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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310501
Title: Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) invasion in the Northern Great Plains: A story of rapid dominance in an endangered ecosystem

Author
item DEKEYSER, EDWARD - North Dakota State University
item DENNHARDT, LAUREN - North Dakota State University
item Hendrickson, John

Submitted to: Invasive Plant Science and Management
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2015
Publication Date: 9/28/2015
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/63063
Citation: Dekeyser, E.S., Dennhardt, L., Hendrickson, J.R. 2015. Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) invasion in the Northern Great Plains: A story of rapid dominance in an endangered ecosystem. Invasive Plant Science and Management. 8:255-261.

Interpretive Summary: Some of the best available evidence suggests that Kentucky bluegrass was introduced to the United States in the 1600s. Since that time, it has become a very popular lawn grass throughout the US and a forage resource in the eastern US. However, in the last few decades, Kentucky bluegrass had because a common and often dominate species on native prairie sites in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North and South Dakota. This increase in dominance presents ecological risks to the PPR, which is one of the most endangered ecosystems in North American. To fully understand how to address this risk, a better understanding is needed on how Kentucky bluegrass came to dominate this ecosystem. We use historical, climatological and ecological evidence to suggest mechanisms that may have helped Kentucky bluegrass dramatically increase in the PPR over the past 30 years. Increases in Kentucky bluegrass have impacted the plant community and ecological processes and both research and management strategies are needed to address this invasion.

Technical Abstract: Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) was introduced into the present day United States in the 1600s. Since that time, P. pratensis has spread throughout the United States and Canada becoming prolific in some areas. In the last century, P. pratensis has been a presence and oftentimes a dominant species in some prairies in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). Sometime within the last few decades, P. pratensis has become the most common species on the untilled, native prairie sites of the PPR of North and South Dakota. In this paper we hypothesize how P. pratensis has come to dominate one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America—the prairie through a historical, climatological, and ecological lens. We urge others to start addressing the invasion of P. pratensis with both new research and management strategies.