Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) originated in Europe or Eurasia and was introduced to the U.S. in the mid- to late-1800s as a contaminant in seed and straw. It germinates in the fall and early spring, and grows rapidly and in high numbers, making it highly competitive with native species. Cheatgrass is also disrupting the fire cycle in sage habitat and other Western ecosystems, leading to more frequent and more intense burns.
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Tamarisk is an invasive shrub or small tree that is found across the American West. Also known as saltcedar, tamarisk favors sites that are inhospitable to native streamside plants because of high salinity, low water availability, and altered streamflow regimes created by dams. Researchers debate the extent of tamarisk’s negative impacts, but this invasive species can and does alter habitat...
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What is buffelgrass?
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The effects of cheatgrass invasion on US Great Basin carbon storage depend on interactions between plant community composition, precipitation seasonality, and soil climate regime
Potential cheatgrass abundance within lightly invaded areas of the Great Basin
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Experimental warming changes phenology and shortens growing season of the dominant invasive plant Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass)
Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks
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- FAQ
What is tamarisk?
Tamarisk is an invasive shrub or small tree that is found across the American West. Also known as saltcedar, tamarisk favors sites that are inhospitable to native streamside plants because of high salinity, low water availability, and altered streamflow regimes created by dams. Researchers debate the extent of tamarisk’s negative impacts, but this invasive species can and does alter habitat...
How do Chinese tallow's characteristics make it such an aggressive invader?
The invasive Chinese tallow tree has the ability to reach reproductive age in as little as 3 years and to remain productive for at least 60 years. It does not seem to have a preference for disturbed areas over undisturbed areas and can grow in a variety of places. It can also grow in both full sunlight and shade. It is more tolerant of salinity and flooding than quite a few other native species...
How far has Chinese tallow spread in the United States?
Chinese tallow has been cultivated in nurseries and sold as an ornamental tree used for landscaping; however, it is now classified as a nuisance species in some locations and can no longer be sold. It has separate pollen and seed-bearing flowers, and seeds can be spread by birds and by moving water.Chinese tallow has spread from South Carolina all the way down to Florida, west into Texas, and has...
What products can be created with Chinese tallow?
Tallow has been cultivated as a seed-oil crop in China for at least 14 centuries. Candles, soap, cloth dressing, and fuel are made from the tallow. Chinese vegetable tallow is a solid fat that is in the outer covering of the Chinese tallow seeds. The kernels produce an oil called stillingia oil that is used in machine oils, as a crude lamp oil, and in making varnishes and paints. It can also be...
What is buffelgrass?
Buffelgrass is a perennial grass from Africa that is invasive to the Sonoran Desert of the Southwest United States, where it threatens desert ecosystems by out-competing native plants and altering fire regimes. It has the potential to transform the Sonoran Desert ecosystem from a diverse assemblage of plants to a grassland monoculture.Buffelgrass was brought to Arizona in the 1930s for erosion...
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The effects of cheatgrass invasion on US Great Basin carbon storage depend on interactions between plant community composition, precipitation seasonality, and soil climate regime
Annual-grass invasions are transforming desert ecosystems in ways that affect ecosystem carbon (C) balance, but previous studies do not agree on the pattern, magnitude and direction of changes. A recent meta-analysis of 41 articles and 386 sites concludes that invasion by annual grasses such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L) reduces C in biomass across the Great Basin (Nagy et al., 2021). ReanalysAuthorsToby M Maxwell, Matthew J. GerminoPotential cheatgrass abundance within lightly invaded areas of the Great Basin
ContextAnticipating where an invasive species could become abundant can help guide prevention and control efforts aimed at reducing invasion impacts. Information on potential abundance can be combined with information on the current status of an invasion to guide management towards currently uninvaded locations where the threat of invasion is high.ObjectivesWe aimed to support management by develoAuthorsHelen Sofaer, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Erin K. Buchholtz, Brian S. Cade, John T. Abatzoglou, Cameron L. Aldridge, Patrick Comer, Daniel Manier, Lauren E. Parker, Julie A. HeinrichsProtecting restoration investments from the cheatgrass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe
The US federal government has recently committed to the difficult task of slowing and managing the invasive grass-fire cycle in sagebrush steppe, where property, livelihoods, and entire ecosystems are at risk. To safely manage this crisis, the government recently proposed to construct about 17,700 km of fuel breaks and millions of hectares of fuel reduction treatments in six western states. A chalAuthorsDavid Pilliod, Michelle Jeffries, Justin L. Welty, Robert ArkleExperimental warming changes phenology and shortens growing season of the dominant invasive plant Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass)
Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) has successfully invaded and established throughout the western United States. Bromus tectorum grows early in the season and this early growth allows B. tectorum to outcompete native species, which has led to dramatic shifts in ecosystem function and plant community composition after B. tectorum invades. If the phenology of native species is unable to track changing clAuthorsArmin J. Howell, Daniel E. Winkler, Michala Lee Phillips, Brandon McNellis, Sasha C. ReedSpatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks
Exotic annual grasses are transforming native arid and semi-arid ecosystems globally by accelerating fire cycles that drive vegetation state changes. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), a particularly widespread and aggressive exotic annual grass, is a key management target in national parks of the western United States due to its impacts on wildfire and biodiversity loss. Cheatgrass is known for its hiAuthorsTara B.B. Bishop, Seth M. Munson, Richard Gill, Jayne Belnap, Samuel B. St. Clair, Steven L. PetersenPotential spread of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) by feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) in Western Colorado
The invasive grass cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) presents major challenges for land management and habitat conservation in the western United States. Feral horses (Equus ferus caballus) have become overabundant in some areas of the West and can impact fragile semiarid ecosystems. Amid ongoing efforts to control cheatgrass in the Great Basin, we conducted a study to determine if feral horses contAuthorsSarah R.B. King, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Daniel J. ManierRefining the cheatgrass–fire cycle in the Great Basin: Precipitation timing and fine fuel composition predict wildfire trends
Larger, more frequent wildfires in arid and semi-arid ecosystems have been associated with invasion by non-native annual grasses, yet a complete understanding of fine fuel development and subsequent wildfire trends is lacking. We investigated the complex relationships among weather, fine fuels, and fire in the Great Basin, USA. We first modeled the annual and time-lagged effects of precipitation aAuthorsDavid S. Pilliod, Justin L. Welty, Robert ArkleFungal and bacterial contributions to nitrogen cycling in cheatgrass-invaded and uninvaded native sagebrush soils of the western USA
AimThere is interest in determining how cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) modifies N cycling in sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt.) soils of the western USA.MethodsTo gain insight into the roles of fungi and bacteria in N cycling of cheatgrass-invaded and uninvaded sagebrush soils, the fungal protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (CHX), and the bacteriocidal compound, bronopol (BRO) were comAuthorsNicole DeCrappeo, Elizabeth J. DeLorenze, Andrew T Giguere, David A. Pyke, Peter J. BottomleyNear-real-time cheatgrass percent cover in the Northern Great Basin, USA, 2015
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) dramatically changes shrub steppe ecosystems in the Northern Great Basin, United States.Current-season cheatgrass location and percent cover are difficult to estimate rapidly.We explain the development of a near-real-time cheatgrass percent cover dataset and map in the Northern Great Basin for the current year (2015), display the current year’s map, provide analysisAuthorsStephen P. Boyte, Bruce K. WylieCheatgrass percent cover change: Comparing recent estimates to climate change − Driven predictions in the Northern Great Basin
Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) is a highly invasive species in the Northern Great Basin that helps decrease fire return intervals. Fire fragments the shrub steppe and reduces its capacity to provide forage for livestock and wildlife and habitat critical to sagebrush obligates. Of particular interest is the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), an obligate whose populations have declineAuthorsStephen P. Boyte, Bruce K. Wylie, Donald J. MajorMapping and monitoring cheatgrass dieoff in rangelands of the Northern Great Basin, USA
Understanding cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) dynamics in the Northern Great Basin rangelands, USA, is necessary to effectively manage the region’s lands. This study’s goal was to map and monitor cheatgrass performance to identify where and when cheatgrass dieoff occurred in the Northern Great Basin and to discover how this phenomenon was affected by climatic, topographic, and edaphic variables. We aAuthorsStephen P. Boyte, Bruce K. Wylie, Donald J. Major - News