Almodóvar-Pérez, Roxanne M.

Profile Picture

Filters

20141
Reset filters

Settings

Citations

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Consequences of invasive grass removal on above and below ground ecosystem dynamics within abandoned agricultural land in the Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico
    (2014) Almodóvar-Pérez, Roxanne M.; Montalvo-Rodríguez, Rafael R.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Ríos Hernández, Luis Ríos; Thaxton, Jarrod M; Department of Biology; Ramírez, Lilliam
    In the tropics, abandoned pasturelands often remain in an arrested state of succession due to non-native grass invasions. Initial restoration approaches often focus on the direct removal of these species. To test if invasive grass removal positively affects ecosystem function, non-native grass was mechanically removed (i.e. completely, or aboveground) within abandoned agricultural land in Puerto Rico. Aboveground plant biomass recovered to pretreatment levels in within 6 months after treatment establishment. At the end of 2 years the dominant species in all treatment plots were still non-native grasses. Total plant available N was highest in the complete removal plots immediately after the non-native grass removal and quickly dropped to the levels found in the control and mowed treatments 4 months after treatment establishment. Fluxes of P were variable and showed no clear pattern, however, theses fluxes were consistently higher in aboveground removal and control plots throughout the experiment. Likewise, soil microbial composition and structure was highly variable across treatments. At least in the short term, complete vegetation removal resulted in higher species richness by stimulating emergence of non-native species and provided a pulse of N.