Abstract
California’s annual grasslands are mainly composed of annual plant species native to the Mediterranean Basin. The success of these plants in California has been attributed to their high densities (Bartolome 1979; Young et al. 1981) and to their ability to complete their life cycles in the short period of water availability (Gulmon 1979; Ewing and Menke 1983). Here, we address two issues about the comparative ecology of annual grass species in their homeland and in California: first, their different ecological roles in the two regions, and second, characteristics that preadapted these plants to conditions in California.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abrahamson WG (1979) Patterns of resource allocation in wildflower populations of fields and woods. American Journal of Botany 66, 71–79.
Baker HG (1978) Invasion and replacement in California and neotropical grasslands. In Wilson JR, ed. Plant Relations in Pastures, pp. 368–384. Melbourne, Australia, CSIRO.
Bartolome JW (1979) Germination and seedling establishment in California annual grassland. Journal of Ecology 67, 273–281.
Bartolome JW and Gemmill B (1981) The ecological status of Slipa pukhra (Poaceae) in California. Madrono 28, 172–184.
Bazzaz FA (1968) Succession on abandoned fields in the Shawnee Hills, Southern Illinois, Ecology 49, 924–936.
Beetle AA (1947) Distribution of the native grasses of California, Hilgardia 17, 309–357.
Bentley JR and Fenner RL (1958) Soil temperatures during burning related to postfire seedbeds on woodland range, Journal of Forestry 56, 737–740.
Bornkamm R (1981) Rates of change in vegetation during secondary succession, Vegetatio 47, 213–220.
Braun-Blanquet J. Roussine N. and Negre R (1951) Les Groupements Végétaux de la France Méditerranéenne. Montpellier. CNRS.
Burcham LT (1957) California Rangeland Sacramento. California Division of Forestry.
Cohen D (1971) Maximizing final yield when growth is limited by time or limiting resources, Journal of Theoretical Biology 33, 299–307.
Escarre J. Houssard C. Debusschc M. and Lepart J (1983) Evolution de la vegetation et du sol apres abandon cultural en region mediterraneenne: etude de succession dans les garrigues du Montpellierais (France). Oecologia Plantarum 4, 221–239.
Ewing AL and Menke JW (1983) Reproductive potential of Bromus mollis and Aivna barbata under drought conditions. Madrono 30. 159–167.
Evans RA, Kay BL, and Young JA (1975) Microenvironment of a dynamic annual community in relation to range improvement. Hilgardia 43, 79–102.
Freitag H (1971) Die naturliche Vegetation des sudostspanischen Trockengebietes, Botanisches Jahrbuck 91, 147–308.
Garnier E and Roy J (1987) Nodular and demographic analysis of plant leaf area and in sward and wood populations of Dactylis glomerata and Bromus erectus, Journal of Ecology, in press.
Gadgil M and Solbrig OT (1972) The concept of r and k selection: evidence from wild flowers and some theoretical considerations, American Naturalist 106, 1431
Gill GS and Blacklow WM (1985) Variations in seed dormancy and rates of development of Great Brome. Bromus diandw Roth., as adaptations to the climates of Southern Australia, and implications for weed control. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 36. 295–304
Gulmon SL (1979) Competition and coexistence in three annual grass species, American Midland Naturalist 101, 403–416.
Gulmon SL, Chiariello NR, Mooncy HA, and Chu CC (1983) Phenology and resource use in three cooccurring grassland annuals, Oecologia 58, 33–42.
Heady HF (1956a) Evaluation and measurement of the California annual type, Journal of Range Management 9, 25–27.
Heady HG (1977) Valley grassland In Barbour MG and Major J. eds. Terrestrial Vegetation of California, pp. 491–514. New York, John Wiley Sons, Inc.
Holland VL (1979) Effect of blue oak on rangcland forage production in central California In Proceedings of the Symposium on the Ecology, Management and Utilization of California Oaks, pp. 314–318. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PSW44.
Houssard C. Escarre J. and Romane F (1980) Development of species diversity in some Mediterranean plant communities, Vegetatio 43, 59–72.
Hull JC and Muller CH (1977) The potential for dominance by Slipa pulchra in a California grassland. American Midland Naturalist 97, 147–175.
Jackson LE (1985) Ecological origins of California’s mediterranean grasses, Journal of Biogeography 12, 349–361.
Jackson LE, Strauss R and Firestone MK (1985) Seasonal changes in plant productivity and nitrogen pools in oak savannah. In Smith JS and Paul EA, eds. Process Controls and Nitrogen Transformations in Terrestrial Ecosystems. Progress Report 1984–1985, pp. 23–49. UC Berkeley, Department of Plant and Soil Biology.
Jackson LE and Roy J (1986) Growth patterns of mediterranean annual and perennial grasses under simulated rainfall regimes of southern France and California, Acta Oecologia, Oecologia Plantarum 7, 191–212.
King D and Roughgarden J (1982) Graded allocation between vegetative and reproductive growth for annual plants in growing seasons of random length. Theoretical Population Biology 22. 116.
Le Houerou HN (1959) Recherches écologiques et floristiques sur la vegetation de la Tunisie méridionale. Univ d’Alger Institut de Recherches Sahariennes.
Litav M, Kupernick G, and Orshan G (1963) The role of competition as a factor in determining the distribution of dwarf shrub communities in the Mediterranean territory of Israel, Journal of Ecology 51, 467–480.
Maranon M (1986) Plant spccics rkhness and canopy effect in the savannalike dehesa of southwestern Spain, Ecologia Mediterranea 12, 131–141.
McBride JR and Heady HF (1968) Invasion of grassland by Baccharis pilularis D.C., Journal of Range Management 21, 106–108
Miller PC (1982) Environmental constraints to vegetation form in mediterranean-type ecosystems, Ecologia Mediterranea 8, 411–416
Mooney HA (1981) Primary production in mediterranean climate regions In di Castri F, Goodall DW, and Specht RL, eds. Ecosystems of lite World. II. Mediterranean-type Shrublands, pp. 249–255. Amsterdam, Elsevier.
Mooney HA and Dunn EL (1970) Photosynthctic systems of mediterranean-climate shrubs and trees of California and Chile, American Naturalist 104, 447–453.
Naveh Z (1967) Mediterranean ccosystcms and vegetation types in California and Israel, Ecology 48, 445–458.
Naveh Z and Dan J (1973) The human degradation of mediterranean landscapes in Israel. In di Castri F and Mooney HA, eds. Mediterranean-type Ecosystems, Origin and Structure, pp. 373– 390. Berlin, Springer Verlag.
Parker VT and Muller CH (1982) Vegetational and environmental changes beneath isolated live oak trees (Quercus agrifolia) in a California annual grassland, American Midland Naturalist 107, 69–81.
Pickett STA (1982) Population patterns through twenty years or old field succession, Vegetatio 49, 45–59.
Roy J (1981) Intraspecific variation in the physiological characteristics of perennial grasses of the Mediterranean region, Ecologia Mediterranea 8, 435–448.
Salter PJ and Goode JE (1967) Crop Responses to Water at Different Stages of Growth. England, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.
Schultz AM. Lanchbaugh JL. and Biswell HH (1955) Relationship between grass density and brush seedling survival. Ecology 36, 226–238.
Shmida A (1981) Mediterranean vegetation in California and Israel: similarities and differences. Israel Journal of Botany 30, 105–123.
Spiers B (1976) Vegetation survey of seminatural grazing lands [dehesar) near Merida, southwest Spain, as a base for land-use planning. Thesis, Biology, Agricultural University, Wageningen, Netherlands.
Telahique T, Floret C, and Le Roch E (1987) Succession postculturales en zone aride de Tunisie, Acta Oecologia, Oecologia Plantarum 8, 45–58.
Walter H, Harnickell E, and Mueller-Dombois D (1975) Klimadiagramm-Karten. Stuttgart, Fisher Verlag.
Young JA, Evans RA, Raguse CA, and Larson JR (1981) Germinable seeds and periodicity of germination in annual grasslands, Hilgardia 49, 1–37.
Zohary M (1962) Plant life of Palestine. New York. 262 pp.
Zohary M and Orshan G (1965) An outline of the geobotany of Crete, Israel Journal of Botany 14 (suppl), 1–49.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jackson, L.E., Roy, J. (1989). Comparative Ecology of Annual Grasses: Native Versus Californian Habitats and Populations. In: Huenneke, L.F., Mooney, H.A. (eds) Grassland structure and function. Tasks for vegetation science, vol 20. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3113-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3113-8_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7900-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-3113-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive