AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF
Jessi L. Brunson for the degree of Master of Science in Botany and Plant Pathology presented on January 15, 2008.
Title: Yield Responses of Invasive Grasses to Carbon Doses.
The sagebrush steppe ecosystem of the northern Great Basin is severely degraded and continues to decline due in large part to the invasive, non-native annual grasses Bromus tectorum L. (cheatgrass) and Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski (medusahead). Restoration of invasive-dominated areas is difficult, but can be enhanced by adding a carbon source, which stimulates microbes to immobilize soil inorganic N and reduces yields of fast-growing ruderal plants. How much carbon is needed to induce this effect is uncertain, so our research objectives were to establish a response to increasing carbon doses and calculate the lowest dose where a significant response was observed for 1) biomass, density, and seed production of cheatgrass and medusahead; 2) soil microbial biomass C and N; and 3) inorganic soil N. In November 2005 we applied 12 carbon doses ranging from 0 to 2400 kg C/ha as sucrose to plots planted with cheatgrass and medusahead at two sites in the northern Great Basin.
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Tags: Bromus tectorum, cheatgrass