Document: LUC-3-34-45

Biogeography of red brome (Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens) in the Sonoran Desert.

SALO, L.F.*, G.R.MCPHERSON and D.G.WILLIAMS

University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA 1

Abstract:
Invasions by exotic plants can alter ecosystem structure and function, and biological invasions have caused the extinction of more species than any other human-caused aspect of global change. Red brome (Bromus madritensis subsp. rubens) is a Mediterranean winter annual grass that was introduced to California before 1880. Red brome was seeded in southern Arizona in the first decade of the 20th century and soon became common in this area. Through a search of herbarium collections in the western USA and original botanical sources, we traced the spread of red brome from California and recruitment foci in Arizona to describe the biogeography of this exotic species in the Sonoran Desert. Red brome has been able to invade relatively undisturbed areas in the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin, and the Sonoran Desert. This plant can become the most common species in the latter region during El Nino events, which result in high levels of winter precipitation.

Keywords: exotic species, plant invasions

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This abstract is being presented at: 10:30 AM in session:
PLANT DEMOGRAPHY