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Plant, insect, and soil microbial communities vary across brome invasion gradients in northern mixed-grass prairies
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  • Morgan Frost,
  • Kimberly Komatsu,
  • Lauren Porensky,
  • Kurt Reinhart,
  • Kevin Wilcox,
  • Zachary Bunch,
  • Ashley Jolin,
  • Katielyn Johnston,
  • Gracen Trimas,
  • Sally Koerner
Morgan Frost
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Kimberly Komatsu
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Lauren Porensky
USDA-ARS Northern Plains Area
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Kurt Reinhart
USDA-ARS Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory
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Kevin Wilcox
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Zachary Bunch
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Ashley Jolin
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Katielyn Johnston
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Gracen Trimas
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Sally Koerner
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Abstract

Species interactions shape native plant communities, influencing both composition and ecosystem processes, with invasion by non-native species threatening these dynamic relationships, native species, and function. The consequences of invasive plants in particular may stretch across taxa to impact plant, insect, and soil microbial communities directly and indirectly, with consequences for ecological functioning. In northern mixed-grass prairies, invasion by two annual brome grasses, Bromus arvensis and B. tectorum, negatively impacts rangeland plants; however, the simultaneous effects on insects and soil microbes (bacteria and archaea), and the implications for ecological function, have received less attention. Here, using observational field studies conducted at two mixed-grass prairie sites in Montana and Wyoming, we assessed the relationships between plants, insects, and soil microbes across gradients of invasion by B. arvensis and B. tectorum. Overall, we found differences in plant and insect communities and functional groups with increasing invasion abundance for both brome species. However, associations between invasion and the soil microbial community were species specific, as we only saw these relationships under B. tectorum invasion, implying B. tectorum may have more substantial consequences for rangeland management. While invasion by annual bromes may cause changes in certain plant and insect functional groups, such as C4 perennial grasses and certain insect herbivores, soil microbial functional groups may be less impacted, especially under B. arvensis invasion. This work sheds light on the need to explore changes in natural communities across taxa and to all invasive species, as ecosystem effects are likely to be contingent upon both.
26 Oct 2023Submitted to Oikos
26 Oct 2023Submission Checks Completed
26 Oct 2023Assigned to Editor
26 Oct 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
07 Nov 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
29 Jan 20241st Revision Received
30 Jan 2024Submission Checks Completed
30 Jan 2024Assigned to Editor
30 Jan 2024Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
05 Feb 2024Editorial Decision: Accept