Species Composition Results - June 21, 1997

Plot comparisons: Each of the five plots consists of a 1m2 plot in a Buffalo grass patch and a 1m2 plot in a nearby knapweed-invaded area. All flowering or otherwise identifiable species were listed by Latin and common name, and all non-flowering or otherwise unidentifiable species were also noted.

Plot 1:

Buffalo grass patch:

  1. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  2. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  3. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  4. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  5. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  6. Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica

Knapweed patch:

  1. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  2. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  3. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  4. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  5. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  6. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  7. Kentucky bluegrass Poa pratensis
  8. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  9. Fleabane Erigeron divergens
  10. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 2

Plot 2:

Buffalo grass patch:

  1. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  2. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  3. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  4. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  5. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  6. Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica
  7. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 1

Knapweed patch:

  1. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  2. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  3. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  4. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  5. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  6. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  7. Kentucky bluegrass Poa pratensis
  8. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  9. Fleabane Erigeron divergens
  10. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 2

Plot 3:

Buffalo grass patch:

  1. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  2. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  3. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  4. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  5. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  6. Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica
  7. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  8. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  9. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 1

Knapweed patch:

  1. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  2. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  3. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  4. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  5. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  6. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  7. Hairy Golden Aster Heterotheca villosa
  8. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  9. Fleabane Erigeron divergens
  10. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 1

Plot 4:

Buffalo grass patch:

  1. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  2. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  3. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  4. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  5. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  6. Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica
  7. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  8. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  9. Unknown astragalus (pods too immature for complete identification)
  10. American vetch Vicia americana

Knapweed patch:

  1. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  2. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  3. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  4. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  5. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  6. Kentucky bluegrass Poa pratensis
  7. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  8. Fleabane Erigeron divergens
  9. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 1

Plot 5:

Buffalo grass patch:

  1. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  2. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  3. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  4. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  5. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  6. Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica
  7. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  8. American vetch Vicia americana
  9. Fleabane Erigeron divergens
  10. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 1

Knapweed patch:

  1. Diffuse knapweed Centaurea diffusa
  2. Buffalo-Grass Buchloe dactyloides
  3. Western wheatgrass Agropyron smithii
  4. Japanese brome Bromus japonicus
  5. Alyssum Alyssum minus
  6. Cheat-grass Bromus tectorum
  7. Bindweed Convolvulus arvensis
  8. Fleabane Erigeron divergens
  9. Unknown astragalus (pods too immature for complete identification)
  10. Woolly plantain Plantago patagonica
  11. Unknowns (non-flowering) - 2

Questions:

Is there more diversity in the Buffalo grass patch or the knapweed patch? Overall, there seems to be slightly more diversity in the knapweed patch plots.

What is the difference between the species in the Buffalo grass patch and the species in the knapweed patch? The knapweed patch appears to contain Fleabane more often than the Buffalo grass plots. The woolly plantain was found in all of the Buffalo grass patches, but only in one of the knapweed patches.

What is the difference in appearance between the two types of patches? The Buffalo grass patches are noticeably different from the knapweed patches; the ground is not visible due to a complete plant cover and the plants overall are shorter. The knapweed patches are more sparsely vegetated and the plants are taller. The bare ground visible in the knapweed patches indicates higher possibility of erosion in knapweed-covered ground. The difference in the plots indicates heavier competition in the patches containing a solid ground cover of Buffalo grass -- this is probably competition for water as the soil beneath the Buffalo grass must be well populated with Buffalo grass roots. This competition may be what enables Buffalo grass to largely exclude knapweed. The competitiveness of Buffalo grass may well exclude or affect other species as well.

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