Danthonia spicata, poverty oatgrass
Covington, Daniel. 2000. Danthonia spicata, poverty oatgrass. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/danspi
| Abbreviation | Common Name | Scientific Name | Classification | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plants | ||||
| DANSPI | poverty oatgrass | Danthonia spicata | Life Form: Plants/Graminoid Kingdom: Plantae Class: Monocot Order: Cyperales Family: Poaceae Genus: Danthonia | Fed. Protected: No Nativity: Native Invasiveness: Noninvasive |
Taxonomy
The currently accepted scientific name of poverty oatgrass is Danthonia spicata (L.) Beauv. ex. Roem. & Schult. (Poaceae) [20,21,25,27,57].
Poverty oatgrass growing in Ontario, Canada (CC BY 4.0).
Synonyms
- No entry
Other Common Names
poverty danthonia, poverty grass
General Distribution
Poverty oatgrass inhabits much of the United States. It is distributed from British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to Florida, New Mexico, and Mexico [11,20,21,25,57]. The Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS database provides a map of poverty oatgrass' distribution in the United States.
States and Provinces
- United States: AK AL AR CO CT DE FL GA ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX VT VA WA WV WI WY
- Canada: AB BC MB NB NF ON PQ SK
- Mexico
Site Characteristics
Poverty oatgrass most commonly inhabits low fertility, sandy or rocky, well-drained soils of old fields, pastures, roadsides, and woodland margins characterized by low soil moisture [11,14,15,22,28]. Poverty oatgrass also inhabits clearcuts, burns, and trampled ground of flat and mountainous areas throughout much of the eastern United States [10]. Poverty oatgrass tends to inhabit shallow A horizons overlying substrates such as limestone, marble rock, sandstone, granite, siltstone, clay, and chert [7,23,26,36].
Poverty oatgrass growing in a shallow soil layer over bedrock (CC BY 4.0).
Plant Communities
Poverty oatgrass is a component in many grass, shrub, and forest habitats. Despite its abundance, poverty oatgrass is not cited as a habitat type indicator species because it is a secondary successor on burned and anthropogenically disturbed sites. Common eastern and prairie associates of poverty oatgrass include lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), goldenrod (Solidago spp.), bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), junegrasses (Koelaria spp.), threeawans (Aristida spp.), panicgrasses (Panicum spp.), wheatgrasses (Triticeae), fescues (Festuca spp.), needlegrasses (Achnatherum spp.), and bluegrasses (Poa spp.) [15,33,36,42,46,50,58].
Botanical Description
Poverty oatgrass growing in Quebec, Canada.
Poverty oatgrass is a cool-season, native, perennial bunchgrass. Roots are fibrous without rhizomes or stolons, and most of the foliage occurs as a crowed basal clump of leaves. Curved or twisted leaves are 4 to 6 inches (10-15 cm) long and persist with age. The inflorescence is a constricted panicle containing 2 to 13 spikelets. Both male and female flower parts appear on each individual. Florets that cross-fertilize (chasmogamous) are located on the aerial panicle and contain more pollen grains than the unopened, self-fertilized florets (cleistogamous) that are located inside 1 or more of the leaf sheaths throughout their development. Floret lemmas have twisted awns with long, stiff hairs, both of which aid in dispersal [11,22].
Research in a pine-hardwood forest in Michigan found that poverty oatgrass has a population half-life of 2.2 years [42].
Raunkiaer Life Form
- Chamaephyte [37]
Seasonal Development
In the southern and eastern United States, poverty oatgrass begins active growth in early spring. Flowers develop and bloom from late spring to early June. Seed maturation and shattering closely follow pollination. Poverty oatgrass is commonly dormant during the hot summer months. A period of vegetative growth may occur when temperatures decrease in early fall. In Canada, seasonal development occurs a few weeks later as a result of temperature and photoperiod restrictions [11,28].
Regeneration Processes
Poverty oatgrass reproduces by seed and by tillering [11]. Its production of cleistogamous flowers and chasmogamous flowers makes this species highly self-compatible and often dominant in favorable growing conditions. Chasmogamous florets are more abundant than self-fertile florets. Cleistogamous florets occur most frequently in plants growing on disturbed, grazed, wooded, and mountainous areas [9]. The presence of both flower types in varying proportions yields 2 different reproductive strategies. However, seed production through self-pollination in closed florets is most common [35].
While conducting a study on poverty oatgrass reproduction, Clay [9] observed that healthy plants set seed in all 200 of observed florets of both flower types. Pronounced twisted and pubescent awns aid in seed dispersal. Maximum germination of seeds was investigated by Toole [51]. Seeds taken from the Shenandoah National Forest in Virginia germinated best when temperatures were alternated between room temperature and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 °C). A 71% sulfuric acid treatment weakened the seed coat, facilitating germination. Prechilling the seeds at 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 °C) before room temperature germination with a potassium nitrate treatment was also effective.
Seeds of poverty oatgrass are highly dormant but germinate readily on exposed mineral soil. Even if the aboveground population no longer exists, seeds may remain in soil for decades before a disturbance such as fire initiates another population [43].
Successional Status
Poverty oatgrass is a secondary successor of burned and/or cut sites, old fields, and old pastureland [14,15,19,38,47]. It is a common pioneer on northeastern coastal sandplains and old domestic sheep pastures [14]. Its ability to colonize after disturbance is attributed to long periods of seed dormancy [31]. Optimally growing in high light, conditions are most favorable for poverty oatgrass during early years of succession [42]. As competition for light and other resources increases, poverty oatgrass populations decrease [3]. Individuals appearing in mid-late successional stages of natural reforestation allocate most resources to reproductive efforts in order to continue the population [43].
Some barren and alvar ecosystems are kept in early succession by repeated fires [7,46]. Smith and Sparling [46] found poverty oatgrass was a persistent member of jack pine (Pinus banksiana) barrens maintained by frequent fire. A prairie and savanna restoration study conducted in central Wisconsin showed marked increases in poverty oatgrass populations with increased prescribed burning [4]. However, it should be noted that some grasslands dominated by poverty oatgrass might be drought-dependent, not fire-dependent [7].
Immediate Fire Effects
Fire usually top-kills poverty oatgrass [32,34,42].
While studying the population dynamics of poverty oatgrass during secondary succession of a pine-hardwood forest in northern lower Michigan, Scheiner [42] found that fire's predominant effect was mortality. Seventy-five percent of individuals had died in an experimental plot burned the previous summer.
Postfire Regeneration Strategy
- Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
- Tussock graminoid [48]
Fire Adaptations
Poverty oatgrass has adapted to fire by tillering and establishing from seed after top-kill [32,34,42].
Plant Response to Fire
Most barrens, forested, prairie, and flatwood ecosystems show a marked increase in poverty oatgrass populations the growing season following fire [32,34,41,42,49,55,56]. Open-grown poverty oatgrass plants may produce 4.5 times more vegetative culms and 1.5 times more flowering culms than those growing in more successionally advanced communities. During the 1st few growing seasons following fire, poverty oatgrass allocates its resources to vegetative growth over reproductive effort. As the canopy of more advanced successional stages reduces light reaching the herbaceous layer, this trend reverses. In general, environmental changes imposed by successional trends contribute to a drastic population reduction 20 to 30 years following fire [42].
Despite the overwhelming evidence supporting fire's contribution to poverty oatgrass establishment and success, some grassland ecosystems show a decrease in poverty oatgrass following frequent disturbance [33,50]. While observing floristic trends of annually burned, post-agricultural little bluestem fields, Nierling and Dreyer [33] noticed a drastic decrease in poverty oatgrass. Similarly, prescribed burns in goldenrod-poverty oatgrass communities resulted in a 26% decrease of poverty oatgrass frequency, while unburned fields supported contiguous poverty oatgrass plants. In this particular community type, fire temporarily promoted forb dominance followed by a slow emergence of poverty oatgrass [50].
Fire Regimes
Fire regimes for plant communities and ecosystems in which poverty oatgrass occurs are summarized below. For additional fire regime information, search FEIS for this species by entering the species name on the Advanced Search page and selecting “Fire Regime” as the publication type.
| Community or Ecosystem | Dominant Species | Fire Return Interval Range in Years |
|---|---|---|
| maple-beech-birch | Acer-Fagus-Betula | >1000 |
| sugar maple | A. saccharum | >1000 |
| sugar maple-basswood | A. s.-Tilia americana | > 000 [5] |
| bluestem prairie | Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium | <10 [5,29] |
| Nebraska sandhills prairie | A. g. var. paucipilus-Schizachyrium scoparium | <10 |
| plains grasslands | Bouteloua spp. | <35 |
| blue grama-buffalo grass | B. gracilis-Buchloe dactyloides | <35 |
| sugarberry-America elm-green ash | Celtis laevigata-Ulmus americana-Fraxinus pennsylvanica | <35 to 200 |
| beech-sugar maple | Fagus spp.-Acer saccharum | >1000 |
| juniper-oak savanna | Juniperus ashei-Quercus virginiana | <35 |
| yellow-poplar | Liriodendron tulipifera | <35 |
| wheatgrass plains grasslands | Pascopyrum smithii | <35 |
| Great Lakes spruce-fir | Picea-Abies spp. | 35 to >200 |
| northeastern spruce-fir | Picea-Abies spp. | 35-200 |
| southeastern spruce-fir | Picea-Abies spp. | 35 to >200 [5] |
| Rocky Mountain lodgepole pine* | Pinus contorta var. latifolia | 25-300+ [1,39] |
| shortleaf pine | P. echinata | 2-15 |
| shortleaf pine-oak | P. e.-Quercus spp. | <10 |
| longleaf pine-scrub oak | P. palustris-Quercus spp. | 6-10 [5] |
| red pine (Great Lakes region) | P. resinosa | 10-200 (10)** [5,17] |
| red-white-jack pine* | P. r.-P. strobus-P. banksiana | 10-300 [5] |
| pitch pine | P. rigida | 6-25 [6,24] |
| eastern white pine | P. strobus | 35-200 |
| eastern white pine-eastern hemlock | P. s.-Tsuga canadensis | 35-200 |
| eastern white pine-northern red oak-red maple | P. s.-Quercus rubra-Acer rubrum | 35-200 |
| loblolly-shortleaf pine | P. taeda-P.echinata | 10 to <35 |
| Virginia pine-oak | P.virginiana-Quercus spp. | 10 to <35 |
| aspen-birch | Populus tremuloides-Betula papyrifera | 35-200 [5] |
| mountain grasslands | Pseudoroegneria spicata | 3-40 (10)** [1] |
| oak-hickory | Quercus-Carya spp. | <35 |
| northeastern oak-pine | Quercus-Pinus spp. | 10 to <35 |
| southeastern oak-pine | Quercus-Pinus spp. | <10 |
| white oak-black oak-northern red oak | Q. alba-Q. velutina-Q. rubra | <35 |
| chestnut oak | Q. prinus | 3-8 |
| northern red oak | Q. rubra | 10 to <35 |
| post oak-blackjack oak | Q. stellata-Q. marilandica | <10 |
| black oak | Q. velutina | <35 |
| little bluestem-grama prairie | Schizachyrium scoparium-Bouteloua spp. | <35 |
| eastern hemlock-yellow birch | Tsuga canadensis-Betula alleghaniensis | >200 |
| elm-ash-cottonwood | Ulmus-Fraxinus-Populus spp. | <35 to 200 [5] |
*Fire-return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the Species review. **(Mean). | ||
Fire Management Considerations
Poverty oatgrass is usually associated with frequent burning. Its population maintenance in open woodland and woodland-grassland margins is certainly dependent upon fire [34,49,55]. Conversely, successional advancement in the absence of fire may result in very small populations of poverty oatgrass.
No published sources provide fuel management, fire behavior, or fire use planning information concerning poverty oatgrass.
Federal Status
None
Other Status
No entry.
Importance to Wildlife and Livestock
Importance of poverty oatgrass to wildlife and livestock is limited to early season utilization. However, palatability and preference vary according to local growing conditions and relative abundance of other forage [40].
Palatability and Nutritional Value
Most sources cite poverty oatgrass as rather unpalatable to livestock throughout the growing season [8,13,22,40]. However, Skovlin and others [45] found that poverty oatgrass was second only to bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) for utilization by cattle over an 8-year period at 3 different stocking levels. This study, conducted in the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)/bunchgrass range of the Pacific Northwest, showed heaviest use of poverty oatgrass during season-long and deferred grazing rotations. If utilized by domestic and wild ungulates, poverty oatgrass' young green blades are preferred in early spring and summer for optimal palatability. Poverty oatgrass is much less palatable by midsummer [15]. The palatability of poverty oatgrass for wildlife in Wyoming has been rated as follows [13]:
| Animal | Palatability |
|---|---|
| pronghorn | poor |
| elk | good |
| mule deer | poor |
| white-tailed deer | poor |
| small nongame birds | poor |
| upland game birds | poor |
| waterfowl | poor |
Compared to graminoid associates, nutritional value of poverty oatgrass is low. Ungulate use is generally restricted to early season when protein value is optimal [15].
Cover Value
Given the low-growing stature of poverty oatgrass, cover value for large mammals is negligible. However, Dittberner and Olson [13] found that poverty oatgrass provides fair cover value for small mammals, small nongame birds, and upland game birds in Wyoming.
Value for Rehabilitation of Disturbed Sites
Poverty oatgrass inhabits sites of varying nutrient and moisture content. However, special interest is given to its ability to establish and succeed on sites of particularly poor nutrient and moisture regimes, such as roadsides [22]. It protects soil from erosion and excessive nutrient leaching, and is frost-heave resistant. Poverty oatgrass also has the ability to inhabit acidic soils (pH 4.5-4.7) [54]. Most sources cite poverty oatgrass as a common secondary successor and valuable erosion controller of fire-disturbed areas and clearcuts in the eastern United States [10].
Other Uses
No entry.
Other Management Considerations
Poverty oatgrass serves as an excellent indicator of low-fertility agricultural and pasture lands. Its presence and increase in the absence of fire may imply declining soil conditions and overuse [11,22,52]. Active grazing usually favors an increase in the abundance of poverty oatgrass. This is attributed to the almost basal location of cleistogamous flowers, which are generally out of reach and not removed by cattle grazing [9].
The herbicide hexazinone has proven effective in reducing competition imposed by poverty oatgrass and bluegrasses in lowbush blueberry fields in Michigan [58].
Table A1— Forest and range ecosystems, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) physiographic regions, Kuchler plant associations, Society for American Foresters (SAF) forest cover types, and Society for Rangeland Management (SRM) rangeland cover types in which this species occurs.
Forest and Range Ecosystems
- FRES10 White-red-jack pine
- FRES11 Spruce-fir
- FRES12 Longleaf-slash pine
- FRES13 Loblolly-shortleaf pine
- FRES14 Oak-pine
- FRES15 Oak-hickory
- FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood
- FRES18 Maple-beech-birch
- FRES19 Aspen-birch
- FRES21 Ponderosa pine
- FRES23 Fir-spruce
- FRES26 Lodgepole pine
- FRES36 Mountain grasslands
- FRES38 Plains grasslands
- FRES39 Prairie [18]
BLM Physiographic Regions
- 2 Cascade Mountains
- 5 Columbia Plateau
- 8 Northern Rocky Mountains
- 9 Middle Rocky Mountains
- 10 Wyoming Basin
- 11 Southern Rocky Mountains
- 12 Colorado Plateau
- 13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
- 14 Great Plains
- 15 Black Hills Uplift [2]
Kuchler Plant Associations
- K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
- K011 Western ponderosa forest
- K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
- K017 Black Hills pine forest
- K047 Fescue-oatgrass
- K050 Fescue-wheatgrass
- K051 Wheatgrass-bluegrass
- K063 Foothills prairie
- K064 Grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass
- K065 Grama-buffalo grass
- K066 Wheatgrass-needlegrass
- K067 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
- K068 Wheatgrass-grama-buffalo grass
- K069 Bluestem-grama prairie
- K093 Great Lakes spruce-fir forest
- K095 Great Lakes pine forest
- K096 Northeastern spruce-fir forest
- K098 Northern floodplain forest
- K099 Maple-basswood forest
- K100 Oak-hickory
- K101 Elm-ash forest
- K102 Beech-maple forest
- K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
- K104 Appalachian oak forest
- K106 Northern hardwoods
- K107 Northern hardwoods-fir forest
- K108 Northern hardwoods-spruce forest
- K109 Transition between K104 and K106
- K110 Northeastern oak-pine forest
- K111 Oak-hickory-pine
- K112 Southern mixed forest [30]
SAF Cover Types
- 1 Jack pine
- 5 Balsam fir
- 15 Red pine
- 16 Aspen
- 17 Pin cherry
- 20 White pine-northern red oak-red maple
- 21 Eastern white pine
- 22 White pine-hemlock
- 39 Black ash-American elm-red maple
- 40 Post oak-blackjack oak
- 42 Bur oak
- 45 Pitch pine
- 52 White oak-black oak-northern red oak
- 55 Northern red oak
- 70 Longleaf pine
- 71 Longleaf pine-scrub oak
- 76 Shortleaf pine-oak
- 82 Loblolly pine-hardwood
- 201 White spruce
- 203 Balsam poplar
- 218 Lodgepole pine [16]
SRM Rangeland Cover Types
- 101 Bluebunch wheatgrass
- 102 Idaho fescue
- 103 Green fescue
- 109 Ponderosa pine shrubland
- 110 Ponderosa pine-grassland
- 215 Valley grassland
- 216 Montane meadows
- 218 Lodgepole pine
- 237 Interior ponderosa pine
- 251 White spruce-aspen
- 253 Black spruce-white spruce
- 254 Black spruce-paper birch
- 301 Bluebunch wheatgrass-blue grama
- 302 Bluebunch wheatgrass-Sandberg bluegrass
- 303 Bluebunch wheatgrass-western wheatgrass
- 310 Needle-and-thread-blue grama
- 411 Aspen woodland
- 502 Grama-galleta
- 601 Bluestem prairie
- 604 Bluestem-grama prairie
- 606 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
- 607 Wheatgrass-needlegrass
- 611 Blue grama-buffalo grass
- 613 Fescue grassland
- 704 Blue grama-western wheatgrass
- 705 Blue grama-galleta
- 709 Bluestem-grama
- 710 Bluestem prairie
- 714 Grama-bluestem
- 717 Little bluestem-Indiangrass-Texas wintergrass
- 802 Missouri prairie
- 809 Mixed hardwood and pine
- 920 White spruce-paper birch [44]
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