comments

Published in Prairie Pioneers: Ecology, History and Culture: Proceedings of the Eleventh North American Prairie Conference, August 7-11, 1988, Lincoln, Nebraska (Lincoln, NE 1989).

Abstract

To test the hypothesis that eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is allelopathic, seedling establishment of five herbaceous prairie species was evaluated by growing seeds in soil collected beneath and adjacent to a stand of this tree species. While four species showed no significant effect, the germination of one species, finger coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata Nutt.), was significantly reduced. Since eastern red cedar is an early invader of unburned prairie, such an allelopathic effect, even on only a few species, is of particular concern in that it has the potential to hasten degradation of invaded prairie sites.