Herbaceous Plant Ecology: Recent Advances in Plant Ecology

R. A. Reddy, K. Balkwill, T. McLellan (auth.), A. G. Van der Valk (eds.)9048127971, 9789048127979, 9789048127986

This volume provides an overview of recent advances in the ecology of various kinds of non-forested ecosystems (grasslands, deserts, and wetlands) on a variety of topics, including species diversity and the factors that control species diversity, impacts of disturbances (grazing, mowing, fire, flooding), establishment and reproduction ecology, and plant-plant interactions.

Previously published in Plant Ecology, Volume 201, No.2, 2009.

Table of contents :
Front Matter….Pages I-VI
Plant species richness and diversity of the serpentine areas on the Witwatersrand….Pages 1-17
Temporal changes in species diversity and composition in abandoned fields in a trans -Himalayan landscape, Nepal….Pages 19-35
Role of desert annuals in nutrient flow in arid area of Northwestern China: a nutrient reservoir and provider….Pages 37-45
The effects of fire frequency and grazing on tallgrass prairie productivity and plant composition are mediated through bud bank demography….Pages 47-56
Do plant functional types based on leaf dry matter content allow characterizing native grass species and grasslands for herbage growth pattern?….Pages 57-69
Clonal growth strategies in simultaneously persistent and expanding Trifolium repens patches….Pages 71-80
California native and exotic perennial grasses differ in their response to soil nitrogen, exotic annual grass density, and order of emergence….Pages 81-92
Do seed and microsite limitation interact with seed size in determining invasion patterns in flooding Pampa grasslands?….Pages 93-105
Feral horses dung piles as potential invasion windows for alien plant species in natural grasslands….Pages 107-116
Reproductive allocation of Carex flava reacts differently to competition and resources in a designed plant mixture of five species….Pages 117-125
Factors affecting the establishment and growth of annual legumes in semi-arid mediterranean grasslands….Pages 127-136
Are irrigation and grazing effects transferred, accumulated, or counteracted during plant recruitment?….Pages 137-151
Extent and spatial patterns of grass bald land cover change (1948–2000), Oregon Coast Range, USA….Pages 153-165
Grass (Poaceae) richness patterns across China’s nature reserves….Pages 167-187
Interacting effects of grass height and herbivores on the establishment of an encroaching savanna shrub….Pages 189-202
Effects of competition on root–shoot allocation in Plantago lanceolata L.: adaptive plasticity or ontogenetic drift?….Pages 203-209
Rock-colonizing plants: abundance of the endemic cactus Mammillaria fraileana related to rock type in the southern Sonoran Desert….Pages 211-224
Ecophysiological responses of nine floodplain meadow species to changing hydrological conditions….Pages 225-234
Tolerance of a perennial herb, Pimpinella saxifraga , to simulated flower herbivory and grazing: immediate repair of injury or postponed reproduction?….Pages 235-245
Differential herbivory tolerance of dominant and subordinate plant species along gradients of nutrient availability and competition….Pages 247-255
Responses of clonal architecture to experimental defoliation: a comparative study between ten grassland species….Pages 257-266
Diffuse knapweed ( Centaurea diffusa Lam.) seedling emergence and establishment in a Colorado grassland….Pages 267-274
Biodiversity and tallgrass prairie decomposition: the relative importance of species identity, evenness, richness, and micro-topography….Pages 275-285
Herbivory and local genetic differentiation in natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana (Brassicaceae)….Pages 287-295
The effect of nutrient supply and light intensity on tannins and mycorrhizal colonisation in Dutch heathland ecosystems….Pages 297-311
Spatial and temporal dynamics of floating and drift-line seeds at a tidal freshwater marsh on the Potomac River, USA….Pages 313-322
Estimating plant competition coefficients and predicting community dynamics from non-destructive pin-point data: a case study with Calluna vulgaris and Deschampsia flexuosa ….Pages 323-333
Disturbance by mowing affects clonal diversity: the genetic structure of Ranunculus ficaria (Ranunculuaceae) in meadows and forests….Pages 335-343
Soil amendment effects on the exotic annual grass Bromus tectorum L. and facilitation of its growth by the native perennial grass Hilaria jamesii (Torr.) Benth….Pages 345-357
Effects of fire on the vegetation of a lowland heathland in North-western Italy….Pages 359-367