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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #310316
Title: Impacts of Kentucky bluegrass invasion (Poa pratensis L.) on ecological processes in the Northern Great Plains

Author
item PRINTZ, JEFFREY - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, USDA)
item Hendrickson, John

Submitted to: Rangelands
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/8/2015
Publication Date: 12/1/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61865
Citation: Printz, J.L., Hendrickson, J.R. 2015. Impacts of Kentucky bluegrass invasion (Poa pratensis L.) on ecological processes in the Northern Great Plains. Rangelands. 37(6):226-232. doi:10.1016/j.rala.2015.10.006

Interpretive Summary: Kentucky bluegrass abundance has rapidly increased on Northern Great Plains rangelands over the past 20-30 years. Specific well accepted management practices may have assisted with the Kentucky bluegrass increase. Understanding the impact that Kentucky bluegrass has on ecological processes and feedbacks is important for understanding rangeland vegetation dynamics. This is especially true since Kentucky bluegrass increases may have created ‘Novel Ecosystems’ on the Northern Great Plains. Sustainable management of these ‘Novel Ecosystems’ will require new understandings of ecological drivers and the impacts of management.

Technical Abstract: Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) has been increasing in the Northern Great Plains for the past 20-30 years. The economic and ecological aspects of this increase have gone unrecognized by producers, land managers and rangeland professionals. It is important to understand why this increase may have occurred (i.e. the drivers behind the increase) and what management practices may have contributed to the increase to fully understand the potential impact of the increase in Kentucky bluegrass abundance. We suggest that accepted management practices such as delayed turnout, deferment and rest, fire suppression and degree of utilization may have inadvertently increase Kentucky bluegrass abundance. The increase in abundance of Kentucky bluegrass may have altered ecological processes including hydrologic function, nutrient cycling and community dynamics. Changes in these ecological processes from increased Kentucky bluegrass abundance can provide feedback mechanisms in the form of increased nitrogen availability and cycling, reduction, reduction in sunlight capture and increased thatch and plant litter. The rapid increase in Kentucky bluegrass abundance has resulted in a ‘Novel Ecosystem’ that is very different from the original, pre-invasion state. Understanding how these ecosystems respond to management will require new ways of thinking but will be beneficial to developing a sustainable management paradigm.