Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits

Abstract Rainforest revegetation projects often deliver suboptimal outcomes due to the recolonization of invasive pasture grasses, but little is known about the effects of grass reinvasion on the survival and growth of established saplings. Even less is known about the costs and benefits of controll...

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Autores principales:	Julian Radford‐Smith, Luke P. Shoo, John M. Dwyer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Wiley 2021
Materias:	exotic grass pasture photoinhibition plant traits rainforest restoration weed management Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/21b09dac6d564b7fa7c7a377cdb26bf9
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:21b09dac6d564b7fa7c7a377cdb26bf92021-11-16T08:30:39ZBetter left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits2688-831910.1002/2688-8319.12062https://doaj.org/article/21b09dac6d564b7fa7c7a377cdb26bf92021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12062https://doaj.org/toc/2688-8319Abstract Rainforest revegetation projects often deliver suboptimal outcomes due to the recolonization of invasive pasture grasses, but little is known about the effects of grass reinvasion on the survival and growth of established saplings. Even less is known about the costs and benefits of controlling pasture grasses once they have reinvaded. To address these knowledge gaps, we implemented a split‐plot grass control experiment in a 2‐year old subtropical rainforest restoration planting in South East Queensland, Australia, that was reinvaded by the exotic pasture grass Chloris gayana. Grass removal involved brush cutting around saplings, spraying herbicide and then laying 1 m2 jute matting. The costs of implementing the treatment were recorded, and the survival, growth and physiological stress of treated and control saplings were monitored for 1 year. Non‐target herbicide application reduced survival by 6.5% in treated saplings, affecting mainly smaller plants that were below the grass canopy at the onset of the experiment. Beyond this direct herbicide effect, smaller treated saplings were also more stressed (lower chlorophyll fluorescence) and had substantially lower survival after 1 year than untreated saplings of the same size. There was limited evidence that removing grass increased growth rates, even for saplings that were already taller than the grass canopy at the start of the experiment. While the growth benefits of controlling grass may become more apparent with time, our results suggest that grass removal is not an effective management strategy in untended plantings due to the heightened risk of sapling mortality, coupled with the considerable labour and material costs.Julian Radford‐SmithLuke P. ShooJohn M. DwyerWileyarticleexotic grasspasturephotoinhibitionplant traitsrainforest restorationweed managementEnvironmental sciencesGE1-350EcologyQH540-549.5ENEcological Solutions and Evidence, Vol 2, Iss 2, Pp n/a-n/a (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	exotic grass pasture photoinhibition plant traits rainforest restoration weed management Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	exotic grass pasture photoinhibition plant traits rainforest restoration weed management Environmental sciences GE1-350 Ecology QH540-549.5 Julian Radford‐Smith Luke P. Shoo John M. Dwyer Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
description	Abstract Rainforest revegetation projects often deliver suboptimal outcomes due to the recolonization of invasive pasture grasses, but little is known about the effects of grass reinvasion on the survival and growth of established saplings. Even less is known about the costs and benefits of controlling pasture grasses once they have reinvaded. To address these knowledge gaps, we implemented a split‐plot grass control experiment in a 2‐year old subtropical rainforest restoration planting in South East Queensland, Australia, that was reinvaded by the exotic pasture grass Chloris gayana. Grass removal involved brush cutting around saplings, spraying herbicide and then laying 1 m2 jute matting. The costs of implementing the treatment were recorded, and the survival, growth and physiological stress of treated and control saplings were monitored for 1 year. Non‐target herbicide application reduced survival by 6.5% in treated saplings, affecting mainly smaller plants that were below the grass canopy at the onset of the experiment. Beyond this direct herbicide effect, smaller treated saplings were also more stressed (lower chlorophyll fluorescence) and had substantially lower survival after 1 year than untreated saplings of the same size. There was limited evidence that removing grass increased growth rates, even for saplings that were already taller than the grass canopy at the start of the experiment. While the growth benefits of controlling grass may become more apparent with time, our results suggest that grass removal is not an effective management strategy in untended plantings due to the heightened risk of sapling mortality, coupled with the considerable labour and material costs.
format	article
author	Julian Radford‐Smith Luke P. Shoo John M. Dwyer
author_facet	Julian Radford‐Smith Luke P. Shoo John M. Dwyer
author_sort	Julian Radford‐Smith
title	Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
title_short	Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
title_full	Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
title_fullStr	Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
title_full_unstemmed	Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
title_sort	better left alone: trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits
publisher	Wiley
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/21b09dac6d564b7fa7c7a377cdb26bf9
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Better left alone: Trying to control pasture grasses in untended rainforest plantings incurs multiple costs and delivers few benefits

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