Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Successional dynamics of a semiarid grassland: effects of soil texture and disturbance size

  • Published:
Vegetatio Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We evaluated effects of soil texture and disturbance size on the successional dynamics of a semiarid grassland dominated by the perennial bunchgrass, Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Griffiths. A spatially-explicit gap dynamics simulation model was used to evaluate recovery patterns. The model simulates establishment, growth, and mortality of individual plants on an array of small plots through time at an annual time step. Each simulated disturbance consisted of a grid of plots of the same soil texture interconnected by processes associated with dispersal of B. gracilis seeds. Soil texture was incorporated into the model as effects on seed germination, seedling establishment, and subsequent growth of B. gracilis. Five soil texture classes and five disturbance sizes were simulated.

Soil texture was more important to recovery of B. gracilis than either size of a disturbance or location of plots within a disturbance. Constraints on recruitment of seedlings had a greater effect on recovery than constraints associated with plant growth. Fastest recovery occurred on soils with the largest silt content, the variable that affects seedling establishment. Disturbances with slowest recovery were on soils with low silt contents, and either high or low water-holding capacity, the variable that affects plant growth. Biomass and recovery decreased as disturbance size increased, and as distance from a disturbed plot to the edge of the disturbance increased. In most cases, important interactions between soil texture and disturbance size on recovery were not found.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albertson, F. A. & J. E. Weaver, 1944. Nature and degree of recovery of grassland from the Great Drought of 1933 to 1940. Ecol. Monogr. 14: 394–479.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez-Buylla, E. R. & R. Garcia-Barrios, 1991. Seed and forest dynamics: a theoretical framework and an example from the neotropics. Amer. Nat. 137: 133–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer, S., C. Scifres & C. R. Bassham, 1988. Autogenic succession in a subtropical savanna: conversion of grassland to thorn woodland. Ecol. Monogr. 58: 111–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briske, D. D. & A. M. Wilson, 1977. Temerature effects on adventitious root development in blue grama seedlings. J. Range Managem. 30: 276–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, I. C., C. M. Yonker, W. J. Parton, C. V. Cole, K. Flach & D. S. Schimel, 1989. Texture, climate, and cultivation effects on soil organic matter content in U.S. grassland soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 53: 800–805.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1988. The effects of disturbance size and frequency on a shortgrass plant community. Ecology 69: 1609–1617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1989a. Disturbances and gap dynamics in a semiarid grassland: A landscape-level approach. Landscape Ecol. 3: 19–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1989b. Small-scale disturbances and successional dynamics in a shortgrass plant community: Interactions of disturbance characteristics. Phytologia 67: 258–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1989c. Spatial and temporal variation in the seed bank of a semiarid grassland. Amer. J. Bot. 76: 53–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1990a. A gap dynamics model of succession in a semiarid grassland. Ecol. Modelling 49: 229–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1990b. Vegetation associated with nest sites of western harvester ants. (Pogonomyrex occidentalis Cresson) in a semiarid grassland. Am. Midl. Nat. 123: 226–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1992. Spatial variability in seed production of the perennial bunehgrass Bouteloua gracilis (Poaceae): Effects of soil texture and grazing by cattle. Amer. J. Bot. 79: 347–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin, D. P., W. K. Lauenroth & I. C. Burke, 1991. Recovery of shortgrass steppe plant communities in northeastern Colorado. Abstracts of Papers. No. 82. 44th Annual Meeting, Society for Range Management, Washington, D.C.

  • Collins, S. L., 1987. Interactions of disturbances in tallgrass prairie: A field experiment. Ecology 68: 1243–1250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, S. L. & S. C. Barber, 1985. Effects of disturbance on diversity in mixed-grass prairie. Vegetatio 64: 87–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, S. L. & G. E. Uno, 1983. The effects of early spring burning on vegetation in buffalo wallows. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 110: 474–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cosby, B. J., G. M. Hornberger, R. B. Clap & T. R. Ginn, 1984. A statistical exploration of the relationships of soil moisture characteristics to the physical properties of soils. Water Resour. Res. 20: 682–690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costello, D. F., 1944. Natural revegetation of abandoned plowed land in the mixed prairie association of northeastern Colorado. Ecology 25: 312–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. A., J. Villinski, K. Banks, J. Buckman-Fifield, J. Dicus & S. Hofmann, 1991a. Combined effects of fire, mound-building by pocket gophers, root loss and plant size on growth and reproduction in Penstemon grandiflorus. Am. Midl. Nat. 125: 150–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. A., J. Villinski, S. McAndrew, H. Scholtz & E. Young, 1991b: Survivorship of Penstemon grandiflorus in an oak woodland: combined effects of fire and pocket gophers. Oecologia 86: 113–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, R. M. & J. E. Cantlon. 1969. Effects of size area open to colonization on species composition in early old-field succession. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 96: 660–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, D. J., 1989. Effects of animal disturbance on tallgrass prairie vegetation. Am. Midl. Nat. 121: 144–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gill, D. S. & P. L. Marks, 1991. Tree and shrub seedling colonization of old fields in central New York. Ecol. Monogr. 61: 183–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, D. G., 1989. Simulated effects of fire, dispersal and spatial pattern on competition within forest mosaics. Vegetatio 82: 139–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubb, P. J., 1977. The maintenance of species-richness in plant communities: the importance of the regeneration niche. Biol. Rev. 52: 107–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartnett, D. C. & D. R. Richardson, 1989. Population biology of Bonamia grandifloria (Convolvulaceae): effects of fire on plant and seed bank dynamics. Amer. J. Bot. 76: 361–369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington, G. N., 1991. Effects of soil moisture on shrub seedling survival in a semi-arid grassland. Ecology 72: 1138–1149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitcheoek, A. S., 1951. Manuel of the grasses of the United States. United States Department of Agriculture Misc. Publ. No. 200.

  • Hobbs, R. J. and V.J. Hobbs, 1987. Gophers and grassland: a model of vegetation response to patchy disturbance. Vegetatio 69: 141–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, R. J. & H. A. Mooney, 1985. Community and population dynamics of serpentine grassland annuals in relation to gopher disturbance. Oecologia 67: 342–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houle, G. & D. L. Phillips, 1989. Seed availability and biotic interactions in granite outcrop plant communities. Ecology 70: 1307–1316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyder, D. N., R. E. Bement, E. E. Remmenga & D. F. Hervey, 1975. Ecological responses of native plants and guidelines for management of shortgrass range. USDA-ARS Tech. Bull. No. 1503.

  • Hyder, D. N., A. C. Everson & R. E. Bement, 1971. Seedling morphology and seeding failures with blue grama. J. Range Managem. 24: 287–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judd, I. B., 1974. Plant succession of old fields in the Dust Bowl. Southw. Nat. 19: 227–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judd, I. B. & M. L. Jackson, 1939. Natural succession of vegetation on abandoned farmland in the Rosebud soil area of western Nebraska. J. Am. Soc. Agron. 39: 541–547.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuchler, A. W., 1964. The potential natural vegetation of the coterminous United States. American Geographical Society. New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauenroth, W. K., J. L. Dodd & P. L. Sims, 1978. The effects of water- and nitrogen-induced stresses on plant community structure in a semiarid grassland. Oecologia 36: 211–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauenroth, W. K., O. E. Sala, D. P. Coffin & T. B. Kirchner. Soil water dynamics and the establishment of Bouteloua gracilis in the shortgrass steppe: A simulation analysis. Ecol. Appl. (submitted).

  • McConnaughay, K. D. M. & F. A. Bazzaz, 1987. The relationship between gap size and performance of several colonizing annuals. Ecology 68: 411–416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milchunas, D. G., W. K. Lauenroth, P. L. Chapman & M. K. Kazempour, 1989. Effects of grazing, topography, and precipitation on the structure of a semiarid grassland. Vegetatio 80: 11–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neilson, R. P., 1986. High-resolution climatic analysis and Southwest biogeography. Science 232: 27–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noy-Meir, I., 1973. Desert ecosystems: Environment and Producers. Annual Rev. Ecol. Syst. 4: 25–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parton, W. J., D. S. Schimel, C. V. Cole & D. S. Ojima, 1987. Analysis of factors controlling soil organic matter levels in Great Plains grasslands. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 51: 1173–1179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peart, D. R., 1989. Species interactions in a successional grassland. III. Effects of canopy gaps, gopher mounds and grazing on colonization. J. Ecol. 77: 267–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, S. T. A. & P. S. White, 1985. The ecology of natural disturbances and patch dynamics. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierson, E. A. & R. N. Mack, 1990. The population biology of Bromus tectorum in forests: distinguishing the opoortunity for dispersal from environmental restriction. Oecologia 84: 519–525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, W. J., 1975. The colonization and formation of equilibrium plant species associations on badger disturbances in a tall-grass prairie. Ecol. Monogr. 45: 285–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plantt, W. J. & I. M. Weiss, 1977. Resource partitioning and competition within a guild of fugitive prairie plants. Amer. Nat. 111: 479–513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichhardt, K. L., 1982. Succession of abandoned fields on the shortgrass prairie, northeastern Colorado. Southw. Nat. 27: 299–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riegel, A., 1941. Life history habits of blue grama. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 44: 76–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savage, D. A. & H. E. Runyon, 1937. Natural revegetation of abandoned farmland in the central and southern Great Plains. In: 4th Int. Grassland Congress, Aberystwyth, Great Britain, Section 1, Grassland Ecology, pp. 178–182.

  • Sala, O. E. & W. K. Lauenroth, 1982. Small rainfall events: an ecological role in semiarid regions. Oecologia 53: 301–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sala, O. E., W. K. Lauenroth & W. J. Parton, 1992. Long term soil water dynamics in the shortgrass steppe. Ecology 73: 1175–1181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sala, O. E., W. J. Parton, L. A. Joyce & W. K. Lauenroth, 1988. Primary production of the central grassland region of the United States. Ecology 69: 40–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senft, R. L., L. R. Rittenhouse & R. G. Woodmansee, 1985. Factors influencing patterns of cattle grazing behavior on shortgrass steppe. J. Range Managem. 38: 82–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shantz, H. L., 1923. The natural vegetation of the Great Plains region. Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 13: 81–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shugart, H. H., 1984. A theory of forest dynamics. Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sousa, W. P., 1984. The role of disturbance in natural communities. Annual Rev. Ecol. Syst. 15: 353–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Great Plains Flora Association, 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.

    Google Scholar 

  • United States Department of Agriculture, 1951. Soil survey manuel. USDA Agricultural Handbook 18. 503 pp.

  • Wilson, S. D. & J. M. Shay, 1990. Competition, fire, and nutrients in a mixed-grass prairie. Ecology 71: 1959–1967.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Range Science, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    Debra P. Coffin & William K. Lauenroth

  2. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, CO, USA

    William K. Lauenroth

Authors
  1. Debra P. Coffin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William K. Lauenroth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Coffin, D.P., Lauenroth, W.K. Successional dynamics of a semiarid grassland: effects of soil texture and disturbance size. Vegetatio 110, 67–82 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038715

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00038715

Keywords

Search

Navigation