Great Plains Natural Science Society
Date of this Version
8-2014
Document Type
Article
Citation
Proceedings of the 23rd North American Prairie Conference, August 2012, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg
The Prairie Naturalist 46: 21-28. August 2014
Abstract
Variation in soil conditions and grass cover was assessed across a range of leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) cover values on a sandy rangeland in Manitoba, Canada. Soil conditions varied by site but not in relation to cover of leafy spurge. We observed a significant negative relationship between total grass cover and increasing cover of leafy spurge. Only porcupine grass (Hesperostipa spartea [Trin.] Barkworth) had a negative relationship with leafy spurge, falling from high cover at low weed occurrence to only trace levels at the highest leafy spurge abundance. Neither prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha [Ledeb.] Schult.), rough bentgrass (Agrostis scabra Willd.), nor Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) had any relationship to cover of leafy spurge. The negative correlation between porcupine grass and increasing leafy spurge cover is consistent with the interpretation that leafy spurge suppresses growth of this grass. Experimental manipulations are needed to identify causal relationships among these plants.
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Biodiversity Commons, Botany Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Systems Biology Commons, Weed Science Commons
Comments
Published by the Great Plains Natural Science Society, 2014. Used by permission.