Abstract
Natural disturbances have the potential to limit exotic species invasions. The exotic grass, Urochloa humidicola, has high propagation potential following seasonal flooding, but, flooding tends to reduce the cover. Neither the potential for U. humidicola form a seed bank for recruitment following seasonal flooding, nor the mechanism responsible for reducing adult plant cover during floods is currently known. The soil seed bank of a U. humidicola was sampled for 2 years. To examine the potential role of competition with aquatic macrophytes in reducing its cover during floods, cuttings of U. humidicola were flooded in tanks in presence and absence of aquatic macrophytes for 3 months. Seedling density of U. humidicola was higher post-flood (245 seedlings/m−2) than the post-dry (130 seedlings/m−2). Germination occurred throughout the year, with highest seedling densities at the five to 7 months following soil collection. Competition with aquatic plants significantly increased mortality (c. 70%) of inundated U. humidicola. Our findings suggest that the survival potential of U. humidicola under flood is high, but is limited by shading of aquatic macrophytes. Nonetheless, its seed bank germinates throughout the year, though delayed by flooding. Control of invasive species in grasslands of the Pantanal depend on natural hydrological and biological drives.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank to the Brazilian governmental agency CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, or “National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development”) for the scholarship (F. Bao – n° 151326) and research grants (A. P. and M. A. A.).
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Fig S1
Mean monthly level of the Miranda River, arrows showing the sampled seasonal periods (post-dry and post-flood), between the years 2005–2015 (a); Representation of the transects following the topographic levels (low, mid and high) in each sampled pond, with five random samples (b). (PNG 434 kb)
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Fig S2
Scheme of organization of trays in water tanks in the different treatments: submersion with absence of aquatic plants (a) and; in the presence of aquatic plants (b). (PNG 3001 kb)
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Bao, F., Elsey-Quirk, T., de Assis, M.A. et al. Do Aquatic Macrophytes Limit the Invasion Potential of Exotic Species in Pantanal Grasslands?. Wetlands 40, 135–142 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-019-01168-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-019-01168-5