Cheatgrass facilitates spillover of a seed bank pathogen onto native grass species

Abstract

Attack by pathogens can have ecological consequences for plants at many scales, such as the individual, population and community scale, although the latter is the least studied. Community-level consequences of disease in natural plant communities can drive facilitation in succession (Van der Putten, Van Dijk & Peters 1993), maintain species diversity in tropical rain forest (i.e. Janzen-Connell hypothesis; Clark & Clark 1984) and promote exotic invasion via negative feedback loops (Callaway et al. 2004). The pathogens involved in the above community-level interactions are often restricted to a narrow host range and target the seedling or reproductive stage. Although these studies are useful in providing an understanding of the consequences of disease in natural plant communities, they do not address the dynamic and complex consequences of disease caused by multiple-host pathogens, nor do they address pathogens that target the critical seed stage.

Citation

Beckstead, Julie; Meyer, Susan E.; Connolly, Brian M.; Huck, Michael B.; Street, Laura E. 2010. Cheatgrass facilitates spillover of a seed bank pathogen onto native grass species. Journal of Ecology. 98: 168-177.