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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Loss Of Foundation Species Increases Population Growth Of Exotic Forbs In Sagebrush Steppe, J S. Prevey, M J. Germino, Nancy J. Huntly
Loss Of Foundation Species Increases Population Growth Of Exotic Forbs In Sagebrush Steppe, J S. Prevey, M J. Germino, Nancy J. Huntly
Biology Faculty Publications
The invasion and spread of exotic plants following land disturbance threatens semiarid ecosystems. In sagebrush steppe, soil water is scarce and is partitioned between deeprooted perennial shrubs and shallower-rooted native forbs and grasses. Disturbances commonly remove shrubs, leaving grass-dominated communities, and may allow for the exploitation of water resources by the many species of invasive, tap-rooted forbs that are increasingly successful in this habitat. We hypothesized that exotic forb populations would benefit from increased soil water made available by removal of sagebrush, a foundation species capable of deep-rooting, in semiarid shrub-steppe ecosystems. To test this hypothesis, we used periodic matrix …
Seasonal Patterns Of Arthropod Diversity And Abundance On Big Sagebrush, Artemisia Trientata, M P. Stanford, Nancy J. Huntly
Seasonal Patterns Of Arthropod Diversity And Abundance On Big Sagebrush, Artemisia Trientata, M P. Stanford, Nancy J. Huntly
Biology Faculty Publications
The sagebrush biotype is the largest in the western United States. This vast sagebrush community is thought to harbor equally vast and diverse arthropod communities, but these remain little explored. Our objective was to examine the diversity, abundance, and seasonal phenology of arthropod taxa found on the dominant shrub of the sagebrush ecosystem, big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). We wanted to improve understanding of this little-studied arthropod assemblage that may play significant roles in the dynamics of sagebrush populations and the sagebrush ecosystem. We sampled free-living and gall-forming arthropods from a stratified random sample of sagebrush plants at the Barton Road …