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Comparative seed predation of woolly cupgrass ( E riochloa villosa ) and yellow foxtail ( S etaria pumila ) along a field border in C anada
Author(s) -
Simard MarieJosée,
Darbyshire Stephen J.,
Nurse Robert E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
weed biology and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1445-6664
pISSN - 1444-6162
DOI - 10.1111/wbm.12018
Subject(s) - biology , villosa , predation , vicia villosa , seed predation , botany , weed , horticulture , agronomy , ecology , population , cover crop , biological dispersal , demography , seed dispersal , sociology
The seed predation of woolly cupgrass ( E riochloa villosa ), an invasive weed of E ast‐ A sian origin, was compared to that of yellow foxtail ( Setaria pumila ), an established and widespread weed, along a field border in C anada. The seeds of both species were glued to sandpaper cards and their removal in field conditions was recorded from J uly to S eptember during the 3 years of 2009, 2010 and 2011. Predator exclusion cages allowed the evaluation of seed loss to be attributed to invertebrates, vertebrates and total seed loss due to predation for both species. Pitfall traps were installed and collected once in 2010 and during all the seed sampling dates in 2011 in order to evaluate predatory pressure from ground beetles and crickets. The average amount of seed loss that could be attributed to invertebrates was higher for S . pumila than for E . villosa , while the amount of seed loss that could be attributed to vertebrates was higher for E . villosa than for S . pumila in 2009 and 2010. The level of S . pumila seed loss to invertebrates was correlated with the sum of crickets ( G ryllus pennsylvanicus ) and beetles ( H arpalus spp. and O phonus rufibarbis ) trapped during the 2011 season. During the same period, correlations between E . villosa seed loss to invertebrates and trapped insects were not observed. Reduced postdispersal seed predation by invertebrates could increase the local fall survival of the unburied seeds of invasive E . villosa populations, compared to other naturalized, smaller‐seeded weedy grasses.