| Abstract Detail
Ecological Section Pavlovic, Noel B. [1], Grundel, Ralph [2]. The roles of subhabitat, competition, and litter cover on the emergence, survival, and establishment of wild lupine (Lupinus perennis L.). Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) is nitrogen fixing perennial forb common in sand oak savannas of the Midwest. This species is of conservation concern because it is the larval food plant for the endangered Karner blue butterfly. We investigated the habitat requirements for the restoration of lupine by planting a total of 4800 seeds in 48 randomly selected m2 plots in canopy openings, partial-shade, and dense-shade subhabitats across an oak savanna dune ridge. Besides the subhabitats, experimental treatments were competition reduction versus existing competition, and litter removal versus existing litter cover. Emergence was delayed across the subhabitat gradient because soil temperatures decreased with increasing litter and canopy cover. Seedlings that emerged earliest had a greater number of leaves and tended to have greater survival. Seedling survival was lower in association with competition in the partial- and dense-shade subhabitats, but increased in openings. Seedling survival was also lower when leaf litter was present in the dense-shade, but unaffected in the other subhabitats, because litter cover was lower. All two-way interactions between subhabitat, competition and litter treatments also affected seedling survival. Survival was reduced if both litter cover and competition were reduced or if both were present, otherwise survival was greater. Desiccation reduced survival in the opening and partial-shade, but this was not so in the dense-shade. The results suggest that the success of restoration of lupine from seed will depend on levels of canopy cover, litter cover, and competition and that prescribed fire may be a useful tool in altering canopy and litter cover.
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1 - U.S. Geological Survey, 1100 N. Mineral Springs Road, Porter, IN, 46304
2 - U. S. Geological Survey, 1100 N. Mineral Springs Rd., Porter, IN, 46304
Keywords:
establishment
survival
logistic regression.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: CP55
Location: Boulevard A/Hilton
Date: Wednesday, July 11th, 2007
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: CP55005
Abstract ID:1283 |
