Excerpt
Nitrogen fixing plants can shift the competitive balance away from stress-tolerating long lived perennials in favor of invasive plants with the ability to thrive in N enriched soils (Huenneke et al. 1990; Carson and Barrett 1988). Nitrogen enrichment may also increase the dominance of a few species, resulting in a loss of overall diversity (Wilson and shay 1990; Tilman 1987). The spread of sweetclovers (Melilotus spp.) following intentional introductions may have similar effects throughout the grasslands of the Northern Great Plains.
Yellow (M officinalis) and white (M alba) sweetclovers are biennial, nitrogen fixing legumes native to Eurasia. In western North America, they are planted for forage and as cover crops. Yellow sweetclover is drought resistant, provides cover for ducks and upland game birds, and is highly palatable to most wild and domestic ungulates, so it is also seeded into pastures and planted with grasses in rangeland revegetation. It is used or recommended by federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. Yellow sweetclover ran be highly invasive on the Northern Great Plains and many range managers believe it is becoming more common in native rangeland …
Footnotes
Peter Lesica is affiliate faculty at the Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana. Thomas H. DeLuca is an associate professor at the School of Forestry, University of Montana.
- Copyright 2000 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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