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Invasive species can alter the structure and function of the communities they invade, as well as lead to biotic homogenization across their invasive range, thus affecting large-scale diversity patterns. The mechanisms by which invasive species can lead to biotic homogenization are poorly understood. We argue that invasive species acting as strong, deterministic, and consistent filters within and across invaded communities are likely to cause biotic homogenization at multiple spatial scales. We studied Bromus inermis Leyss. invasion into eight grasslands covering most of the grassland and parkland natural regions of Alberta (western Canada). Specifically, we tested whether B. inermis (1) has a strong impact on species richness and composition, (2) consistently alters resources (nutrients, light, and soil moisture), imposing the same ecological filter to species establishment and persistence across sites, and hence (3) whether it leads to biotic homogenization within and across sites. We recorded plant cover and resources across native-to-invaded transition areas combining space-for-time substitutions with time-series data analyses. Bromus inermis invasion was associated with rapid biotic homogenization of communities, within and among the eight grasslands. The sharp changes in species relative abundances following invasion was the initial driver of biotic homogenization, and species loss was delayed. Supporting the idea that biotic homogenization can occur when an invasive species presents a broad and consistent filter, resources modified by B. inermis invasion (particularly light and certain nutrients) were altered rather consistently within and across sites. The 50% reduction in light was likely the initial driver of biotic homogenization, and the increase in nutrient availability probably facilitates the displacement of species from the invaded areas and could lead to the establishment of self-reinforcing dynamics. Overall, our results support the idea that invaders acting as strong, deterministic, and consistent ecological filters are likely to cause biotic homogenization of the communities they invade.

A study was conducted on Bromopsis inermis populations that have been growing for a long time in the EURT area. Using RAPD primers, we studied the genetic spectra of plants. In analysing the UPGMA algorithm, we identified two well-distinguishable clusters with a high level of bootstrap support (> 85%): background samples hit the first, and impact samples hit the second. Our data indicate a decrease in diversity in the most polluted population, as well as the appearance of new alleles in chronically irradiated samples of the B. inermis. Smooth brome seedlings were characterised by the content of anthocyanins, comparable with other types of cereals. In the gradient of chronic irradiation, the relative content of anthocyanins was not significantly changed. For the first time, the partial nucleotide sequences of the key genes of anthocyanin biosynthesis (Chi and F3h) in the brome were determined, these sequences were found to be 191 and 356 bp in length, respectively, and were cloned and sequenced. Three copies of the Chi gene were identified in the B. inermis genome. One copy (BiChi-1) clustered with the sequences of the Aegilops tauschii gene (D genome), and the other two copies (BiChi-2 and BiChi-3) formed a separate cluster in the Pooideae subfamily adjacent to Hordeum vulgare. In the copy of BiChi-1, a complete deletion of intron 1 was detected. For the F3h gene, one copy of the B. inermis gene was obtained, which forms a separate branch in the subfamily Pooideae.

Soil salinity is a major factor threatening the production of crops around the world. Smooth bromegrass ( Bromus inermis L.) is a high-quality grass in northern and northwestern China. Currently, selecting and utilizing salt-tolerant genotypes is an important way to mitigate the detrimental effects of salinity on crop productivity. In our research, salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive varieties were selected from 57 accessions based on a comprehensive evaluation of 22 relevant indexes, and their salt-tolerance physiological and molecular mechanisms were further analyzed. Results showed significant differences in salt tolerance between 57 genotypes, with Q25 and Q46 considered to be the most salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive accessions, respectively, compared to other varieties. Under saline conditions, the salt-tolerant genotype Q25 not only maintained significantly higher photosynthetic performance, leaf relative water content (RWC), and proline content but also exhibited obviously lower relative conductivity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content than the salt-sensitive Q46 ( p < 0.05). The transcriptome sequencing indicated 15,128 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in Q46, of which 7,885 were upregulated and 7,243 downregulated, and 12,658 DEGs in Q25, of which 6,059 were upregulated and 6,599 downregulated. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that the salt response differences between Q25 and Q46 were attributed to the variable expression of genes associated with plant hormone signal transduction and MAPK signaling pathways. Furthermore, a large number of candidate genes, related to salt tolerance, were detected, which involved transcription factors (zinc finger proteins) and accumulation of compatible osmolytes (glutathione S -transferases and pyrroline-5-carboxylate reductases), etc. This study offers an important view of the physiological and molecular regulatory mechanisms of salt tolerance in two smooth bromegrass genotypes and lays the foundation for further identification of key genes linked to salt tolerance.

PurposeThe overall production of degraded grassland ecosystems can be improved by reseeding appropriate species, but the responses of soil microbes to reseeded grassland after a long-term growth, especially the mediation effects of soil chemical compounds on the soil microbial community composition, have rarely been reported.Materials and methodsIn this study, we reseeded a degraded grassland with Bromus inermis Leyss and investigated the changes in aboveground (grassland biomass) and belowground factors (soil properties, soil chemical compounds, soil microbial diversity, and community) under reseeded and non-reseeded treatments.Results and discussionThe reseeding of B. inermis significantly (P < 0.05) enchacecd the aboveground vegetative biomass by 22.72% as compared with the plots that were not reseeded. Significant (P < 0.05) differences were also observed in the soil chemical compounds and microbial diversity and community between the reseeded and non-reseeded treatments. Soil bacterial (R2 = 0.6271, P = 0.0007) and fungal α-diversity (R2 = 0.5895, P = 0.0013) were both positively correlated with grassland biomass. Moreover, the community compositons of soil bacterial (R = 0.465, P = 0.002) and fungal (R = 0.720, P = 0.001) also had significant correlations with grassland biomass. Actinoplanes, Streptomyces, Bacillus, and Mesorhizobium were identified as potential agents for promoting grassland growth. Network analysis showed that the assemblages of soil microbes in the reseeding treatment formed larger and more complex networks than those in the non-reseeding treatment.ConclusionsOur study, cutting in terms of soil microbial ecology, provides a valuable model for explaining the aboveground responses to the establishment of perennial grass species in degraded grasslands.

Plant communities in North American prairie pothole wetlands vary depending on hydrology, salinity, and anthropogenic disturbance in and around the wetland. We assessed prairie pothole conditions on United States Fish and Wildlife Service fee-title lands in North Dakota and South Dakota to improve our understanding of current conditions and plant community composition. Species-level data were collected at 200 randomly chosen temporary and seasonal wetland sites located on native prairie remnants (n = 48) and previously cultivated lands that were reseeded into perennial grassland (n = 152). The majority of species surveyed appeared infrequently and were low in relative cover. The four most frequently observed species were introduced invasive species common to the Prairie Pothole Region of North America. Our results suggested relative cover of a few invasive species (i.e., Bromus inermis Leyss., Phalaris arundinacea L., and Typha ×glauca Godr. (pro sp.) [angustifolia or domingensis × latifolia]) affect patterns of plant community composition. Wetlands in native and reseeded grasslands possessed distinct plant community composition related to invasive species’ relative cover. Invasive species continue to be prevalent throughout the region and pose a major threat to biological diversity, even in protected native prairie remnants. Despite efforts to convert past agricultural land into biologically diverse, productive ecosystems, invasive species continue to dominate these landscapes and are becoming prominent in prairie potholes located in native areas.

The quality of plant community composition on US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) lands in North Dakota and South Dakota has declined over the past several decades—the abundance of native species has decreased while the abundance of introduced species has rapidly increased. Extensive efforts have been made to improve plant community composition on USFWS prairies; however, there was not a unified approach to this end in North Dakota and South Dakota until the advent of the Native Prairie Adaptive Management (NPAM) program. The NPAM program provides decision support for the selection of management actions to improve plant community composition of tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies in the Northern Great Plains. We evaluated plant community composition on USFWS native tallgrass and mixed-grass prairie remnants enrolled in the NPAM program in North Dakota and South Dakota to examine effects of management on plant community composition. Our analysis suggests that incorporating certain management actions can improve plant community characteristics on the agency's tallgrass and mixed-grass prairies. We documented increased native species richness and decreased Bromus inermis (smooth brome) relative cover at sites that had been burned two or more times during a four-year period. In contrast, smooth brome relative cover was higher at sites managed by the exclusion of fire and intermittent light grazing or rest. Smooth brome is extremely invasive in native prairie remnants throughout the Northern Great Plains. Thus, our results have marked implications for managers working to reduce the prevalence of smooth brome on public and private lands.

Conversion of marginal agricultural lands to perennial grassland vegetation has been proposed as a way to enhance terrestrial C sequestration. In the United States, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has facilitated this transition. We studied terrestrial C processes and pools in CRP set‐asides planted with exotic grasses and in native prairie remnants of the Palouse region of northern Idaho and eastern Washington. Aboveground and belowground net primary productivity and litterfall were similar between grassland types. However, prairie remnants had 65% greater root biomass, 21% more soil macroaggregates, and 53% more soil C than CRP sites. For decomposition studies, the plant species Festuca idahoensis and Symphoricarpos albus were used as representatives of the prairie community. Bromus inermis was studied in CRP sites. Decomposition rates of leaf litter were not different among plant species, but S. albus root decomposition (k = 0.28 yr–1) was slower than F. idahoensis (k = 0.56 yr–1) or B. inermis (k = 0.64 yr–1). The C pools and processes measured in this study show that processes that return C to the atmosphere (e.g., root decomposition) are slower in prairie remnants than in the CRP sites. However, high root turnover rates and root biomass in CRP could lead to greater C sequestration in CRP sites than in prairie sites with time.

As climate rapidly warms at high-latitudes, the boreal forest faces the simultaneous threats of increasing invasive plant abundances and increasing area burned by wildfire. Highly flammable and widespread black spruce (Picea mariana) forest represents a boreal habitat that may be increasingly susceptible to non-native plant invasion. This study assess the role of burn severity, site moisture and time elapsed since burning in determining the invisibility of black spruce forests. We conducted field surveys for presence of non-native plants at 99 burned black spruce forest sites burned in 2004 in three regions of interior Alaska that spanned a gradient of burn severities and site moisture levels, and a chronosequence of sites in a single region that had burned in 1987, 1994, and 1999. We also conducted a greenhouse experiment where we grew invasive plants in vegetation and soil cores taken from a subset of these sites. In both our field survey and the greenhouse experiment, regional differences in soils and vegetation between burn complexes outweighed local burn severity or site moisture in determining the invasibility of burned black spruce sites. In the greenhouse experiments using cores from the 2004 burns, we found that the invasive focal species grew better in cores with soil and vegetation properties characteristic of low severity burns. Invasive plant growth in the greenhouse was greater in cores from the chronosequence burns with higher soil water holding capacity or lower native vascular biomass. We concluded that there are differences in susceptibility to non-native plant invasions between different regions of boreal Alaska based on native species regeneration. Re-establishment of native ground cover vegetation, including rapidly colonizing bryophytes, appear to offer burned areas a level of resistance to invasive plant establishment.

Successful grass seed production depends on identifying a suitable environment for the species and proper agronomic practices. Previous research on many species has addressed identifying appropriate agronomic practices for grass seed production, but these studies have not evaluated the effects of environment. By conducting the same experiments in Jiuquan, China (a desert climate) and Tongliao, China (a semiarid continental monsoon climate), the effects of environment, seeding rate, row spacing and their interactions were determined for smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss) seed production. Three seeding rates (.3, .5, and .7 g m −1 pure live seed) and four row spacings (30, 50, 70, and 90 cm) were evaluated over three years. Jiuquan had comparable seed yield (SY) and greater thousand-seed weight (TSW) than Tongliao. Three-year average SY decreased with increased row spacings at both sites. Results suggest that in both climates, successful smooth bromegrass seed production was possible, but greater TSW is predicted for desert climates with good irrigation conditions than in semiarid continental monsoon climates due to greater sunshine duration (574 h compared with 527 h) and low relative humidity during seed development (48% vs. 66%). A seeding rate of .3 g m −1 and a row spacing of no wider than 30 cm appears to be adequate for smooth bromegrass seed production in these research locations and in similar ecological regions around the world.

• Different phosphorus (P)-acquisition strategies may be relevant for species coexistence and plant performance in terrestrial communities on P-deficient soils. However, how interspecific P facilitation functions in natural systems is largely unknown. • We investigated the root physiological activities for P mobilization across 19 coexisting plant species in steppe vegetation, and then grew plants with various abilities to mobilize sorbed P in a microcosm in a glasshouse. • We show that P facilitation mediated by rhizosphere processes of P-mobilizing species promoted growth and increased P content of neighbors in a species-specific manner. When roots interacted with a facilitating neighbor, Cleistogenes squarrosa and Bromus inermis tended to show greater plasticity of root proliferation or rhizosheath acid phosphatase activity compared with other non-P-mobilizing species. Greater variation in these root traits was strongly correlated with increased performance in the presence of a facilitator. The results also show, for the first time, that P facilitation was an important mechanism underlying a positive complementarity effect. • Our study highlights that interspecific P-acquisition facilitation requires that facilitated neighbors exhibit a better match of root traits with a facilitating species. It provides a better understanding of species coexistence in P-limited communities.