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Is Pyrenophora semeniperda the Cause of Downy Brome (Bromus tectorum) Die-offs?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Owen W. Baughman  and
Susan E. Meyer
Owen W. Baughman*
Affiliation:
College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, 975 West 6th Street, Moscow, ID 83844
Susan E. Meyer
Affiliation:
U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, Shrub Sciences Laboratory, 735 North 500 East, Provo, UT 84606
*
Corresponding Author's Email: owbaughman@gmail.com
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Abstract

Downy brome (cheatgrass) is a highly successful, exotic, winter annual invader in semi-arid western North America, forming near-monocultures across many landscapes. A frequent but poorly understood phenomenon in these heavily invaded areas is periodic ‘die-off’ or complete stand failure. The fungal pathogen Pyrenophora semeniperda is abundant in cheatgrass seed banks and causes high mortality. To determine whether this pathogen could be responsible for stand failure, we quantified late spring seed banks in die-off areas and adjacent cheatgrass stands at nine sites. Seed bank analysis showed that this pathogen was not a die-off causal agent at those sites. We determined that seed bank sampling and litter data could be used to estimate time since die-off. Seed bank patterns in our recent die-offs indicated that the die-off causal agent does not significantly impact seeds in the persistent seed bank.

Keywords

Downy brome, Bromus tectorum L.black fingers of death, Pyrenophora semeniperda (Brittleb. & D.B. Adam) ShoemakerCheatgrassGreat Basinseed bankseed pathogenstand failure
Type
Research
Information
Invasive Plant Science and Management , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 105 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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Footnotes

Current address: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia Street, MS0186, Reno, NV 89557

References

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