干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Response of reptiles to weed-control and native plant restoration in an arid, grass-invaded landscape

Arid

DOI	10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01325
	Response of reptiles to weed-control and native plant restoration in an arid, grass-invaded landscape
	Schlesinger, Christine A.; Kaestli, Mirjam; Christian, Keith A.; Muldoon, Shane
通讯作者	Schlesinger, CA (corresponding author), Charles Darwin Univ, Res Inst Environm & Livelihoods, Alice Springs Campus,Grevillia Dr, Alice Springs, NT 0870, Australia.
来源期刊	GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
ISSN	2351-9894
出版年	2020
卷号	24
英文摘要	Introduced grasses are a major threat to dryland ecosystems world-wide because of their ability to transform plant communities and change fire regimes. These structural and functional shifts are often assumed to impact wildlife but this has rarely been measured directly. Likewise, evaluation of weed removal programs rarely considers benefits to fauna, thereby limiting information that could inform management decisions. We used an experimental approach to test the impacts of removing invasive buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris), a globally significant invader of dryland systems, on reptiles, a prominent component of the Australian desert fauna. A combination of mechanical and herbicide treatment was applied to replicate plots in areas that had been invaded for at least two decades and changes to ground cover and plant and reptile assemblages were monitored over six years and compared to still-invaded control plots. Following treatment, native plants re-established without the need for reseeding or planting, especially during a period of high rainfall, when positive effects on reptiles also became apparent. The abundance and species richness of reptiles increased at all plots during the mesic period, but less so in control plots, and remained higher at treated plots thereafter, although this was only significant at some times. Post-treatment 27 of 36 species were captured more frequently in treated plots and only four species, all with very low captures, were captured more often in invaded control plots. This consistent trend among species suggests negative impacts of buffel grass on reptiles are likely caused by broad factors such as reduced prey or habitat diversity. Together with concurrent research at the same sites, our results provide experimental evidence that removing buffel grass from heavily invaded areas, even at small scales, benefits a variety of native flora and fauna. Until landscape-scale options are available, restoration of smaller areas within buffel-invaded landscapes can help to pre serve native seed banks and adult plants, reduce fire impacts, and provide patches of favourable habitat for fauna. The creation of 'islands' of restored native vegetation deserves further consideration as an effective intervention that could help to achieve short and long-term conservation goals in grass-invaded dryland ecosystems. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.
英文关键词	Reptiles Buffel grass Cenchrus ciliaris Invasive plants Dryland restoration Weed management
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	gold
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000608479300015
WOS关键词	CENCHRUS-CILIARIS L. ; BUFFEL GRASS ; ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS ; FOOD AVAILABILITY ; INVASIVE PLANTS ; SPATIAL-PATTERN ; EXOTIC GRASSES ; FIRE ; LIZARDS ; DESERT
WOS类目	Biodiversity Conservation ; Ecology
WOS研究方向	Biodiversity & Conservation ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/348893
作者单位	[Schlesinger, Christine A.] Charles Darwin Univ, Res Inst Environm & Livelihoods, Alice Springs Campus,Grevillia Dr, Alice Springs, NT 0870, Australia; [Kaestli, Mirjam; Christian, Keith A.] Charles Darwin Univ, Res Inst Environm & Livelihoods, Casuarina, NT 0909, Australia; [Muldoon, Shane] Northern Terr Govt, Alice Springs Desert Pk, Dept Tourism Sport & Culture, Alice Springs, NT, Australia
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Schlesinger, Christine A.,Kaestli, Mirjam,Christian, Keith A.,et al. Response of reptiles to weed-control and native plant restoration in an arid, grass-invaded landscape[J],2020,24.
APA	Schlesinger, Christine A.,Kaestli, Mirjam,Christian, Keith A.,&Muldoon, Shane.(2020).Response of reptiles to weed-control and native plant restoration in an arid, grass-invaded landscape.GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION,24.
MLA	Schlesinger, Christine A.,et al."Response of reptiles to weed-control and native plant restoration in an arid, grass-invaded landscape".GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION 24(2020).