[APWG] Ecosystem management Allelopathy Secale cereale Re: Utah petri dish tests

[Wayne Tyson]

Craig, Tony, and Forum:

What allelopthic agents were found associated with the Secale cereale?

Thanks,
WT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company" <Craig at astreet.com>
To: <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 4:18 PM
Subject: [APWG] Utah petri dish tests


> Dear Tony and All,
>
> Thanks for your email.
>
> ============
> Tony wrote: Will this work with an allelopathic species like Secale
> cereale which has formed dense stands along what is left of the foothills
> of the central Wasatch Front in Utah?   Will the native grasses even be
> able to get a foothold absent removal of the cereal rye?
>
> Reply: Cereal rye is exactly what Dr. Liu was studying in his two papers
> written in the Journal of Chemical Ecology in 1994 and 1995.  What he
> discovered, is the drier the conditions that the cereal rye grows in, the
> more allelopathic chemicals it produces, which makes sense.
>
> The question for the area where the rye is growing in your area---where
> are the native grass seeds going to come from, and what species are
> currently growing amongst the cereal rye?  If it is mature Great Basin
> wild rye, it is unlikely that you will get seedlings without a lot of
> effort, but if it Bluebunch wheatgrass, there is a good chance.
>
> Bluebunch wheatgrass is what is in the pictures,  growing to the horizon,
> and cheatgrass-free, at http://www.ecoseeds.com/greatbasin.html  I would
> try some tiny sown test plots of various native grasses amongst the cereal
> rye, and see what you can do, at a lot of different sowing rates.
>
> ========
>
> Tony wrote: We are also inundated with two other particularly out of
> control plant species along our foothills (besides all of the normal ones
> and too many others to list) including Linaria dalmatica and Euphorbia
> myrsinities, both of which seem to like to grow over/under/in everything.
> How do we remove these from rock crevice habitats?
>
> Reply:  What would normally grow in those rock crevices?  Probably some
> native bunchgrass?  Our Western native bunchgrasses have a remarkably
> strong effect against weeds, especially the broadleaf weeds.  Perhaps
> Indian Ricegrass, Thurber's Stipa if they are local to your area, or a
> local native Poa might do the trick?   I would try some tiny test plots in
> the rock crevices with some of the native-rock-crevice grasses.
>
> ============
>
> Tony wrote: We do have a few precious places with relatively intact
> ecosystems where these weeds advance and invade nonetheless, i.e. a
> healthy ecosystem (contrary what was traditionally taught) does not
> necessarily seem to, sadly, be a defense against many of these invaders.
>
> Reply:  In doing my 1997 Megatransect at
> http://www.ecoseeds.com/megatransect.html from California to South Dakota
> and back, I also noted, what I called Pristine native areas, compared to
> the rest of the cow and sheep-chewed West.
>
> I call those Pristine relics, the Sacred-Places, that have been able to
> withstand everything that we have dished out to them, so they deserve a
> modicum of respect, able to survive our land-tsunami-like onslaught.
>
> However, there is always something in the ecosystem puzzle missing in
> those areas, anywhere where the Pristine relics occur in the USA in the
> lower 48, and those holes in the puzzle are exactly where the weeds find a
> place to get in.   The weeds fill an empty niche.
>
> For example, on the Shaw property, the 4-6 species of native clovers are
> missing, which allows the exotic clovers to fill that ecosystem vacancy,
> until Mr. Shaw is able to reintroduce the native clovers back onto his
> land.
>
> It is not enough for an ecosystem understory to be relatively intact.
> That is like the spark plugs in your car engine were relatively put in,
> maybe at the right number?
>
> Your car needs exactly the right number of spark plugs, torqued into the
> engine at the correct number of foot-pounds--and the ecosystem understory
> also has to be precisely fitted together to function properly, to hold its
> own against the weeds.
>
> That is why we need professionals in the future, who can survey land, and
> be able to give us the ecosystem understory recipe, of how much cover of
> what native species we need on the land, to hold the ecosystem together,
> against the weeds.
>
> The proper percentage of cover of each native species, within any
> non-riparian ecosystem, is a mathematical constant.
>
> Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
>
>
>
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