ARS | Publication request: DOWNY BROME SEED GERMINATION

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: September 15, 2004
Publication Date: February 7, 2005
Citation: Young, J.A., Clements, C.D. 2005. Downy brome seed germination [abstract]. Weed Science Society of America. 45:118.

Technical Abstract: Downy brome (Bromus tectorum) is an exotic, highly invasive annual grass that has invaded millions of hectares of of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)/bunchgrass rangelands in the western United States. Downy brome closes plant communities to the recruitment of seedlings of native perennial grasses through competition for moisture. The abundance of fine textured herbage produced by this annual grass on years favorable for plant growth increases the chances of ignition, rate and spread of wildfires. As a winter annual species, downy brome germinates in field seedbeds under very cold temperatures. In the last decades of the 20th century, downy brome suddenly spread from the sagebrush zone to the salt desert environments in the Intermountain Area. Using 55 constant and alternating germination temperatures we compare the germination of downy brome seeds from a wide variety of habitats.