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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Comparison Of Leaf Water Potential, Stomatal Conductance, And Chlorophyll Fluorescence Between An Invasive Weed, Schinus Molle, And A Native Chaparral Shrub, Ceanothus Spinosus, In The Santa Monica Mountains, Adam L. Fahey, Harry Zhou, Katie Callahan
Comparison Of Leaf Water Potential, Stomatal Conductance, And Chlorophyll Fluorescence Between An Invasive Weed, Schinus Molle, And A Native Chaparral Shrub, Ceanothus Spinosus, In The Santa Monica Mountains, Adam L. Fahey, Harry Zhou, Katie Callahan
Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium
The Peruvian peppertree, Schinus molle, is an invasive species in California that has escaped cultivation to competitively exclude native species in the landscape. One example of such competition is between a dominant member of the chaparral shrub community, greenbark ceanothus (Ceanothus spinosus), and S. molle. The mechanism of competitive displacement of chaparral by S. molle is not understood nor has it been previously studied. We hypothesized that during severe drought, such as occurred during the sumer/fall of 2016, S. molle would have a more favorable water balance then its native competitor C. spinosus, eventually leading to higher survival and species …
Hydraulic Mechanisms Of Fungal-Induced Dieback In A Keystone Chaparral Species During Unprecedented Drought In California, Natalie M. Aguirre, Marissa E. Ochoa, Helen I. Holmlund, Frank E. Ewers, Stephen D. Davis
Hydraulic Mechanisms Of Fungal-Induced Dieback In A Keystone Chaparral Species During Unprecedented Drought In California, Natalie M. Aguirre, Marissa E. Ochoa, Helen I. Holmlund, Frank E. Ewers, Stephen D. Davis
Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium
Between 2012-2016, southern California experienced unprecedented drought that caused dieback in Malosma laurina, a keystone species of chaparral shrub communities. Dieback was especially severe in coastal exposures of the Santa Monica Mountains, leading to whole plant mortality exceeding 50% at some sites. We hypothesized that the endophytic fungus causing the dieback, Botryosphaeria dothidea, was successful in invading the xylem tissue of M. laurina because of protracted water stress, carbon starvation, or a combination of the two. We tested these possibilities in a controlled pot experiment by comparing three treatments, each inoculated with the fungus: (1) irrigated controls (2) …